Benefits of pain you are unaware of

Pain is often seen as an unequivocally bad thing, and certainly many patients dream of a life without pain. However, without pain we are vulnerable to ourselves and our behaviours, and risk ignorance of underlying conditions.

 While most children quickly learn not to touch boiling water as their own body disciplines their behaviour with the punishment of pain; children born with congenital insensitivity to pain (CIPA) can burn themselves, break bones, and tear skin without feeling any immediate ill effect. Their health is constantly at risk from unconsciously self-mutilating behaviours and unnoticed trauma. CIPA is very rare but examples of the human tendency for self-damage without the protective factor of pain are common. Have you ever bitten your tongue or cheek after a dental anaesthetic? Patients with diabetic neuropathy risk osteomyelitis and arthropathy in their pain-free feet.
If you receive a message of bad news, you do not solve the problem by hiding the message. Listen to the pain as well as making the patient comfortable.