What Is Pain Exactly?

It might seem like a pretty simple question, but what is the true definition of pain exactly? On a scientific level, it is an unpleasant signal that is sent to our brains. However, how one understands that signal and reacts to pain is completely unique to each person.

Traditional methods of measuring pain included surveys and visual scales. These tools were designed to be simple so that researchers and health care professionals could easily assign ratings and categories to this complex physical and emotional reaction. However, physicians and patients are increasingly recognizing that this simple view of pain is not enough to capture how pain impacts a person’s life.

As described inn an article published a few months ago in the Wall Street Journal, doctors and patients at Johns Hopkins University are working together to develop new ways to rate and define pain and its impact on daily life.  The hope is that these new tools would help better determine the potential success and value of new treatment options.

At SimpleTherapy, you can find exercises customized to treat your experienced pain at a pace that suits your lifestyle. How’s that for a new treatment option?