Wisdom and Pain: The Art and Science of Managing Pain

January 31, 2025

surgery theater

(The Hedgehog Review) – Surgical patients hate pain, but sometimes they need to feel it. They wake up too slowly from general anesthesia and forget to breathe. Shouting fails to rouse them. Putting an alcohol swab under their noses is equally useless. All I can do is knead my knuckles into their sternums to stimulate them. But when they open their eyes in pain and start breathing again, those same eyes express total hatred for me. It is the paradox of pain: We come to life through pain, yet we hate pain. (Read More)