Why it’s so hard for doctors to understand your pain

An interesting short article mostly about the influence of genetics on pain.

https://theconversation.com/why-its-so-hard-for-doctors-to-understand-your-pain-93526

 

the article talks about institutional medical bias ,then shows the authors bias about the reasons some people become addicted to pain killers to put it simply many painful conditions are chronic and thus will lead to long term use of painkillers. I personally think the word painkiller should be taken out of the language and replaced with pain modulator. my life experience tells me a lot of medicines just don't kill or even greatly alleviate pain.

 

Early 1980s papers coauthored by a neighbor of mine on "patient-controlled analgesia", concluding that patient self-administered intravenous morphine "is an efficacious and safe method of providing for postoperative pain relief."

https://journals.lww.com/annalsofsu...Controlled_Analgesia__A_New_Concept_of.4.aspx
http://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/696878/patient-controlled-analgesia

Yet here we are 35 years later being told patients shouldn't be trusted to manage their own pain relief.

 

that is paternalistic medicine for you . I wonder just how long medical professionals have had this dysfunctional mistrust in patients after all the overwhelming majority of us would rather not see a doctor unless its absolutely necessary . unless some of them are just mirroring their own mistrust belief in human nature.

 

For at least 2000 years. The effect is hugely more pronounced if the patient is female. If they (doctors) can get away with implying the patient is stupid, immoral, lazy, attention-seeking, lying, and mentally ill then they will do so.