February 22, 2009 by Ylisabyth (Libby) Bradshaw, D.O.,
M.S.,FACEP, Academic Director of the Pain Research, Education
and Policy program at Tufts University School of Medicine Does
it matter whether pain is a disease or a symptom? For people
living and suffering with pain, such a question may seem
irrelevant. Perhaps like splitting hairs. “Just make the pain
better.” “I don’t care what category you put it in!” “Don’t just
talk about it. Do something! Anything to relieve this agony.”
Why would it matter whether and how medical professionals want
to categorize pain? Symptoms are defined as subjective
experience; diseases are defined in objective terms, with
specified causes, or associated signs and symptoms. People with
pain certainly have a personal, internal experience of pain.
And, aside from asking a person to describe and rank the
intensity of their own pain, there’s no medical test for
determining the type of pain or its severity. The predominant
medical view for centuries has been that pain is a symptom,