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Children's pain - the factsDisclaimer: This fact sheet is for educational use only. Please consult your doctor or other health professional to make sure this information is right for your child. Key points to remember
 Back to TopWhat is pain?Very young children or children who are very sick cannot always tell us exactly what they are feeling. This can be quite distressing for parents who may feel confused about what their child is experiencing. Parents know their child's usual reactions and behaviours.
Many things affect a child's experience of pain:
Back to TopHow long does pain last?Acute pain
The term "acute pain" refers to pain that is not long-lasting. The pain may be caused by an operation, injury, illness, or medical procedure. Depending on what has caused the pain, the pain may last a few seconds (for example, a needle) through to a few weeks or months (for example, following an injury). Some pain from an operation is normal and is a part of the whole healing process. Acute pain can be helped with medications, which can be given by various methods. You can also help your child with acute pain by using non-drug methods such as relaxation and distraction techniques.
Chronic pain
Chronic pain lasts for a longer period of time, usually longer than three to six months. This pain can be constant or come and go at different times. It is sometimes difficult to find a cause for chronic pain. However there are treatments and special programs that can help your child cope better with chronic pain.
Back to TopHow do you know your child is in pain?It is not always easy to know how much pain your child is experiencing. Listening to what they say and watching what they do can help us.
Things that can show that your child is in pain include:
Some children may tell us they are sore or hurting but may find it difficult to say how much they are hurting.
Remember that changes in their behaviour can also occur because they are scared or frightened.
Children can use a scale such as the Faces Pain Scale - Revised below. This will involve asking your child to point to the face that shows how much hurt they are feeling from "no pain" on the left through to "very much pain" on the right.
Hicks C.L. and others. 2001. The Faces Pain Scale - Revised: Toward a common metric in pediatric
pain measurement. Pain. 93:173-183.  Back to TopWhere to go for more informationOn this websiteChildren's painful procedures and operations - how can parents help?
Helping your child manage their health care treatment / procedure Pain and childhood cancer Management of pain in childhood cancer Treatment of pain in childhood cancer Treatments for pain:
The Centre for Pediatric Pain Research, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada pediatric-pain.ca/content/Families
The Centre for Pediatric Pain Research website provides information on helping children cope with painful procedures:
Back to TopAcknowledgementsStarship Foundation and the Paediatric Society of New Zealand acknowledge the co-operation of The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick, and Kaleidoscope - Hunter Children's Health Network in making this fact sheet available to patients and families.
Hicks, CL, von Baeyer, CL, Spafford, PA, van Korlaar, I & Goodenough, B. (2001). The Faces Pain Scale - Revised: Toward a common metric in pediatric pain measurement. Pain, 93, 173-183 http://www.usask.ca/childpain/fpsr/ [Accessed 15/11/2010]
Back to TopYour notesEndorsement
This fact sheet was endorsed by PSNZ - 15/11/2010
CopyrightFact sheets are subject to copyright. In the interests of information sharing they may be copied but acknowledgement must be given to PSNZ and Starship Foundation. © The Paediatric Society of New Zealand and Starship Foundation 2005 - 2012
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