We have all experienced pain at one time or another. It may have been a fall and injury, childbirth, an automobile accident or secondary to a disease or condition that we have. Seniors have pain for those same reasons, but may also have pain from conditions like arthritis and joint immobility.
Pain is an inhibitor of activity and quality of life. It is not something to be taken lightly. Chronic pain can lead to depression and immobility. Immobility or inability to move leads to other negative outcomes. Some of these negative consequences include pneumonia, falls, blood clots, constipation, inability to control urine and stools and skin breakdown.
Individuals of all ages with daily pain may become depressed. The body becomes exhausted from fighting off the pain. Stress hormones are released in relation to pain and the body cannot sustain the onslaught of this stress. Pain may also lead to social isolation and inability to sleep. Both of these things increase the likelihood of depression.
Often seniors are not willing to take pain medications for a couple of reasons. One is that they feel out of control when taking medications, even medications like Tylenol. The other reason is that seniors are worried they may become addicted to their pain medications. They need to be reassured that using a pain medication for real pain does not lead to addiction.
Pain is measured just like blood pressure and pulse. There are tools that can be used for measurement of pain. You may have seen the facial pain rating score tool. This can be useful for individuals with significant levels of dementia. Another tool is asking the individual about a rating on the acuity of pain from 0 to 5 or 10. 0 would indicate no pain at all and 5 or 10, depending on the scale, means the worst pain ever. These scales help the healthcare team know the strength of medication needed for the level of pain.
Even in those individuals who are not able to tell us about their level of pain, there are nonverbal ways to assess pain. Moaning when turning someone in bed, facial grimacing, grabbing a body part, tears, and aggressive behavior when moving someone are all indicators of pain.
There are non-medicinal therapies for pain as well. Music, gentle massage, hot or cold compresses, turning and repositioning, movement, touch and talking about the pain and feeling may help minimize or alleviate pain.
As a family member, contact us to help us to understand your loved one. Is this their first episode of pain or have they had pain in the past? What worked and what didn’t work? Don’t keep secrets about their pain, it is real and can have a negative impact on the ability of your loved one to heal and improve.