What Pain Is For?

By Author: Thomas Strickland
Total Articles: 102
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Pain is something that all of us deal with on a regular basis. And when something hurts we rarely tend to think of the purpose we're experiencing pain, we just want to get rid of it and fast. That's why we use painkiller drugs, go to a therapist, visit the acupuncture office and use any other pain relief methods that are currently employed by mainstream and alternative medicine. Pain is what makes the medicine industry evolve, because more than a half of all health problems and complications manifest themselves through painful symptoms of different kinds. It could be a simple injury, fracture or more serious health condition like cancer or arthritis - pain is what we pay attention to first, and then start thinking what has caused it.

But what if there was no pain, what would the world be like? Would it be a happier place to live? Despite the common tendency to answer yes, it would definitely be a very strange and dangerous world to live in. Of course, pain is one of the main factors that decreases the quality of life, but it's also one of the main safety mechanisms we have in our bodies preventing us from doing hazardous ...
... things. Imagine that you don't feel any pain at all, how could you tell that there's something is wrong with your body? Let's say that someone has stomach ulcer, how could this person say that he or she is ill, if there was no pain. Everything is fine, but one day the person dies because they didn't realize they were ill. Even the most obvious risks like fire, cold or hazardous objects (knives, nails, spikes, etc.) would be more hazardous because people wouldn't realize the potential danger of handling with such objects. That's exactly what we have pain for - it tells us that there's a risk to us and something should be done to minimize it.

Of course, that's a general approach to pain. But when it comes to actually dealing with it things get far from the ideal. Pain is a very serious factor that decreases the quality of life and the ability for a person to perform everyday activities. Even a simple limb injury can make a person unable to work or do simple things for a period of time. And what if the pain is chronic and the person has to cope with it all the time? That's exactly when pain relief is required.

Pain relief methods are quite varied these days and there's no universal remedy for all types of pain. Painkiller drugs like Tramadol are usually applied in cases of moderate to severe acute pain. Say, you've been hit really hard by a falling chair, or you're annoyed with a headache that seems to come from your bad tooth. In such a case you can easily eliminate pain with Tramadol. For cases of chronic pain, there are special procedures that are aimed for providing long term relief. Acupuncture is commonly used these days for chronic pain relief on par with electro-magnetic and physical therapy. It usually depends on the actual cause of chronic pain, because in most cases by eliminating the cause, the pain wears off too.