Pain assessment is the first step in pain management. Learning how to assess your child’s pain is not difficult. Being able to assess pain accurately has several benefits. In particular, you will have a much better idea how to treat your child’s pain and when to seek professional medical help.
At home, there are two ways to assess your child’s pain. The first and most direct way is based on what your child reports. The second way is based on changes you observe in your child’s behaviour.
The age of your child will determine how much you can rely on her reports of pain. For example, very young children will not be able to tell you with words where and how much they hurt. In this situation changes in behaviour, such as crying or becoming withdrawn and quiet, may indicate pain.
When assessing your child’s pain, you should try to find out how much it hurts, where it hurts, and what it feels like. Ask your child to describe the pain in as much detail as she can. Parents should remain calm, be comforting, and believe what their child reports about her pain.
Factors that influence pain
Pain is always influenced by emotional and intellectual factors. Fear and anxiety tend to increase pain intensity. A child who has injured herself being naughty may feel guilty or fear punishment, which may increase pain intensity. Unfortunately,she may underreport pain in an effort to please her parents.
A child’s understanding of her own body will also have an effect on how pain is felt. For example, a minor pain caused by a small bleeding cut, may seem catastrophic to a child. She may believe that her life is in grave danger. These types of false beliefs may create fear which, in turn, can increase feelings of pain. Pain without apparent cause or explanation can also cause fear and anxiety. Some children engage in "magical thinking" as a way of explaining the world and events around them, so they may have unfounded beliefs about why they are experiencing pain.
How a child expresses pain depends in part on previous experiences with pain. There is evidence to suggest that how parents cope with pain is reflected in their children’s reaction to painful episodes. Children likely learn how to respond to pain by observing how their parents and others respond to pain.
In summary, many factors can have an influence on how your child reports pain. Part of the assessment process is taking these factors into account. It is also important to attempt to distinguish between the effect of pain and the related feelings of discomfort, fear, and anxiety.
For more detailed information on how assess pain, see the Pain Assessment section.