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Doctors differ in how they deal with pain. Older ones – of the family doctor variety who have a lot of experience in treating a variety of non-life-threatening injuries and illnesses – often dismiss pain with a hearty, “You’ll feel better soon.” Younger specialists, who have to battle much harder to earn their livelihoods and are too more materialistic, are much more solicitous of their patients’ consolation and prescribe painkillers as easily as they would offer a child sweets.

But on the entire doctors tend to under-treat pain. There is a feeling that pain is fair a fact of life. It accompanies all illnesses and it has to be borne. There is too the dread – both among doctors and among patients – that whether painkillers are taken too often, they could become a custom.

But, as doctors are realising, pain can take a heavy toll on a patient’s health and spirits. Compared to this, the risk of fitting addicted to painkillers is small. OTC (or over the counters) drugs are medicines that can be bought without a prescription and can relieve pain quite miraculously whether they are used before the pain becomes really terrible. And whether one medicine does not work, a stronger one can be tried.

But does this mean that OTC medicines can be popped as nonchalantly as we pop chocolates into our mouths? Many people reckon that they can, but they are incorrect. In fact, there are many misconceptions approximately pain. Here are the myths and the right facts approximately them.

Misconception 1. Whether pain goes absent with OTC medication, it cannot be anything serious.

This is not right. Your response to OTC medicines has nothing to do with the seriousness of your medical problem. A sprained ankle is certainly not life-threatening, but the pain can be excruciating and may not respond to OTC medicine at all. On the other hand, serious illnesses like cancer or strokes may cause so small pain (at times) that OTC medicines work fine for patients.

So when do you take pain seriously? A govern of thumb is that minor ailments, even whether the pain is agonising at first, normally heal or get much better in a week. They too don’t come on very suddenly. You should see a doctor whether the condition does not improve, whether the attacks of pain are sudden and powerful and whether OTC medicines do not work at all.

Misconception 2. Women deal with pain better than men do.

Really, research has proved that neither sex is better in dealing with pain per se. There are different kinds of pain and men and women deal with them differently. Women are able to deal better with chronic pain than men are, but men can deal better with sudden, acute pain – like when you hit your thumb with a hammer or touch something very hot.

Women, but, recover from pain quicker than men do. So in the case of, say a tooth extraction, women suffer more initially, but are less bothered by the lingering discomfort over the next few days.

Research on people suffering from osteoarthritis has given a reason for this ability of women to deal with chronic pain. They cope because they complain to friends, seek support, pray and question their doctors for assist. So they get emotional support and this helps them. Men, on the other hand, attempt to smile and bear it, to keep up their macho image and, as a result, they do not cope as well.

Misconception 3. Breast cancer does not cause pain.

It is right that breast cancer doesn’t cause pain in the initial stages, but this does not mean that whether something is causing you pain in your breast, it cannot be breast cancer. Certain strange types of breast cancer can cause pain – for example, cancer that affects the skin and lymph glands in the breast.

But generally, tenderness in the breast is nothing to worry approximately. This can be caused by the peaking of the hormone progesterone fair before one’s periods and too by hormones that older women take after menopause.

Harmless cysts, too heavy a workout and even a bra that doesn’t fit properly can cause pain in the breasts and this is nothing to worry approximately. But one should visit the doctor whether one notices a lump in the breast, whether there is a alter in the appearance of a breast or nipple, whether there is a swelling, redness, a persistent nagging pain in either breast or whether one experiences strange sensations in a breast, whether painful or not.

Misconception 4. Everyone responds to pain in the same way.

Not only do men and women respond to pain in different ways, but different individuals have different thresholds of pain. Some bear the pain of a broken arm without a murmur while others weep and moan over a small bruise. Again the same individual may react differently to pain when she is upset, is under stress, is with a ally, is cool and when she knows that she has to manage by herself. Hormone levels can affect response to pain too. Women are generally more sensitive to pain fair before their periods.

Misconception 5. One should always take medicine for a headache.

No, one should not take medicine for a headache because, though the pill makes you feel better immediately, headache medicine really makes the brain more susceptible to pain and so popping pills can, in the longer time period, cause “rebound” headaches.

So analgesics should be reserved for really terrible headaches and for times when you have to operate at your best. At other times, a small nap in a silent, preferably dark, room is a excellent way to get rid of a headache. So is meditation or the application of a cold pack to the area in front of the ear on the side one has the headache.

Misconception 6. A pain that is powerful in the morning and then decreases as the day progresses can be ignored.

This often happens with joint pains. Muscles, joints and tendons tend to be stiff in the mornings and hence cause pain. But, as the day progresses and you go around, these loosen up and the pain subsides. Such pains can be ignored when you know that they are caused by minor injuries which will get cured.

But whether the pain is not caused by an injury, it is not going to get cured by itself and something has to be done approximately it. Whether this kind of pain (which is worse in the morning and gets better as the day advances) persists, becomes worse and becomes chronic, it could be something like osteoarthritis and you should see your doctor.

Misconception 7. No pain, no profit.

This is what all trainers and fitness experts say when they start you off on a modern exercise regimen or fitness programme. Yes, sore and painful muscles are a portion of all these programmes when you start, but whether your workout leaves you in genuine pain even after a while, it could mean that you are overdoing it, that you are developing an overuse injury or that you are exercising incorrectly.

So you should ease into a modern exercise regimen slowly and work different muscle groups on alternate days. Jog and cycle one day and swim the next. Of course, walking is the best. It rarely results in injury and it can be done every day.

Misconception 8. OTC pain relievers are secure and can be taken in any quantity.

Maximum people feel that the medicines a doctor prescribes are powerful and that one has to be cautious approximately using them. They too feel that OTC medicines that one can get without prescriptions are secure and that one can take any quantity of them. But this is not right. Overuse of OTC medicines can increase the risk of ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding or hurt to the liver. So watch out as you blithely pop those analgesics and cold medications.

Misconception 9. Doctors prescribe anti-depressants when they should be giving you pain relievers.

This is the complaint when a patient who is ill and is suffering from pain is given antidepressants. But it is fair not right that the doctor is messing up. Fixed pain causes people to be depressed and this worsens the physical symptoms of their illness. Depression can too trigger certain types of pain. Antidepressants on the other hand, assist by increasing levels of chemicals that control our moods and the way we perceive pain. So they are excellent for the treatment of pain.

Misconception 10. All pain can be banished for excellent by a excellent doctor.

Unfortunately, this is not so. There are some chronic pains – like backache – that fair cannot be cured. But people can learn to manage these pains so that they can function better. Nowadays, doctors are less worried that patients will become addicted to painkillers and so prescribe them for even chronic pains – to be taken when the pain gets worse, when the patient is under stress or when he or she has to operate particularly well.

Nowadays, many doctors operate on the principle that people have the right to be releaseof pain. They weigh the dangers of fitting addicted to painkillers against the relief that they bring and then take a choice.

Even youthful patients are given painkillers when the doctor knows that recovery is going to be rapid sufficient for addiction not to be a risk. And at, say, the terminal stage of cancer, they select to let the patient abandon the world releaseof pain, even whether “addicted”.

Doctors too prescribe relaxation exercises and propose conduct modification that will assist avoid pain. For example, people suffering from back problems should learn not to make sudden movements, to always carry a small pillow for the small of the back when they know they have to sit for a long time and to memorize to pick up weights without straining the back.

Physiotherapy can too strengthen the surrounding muscles and having a pain-reliever while this takes place does no harm.

Pain management too includes biofeedback. Many doctors allow post-surgery patients to use a pump that allows them to select when they need intravenous narcotic painkillers. And doctors have learned that this way, patients take small and more frequent doses that reduce the total quantity of medication they take to be comfortable.

Pain may be a portion of life, but we need not suffer from it too much.