Non-pharmacological methods of acute pain management

Abstract

Psychological factors are a key part of pain perception as articulated in the neuromatrix model of pain. Psychoeducational interventions are of significant value in acute pain management and have reduced pain severity, distress, and length of hospital stay. Mood, beliefs about pain and illness, previous experience of pain, and the behaviour of health care professionals all influence pain perception and response to pain. Helping patients reappraise the threat value of pain through tailored information giving and where needed cognitive behavioural interventions are practical strategies. Attention control methods, including clinical hypnosis, are effective in reducing procedural pain.