ACUTE PAIN: A GOOD YEAR TO EXORCISE PAIN

2001 is shaping up to be a good year for improving public understanding of pain treatment. Beginning this month, new standards require hospitals to regularly assess every patient's pain level and provide appropriate treatment. This is significant because it will both remind caregivers to ask about pain and remind patients that they need to speak up if they are suffering.

In a hospital setting, medications are often required to properly treat pain after injuries and surgical procedures. But medications are not the only options. We can take control of pain in ways that having nothing to do with medicine or surgery.

Exercise, for example, can be a powerful way to overcome pain. If you work out for 20 minutes, three times per week, you will have increased blood flow and higher endorphin levels. These chemicals are related to pain and its transmission, and can make us feel a lot better. A secondary benefit is an improved mental state, resulting from increased serotonin levels in the brain. When we feel better physically, we also feel better psychologically. And that also contributes to our perception and control over pain.

As long as the exercise doesn't cause physical damage, it's worth a try. You don't, for instance, want to try running to alleviate pain from a sprained ankle. But if you have a fracture that has healed, jogging may very well help diminish any lingering soreness or pain.

You might be surprised to learn that most fractures, most back surgeries and most muscle injuries completely heal within two to three months. By six months, almost everything in our body will heal, unless there's an infection or a very serious problem, such as cancer.

Relief will not come immediately. You may experience even more pain initially. But it should quickly subside as you continue to exercise.

We have to get beyond the old school that tells us that if it hurts, don't do it. If it hurts, lie down. If it hurts, take a pill. What we need to take, is control over the pain.

With hospitals beginning to recognize the importance of measuring pain levels, we can all feel more confident that our suffering will be relieved should we fall ill and require hospitalization. But no matter how thorough hospitals are in assessing and treating pain, no matter how good the medicines become, we are better served if we don't become too dependent on the health care system for our comfort. When possible, taking control of our own comfort can be the most important thing we can do to feel better.