Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 231, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 October 1918 — REALLY BEARER OF MESSAGE [ARTICLE]

REALLY BEARER OF MESSAGE

Pain Has Its Purposes and Should by No Means Be Looked Upon as an Enemy. Pain is a message sent to the brain to report that,some part of the body is in trouble, and to ask for relief. It is, therefore, not an unmlxed evil, but a bane or a blessing, according to the view that we take of it. Many persons, especially those whose nervous organizations are acutely sensitive, dread pain, both for themselves and for others, to such a degree that their first instinct is to do something—anything—if only the distress can be checked. They refuse to listen to the message, and think only of hushing IL If we adopt the view that pain is a faithful servant bringing us a message, we alter our whole attitude toward it. We learn to listen patiently and to organize relief wisely. But we must remember that there is pain that can and must be borne, and pain that cannot and should not be borne. In certain kinds of accident, such as extensive.burns or lacerations, the physician always gives the speediest temporary relief that is in his power and then removes the sufferer to a place where he can give him proper care. In such cases the call for the morphine needle, or for some other anodyne, is a perfectly legitimate one. But there are certain kinds of intense pain that ought not to be immediately masked with an anodyne, because it is very necessary that the physician should be able to incorporate their messages in his diagnosis. Sometimes, as, for example, when there is urgent need of an operation, quieting the patient with morphine might mean that when the effect of the drug had worn off and the pain began to call attention again to the diseased condition it would be too late to save the patient. Many of the pains we suffer are coward pains. We know very well that a little courage would give us relief, but we are so much afraid of the dentist’s chair or of the surgeon’s lance or probe that we temporize from day to day and so endure a great deal of unnecessary suffering. Pain is a good servant and a bad master. We should learn to heed its message and "then dismiss it as quickly as possible. When it is of the chronic type and cannot be dismissed, we should always consult a trained physician. He will do his best to render it bearable and he will save us from adding the blunders and penalties of selfdosing to our troubles. —Youth’s Companion.