Pain, neverending!

Dr. Pendleton Wickersham defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory & emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage."

He continues with key notes that further illuminate it's depth."

1) Pain is a personal experience

2) Pain cannot be inferred solely from activity in sensory neurons.

3) Through life experiences individuals learn the concept of pain.

4) A person's report of pain should be respected.

5) It may have adverse effects on function, social and psychological well-being.

6) Verbal description is only one of several behaviors to express pain; inability to communicate does not negate the possibility that a human or non-human animal experiences pain.

I hope that you are as lucky as I have been in finding an outstanding Rheumatologist! First of all, he, himself suffers from a chronic inflammatory disease of the spine called ankylosing spondylitis.

He can certainly relate to the patient's report of pain, & all of the symptoms that accompany that pain.

Take care