Use of Pain Assessment Tools in Physiotherapy

Pain is a universal concept; however, the experience is unique from person to person. Pain is a subjective term that an individual describes and experiences. Pain has its meaning and is produced out of the complex interactions of body, mind, and culture. Pain can be interpreted differently from individual to individual depending on the time and place where that person is [1]. Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage [2]. Pain is described as acute or chronic. Acute pain is experienced for short time (two weeks) due to trauma while chronic pain last longer than three months and is associated with injury to tissues or nerves. There are four factors that commonly affect pain expressions: Location, Duration, Intensity and Etiology. The location is the place where the pain occurs. Duration is the time that pain lasts, and is classified as chronic or acute. Intensity tells how severe the pain is. It is usually measured through a pain scale from zero to ten. The patient's rate themselves. Usually, four to six is considered as a moderate level, and above seven is considered to be severe pain [3].