Psychological control of acute pain in medical settings.

Abstract

Abstract Acute pain is both produced by, and influenced by, psychological processes, and psychological considerations play an important role in pain managment. Physiologically, emotional arousal is associated with sympathetic excitation and increased muscle tension, and through these factors a vicious circle of pain can be established in which the pain persists and grows in response to the patient's reaction to it. Psychological interventions for pain involve many mental and behavioral processes such as alteration of perception, attention/distraction, muscle relaxation, manipulation of patient expectancy and belief, and the development of a sense of personal control over the pain. Such interventions are, as a whole, effective in relieving pain and related distress, reducing analgesic medication use and reducing days in the hospital.