Lesson 4: Module A | Understanding the Pain Experience

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Lesson 4: Module A

This module introduces the basic history of pain pathways, dating all the way back to the 1600s visual from René Descartes of an individual holding their foot near a fire.  Traditional models of pain, such as René Descartes, assume that the degree of pain an individual experiences is directly proportional to the amount of tissue damage that has occurred.  This is based purely off a biomechanical understanding of pain pathways.  The biomechanical model of pain has been successful in many areas within healthcare, but it does have its downsides.  Most notably, it is a reductionist view and does not account for individual variability and non-biomechanical factors that may influence outcome/pain.

The module continues to define and discuss the differences between nociception and pain and updating the biomedical model of health and fitness into a more current biopsychosocial model.  While this model is inclusive of the components that the biomedical model contains, it also expands to considering the impact of an individual’s psychology and social support (e.g. beliefs, expectations, socioeconomic factors, etc.), thus making it more holistic.  It is important to discuss how this information directly impacts the work we do, which is how the module concludes before leading into the next one.