| Pain is easier to endure if you
know you can end it. Speakers at a session on pain at the British Association's
psychology section have new evidence to support this idea for two common
experiences of pain: in childbirth and at the dentist's. On the other side of
the coin, their inability to control pain may explain why some people with
continual pain have psychological problems as well. Dr. J. Robinson found out about the phenomenon of self-controlled pain almost by accident. He was studying the effects of analgesics used to control pain during childbirth and as part of the experiment made it possible for women having their child to press a button which gave an automatic injection—instead of having all injections made by the doctor. Afterwards these women did not say that they had less pain than other women in childbirth, but they did use considerable less of the drug. J. Atkins, a dental surgeon, has observed a similar phenomenon. As part of their efforts to make dentistry painless, Atkins and researchers at Aston University in Birmingham offered patients a switch they could flip to turn off the dentist's drill whenever they chose. But, after trying the switch on 50 patients Atkins gave up; none of the patients had ever flipped the switch. Perhaps the extra endurance was because the Aston team also use other methods to make dentistry painless. Apparently few other dentists are so considerate. The end result, according to the Birmingham survey, is that British people avoid going to the dentist, with the consequence that almost 30% of people in England and Wales have lost all their teeth, and more than seven out of ten have lost at least six teeth. Less than half of the public pay regular visits to the dentist. To find out why, Atkins and psychologist Cumberbatch interviewed a sample of patients attending a dental hospital. The most common reason people gave for not having dental check-ups were fear and pain. By using a little care and taking time to explain what will happen, Atkins feels, dentists could overcome these fears. There are techniques for giving injections without pain, and a "calm unhurried approach" to drilling can make that painless, too. Sadly, few dentists seem to take much trouble with their patients. "I am not nervous when I go to the dentist, and I do not have any pronounced sympathy for those who are, " said one dentist. "I tend to take the point of view that they are being unreasonable at my expense." |