Pain Medicine and Chronic Pain
1. Foundations of Pain
A great starting point for getting your language right: this website lays out clear definitions for different types of pain, including acute vs. chronic and key categories like nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic pain.
This resource walks through pain using a biopsychosocial lens, showing how factors like mood, environment, and social context influence the pain experience. It’s helpful for shifting from a purely biomedical view to a more holistic understanding of pain.
A more approachable overview that helps classify different types of pain and gives helpful examples of each kind.
2. Approach to Pain Management
Assessment and Diagnosis
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Take a thorough pain history:
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Onset​
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Provoking and palliating factors
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Quality
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Radiation
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Severity
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Timing and treatment
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Understanding
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Perform a focused physical exam
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https://www.uptodate.com/contents/approach-to-the-management-of-acute-pain-in-adults
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3. Acute Pain Management
A practical overview of how to assess pain, including pain history, physical exam, functional impact, and the difference between acute and chronic pain. This is a good starting point for learning how to structure a clinical pain assessment.
A useful collection of pain assessment tools, including OPQRST, SOCRATES, and special pediatric scales. This works well as a quick reference when deciding how to assess different patient populations.
A concise review of major analgesic classes, including acetaminophen, NSAIDs, opioids, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, local anesthetics, and muscle relaxants. This is useful for reviewing broad mechanisms, side effects, and medication selection.
This provides a summary of behavioural approaches to pain, including CBT-based strategies and interdisciplinary rehabilitation. This is a good resource for understanding how psychology and physiotherapy can support pain recovery beyond medications.
This regional anesthesia playlist introduces nerve blocks in a beginner-friendly way. It is especially helpful for understanding interventional options used in acute pain management, including anatomy, ultrasound guidance, and block selection.
4. Chronic Pain Management
A helpful hub for validated pain assessment tools, including measures that look beyond pain intensity to capture function, mood, and quality of life. This is useful when building a comprehensive chronic pain assessment.
This is a concise resource on non-opioid options for chronic pain, including acetaminophen, NSAIDs, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and topical therapies. It is helpful for reviewing medication choices and side effects for different types of pain.
This guideline gives a practical approach to pain management in primary care settings, including safe opioid prescribing, monitoring, treatment agreements, and tapering considerations.
5. Common Pain Syndromes
A quick tool for scoring neuropathic pain symptoms, including qualities like sharpness, burning, sensitivity, and unpleasantness.
This review explains fibromyalgia through a clinical lens, including common symptoms, diagnostic considerations, and overlap with other chronic pain syndromes. It is helpful for understanding fibromyalgia as a complex pain condition rather than a diagnosis of exclusion alone.
UptoDate provides a comprehensive clinical overview of fibromyalgia in adults, including typical presentations, diagnostic criteria, and associated symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, and cognitive difficulties. It is a useful reference for recognizing fibromyalgia and distinguishing it from other causes of widespread pain.
6. Special Topics in Pain
This article details the best practices for pain assessment and management for pediatric patients, with a special focus on pediatric-specific self-reported pain scales and observational pain instruments.
This resource highlights how bias and inequity can shape pain assessment and treatment, particularly in marginalized communities. It’s a useful reminder that how pain is perceived and managed can be influenced by systemic factors and clinician bias.
This page explores the concept of prescribing hesitancy, especially around opioids, and emphasizes that pain management remains a core responsibility of physicians. It reinforces that while opioids carry risk, avoiding them altogether can lead to undertreatment and inequitable care.
This article examines broader challenges in pain care, including access, stigma, and the complexities of managing patients with chronic pain or opioid needs. It is helpful for understanding how policy, perception, and clinical decision-making intersect in real-world pain management.