Decubitus. 1992 Nov;5(6):50-2.
What is pain? Pain is an uncomfortable feeling that tells you something may be wrong in your body. Pain is your body's way of sending a warning to your brain. Your spinal cord and nerves provide the pathway for messages to travel to and from your brain and the other parts of your body. Receptor nerve cells in and beneath your skin sense heat, cold, light, touch, pressure, and pain. You have thousands of these receptor cells, most sense pain and the fewest sense cold. When there is an injury to your body--in this case surgery--these tiny cells send messages along nerves into your spinal cord and then up to your brain. Pain medicine blocks these messages or reduces their effect on your brain. Sometimes pain may be just a nuisance, like a mild headache. At other times, such as after an operation, pain that doesn't go away--even after you take pain medicine--may be a signal that there is a problem. After your operation, your nurses and doctors will ask you about your pain because they want you to be comfortable, but also because they want to know if something is wrong. Be sure to tell your doctors and nurses when you have pain.
什么是疼痛？疼痛是一种不舒服的感觉，它告诉你身体可能出了问题。疼痛是身体向大脑发出警告的方式。你的脊髓和神经为信息在大脑与身体其他部位之间的传递提供了路径。皮肤内外的受体神经细胞能感知热、冷、光、触摸、压力和疼痛。你有成千上万这样的受体细胞，其中大多数能感知疼痛，最少的能感知寒冷。当你的身体受到损伤——比如手术——时，这些微小的细胞会沿着神经将信息传入你的脊髓，然后再传到你的大脑。止痛药会阻断这些信息，或者减轻它们对大脑的影响。有时疼痛可能只是个小麻烦，比如轻微的头痛。在其他时候，比如手术后，即使你服用了止痛药疼痛仍不消失，这可能是有问题的信号。手术后，你的护士和医生会询问你的疼痛情况，因为他们希望你感觉舒适，也因为他们想知道是否有什么问题。当你感到疼痛时，一定要告诉医生和护士。
