In reality, already in the mother’s belly, from the 24th week of gestation, the foetus has all the anatomical and neurochemical capacities to feel pain. are starting to speak.Īll this can lead to the preconception that children do not feel pain and for many years this was the case.
The definition of pain previously reported, belongs more to the experience of adults as it highlights the emotional and sensory components that cannot be easily assessed in infants, children who do not yet speak or who are in the initial stages of verbalization, i.e. This definition emphasises the bipolar nature of pain: consisting of both physiological and psychological variables and the possible lack of a strict correspondence between the extent of damage and the intensity of pain.Īt the same time biological variations, a previous experience of pain and a variety of psychological factors modify the experience of pain over time.ĬHILD CARE PROFESSIONALS IN NETWOK: VISIT THE MEDICHILD BOOTH AT EMERGENCY EXPO The child and pain:
The IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) in 1979 gave the following definition of pain: ‘Unpleasant emotional and sensory experience associated with, or described in terms of, actual or potential tissue damage’. In fact, our nervous system recognises stimuli that can cause damage to the body and activates reflex reactions, immediate automatic responses, or preventive reactions against harmful mechanical forces, such as extreme temperatures, high or very low, or contact with toxic substances. Pain is not just an unpleasant sensation, but a complex sensory modality, a system that allows us to interact with the external environment, fundamental for survival.
Children and pain: intervening in a child’s pain with an adequate analgesic therapy helps to prevent it from becoming chronic and affecting brain development
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