Pain and managing treatment

Pain and managing treatment

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Parents are often the best judges of their child's pain. Listen to what they tell you and watch what they do. If worried or in doubt about your child's pain, talk to your local doctor or if you are in hospital, a nurse or doctor.
As a parent you know your child best, and so can greatly assist staff in helping your child cope with the procedure or surgery.
There are a number of ways in which you can help your child if they are having health care treatment.

Children have different ways of letting us know they are in pain. The same injury can cause a different amount of pain in different children and the same procedure can cause a different amount of pain each time it is done to the same child.

Research shows that when families are encouraged to maintain their caring role as much as possible, children's anxieties are lessened and the pain they experience is reduced. Families can expect to be as involved in their child's care as they wish to be.

Medicines which relieve pain are called analgesics. If your child is able to take medicine or tablets, this is the way the pain relief will be given. If your child has very strong pain, often the medicine is given intravenously because this method gives a rapid response.

Parents / caregivers benefit from being well prepared for unfamiliar activities, just as children do. Ask your child's nurse to describe the procedure. Ask as many questions as you need to gain a clear understanding of what is to happen and why. Written for childhood cancer patients and also relevant to other children receiving treatment.

Information for kids about going to hospital... Children go to a hospital for lots of different reasons. You may go to hospital to be helped because you are hurt, sick or need an operation. It is a good idea to talk to your family about why you need to go to hospital.
You will feel more at ease if you are well informed about your child's hospital visit and have arranged support for yourself and your family.

Some techniques which can help your child cope with treatments which they see as uncomfortable or frightening. Written for childhood cancer patients and also relevant to other children receiving treatment.

Play is important for children because of the way it helps them to understand their world. Play promotes learning, growth and development, relaxation, fun and socialisation. Written for childhood cancer patients and also relevant to other children in hospital.

A link to information for kids about anaesthesia & pain management. Provides clear explanations, with diagrams, of what to expect before, during and after an operation.
Epidurals are widely used for major operations involving the chest, stomach or lower limbs. An epidural will only be suggested if your surgeon and anaesthetist believe that it will provide the best pain relief and recovery for your child.
This medication was first made to help control some types of epileptic seizures. Gabapentin has since been found to be effective for some types of pain.
You may know this gas as happy gas or laughing gas. It is a sweet smelling, colourless gas used to ease pain and anxiety. This gas is safe for use in children and there are no long-term side effects.
NSAIDs are a group of medicines that reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
When children have strong pain due to surgery, injury or illness, they require continuous pain relief. Morphine and some other opioids (strong pain relievers) can be used intravenously (in the drip). This allows your child to receive pain relief quickly, effectively and continuously if required.
Opioids are a class of medications that are sometimes known as narcotic analgesics. They are mainly used in the treatment of pain.
Patient controlled analgesia (PCA) allows your child to safely give themselves strong pain relieving medicine such as morphine (an opioid) via a special machine attached to a drip.
Topiramate is most commonly used for the treatment of certain types of epileptic seizures. It has since been found to be effective for certain types of pain.
This group of medications was first made to treat depression. TCAs have since been found to be effective for many types of pain.