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The ISAP definition goes on to say that “pain is always subjective. Each individual learns the application of the word through experiences related to injury in early life.” Here the official medical definition echoes the words of pain expert Margo McCaffrey, who in 1968 stated that pain is “whatever the experiencing person says it is, and exists whenever he says it does.” However, if pain exists only subjectively and can only be expressed linguistically, how can it be treated medically? In order to help a patient experiencing pain, a doctor must know what type of pain it is and how intense it is. Unfortunately, both quantifying and sensory terms seem inadequate to the task of expressing pain. The problem is compounded by the fact that every patient’s perception or description of pain is affected by his or her emotional state and other individual variables, as well as cultural standards, because language is learned in the context of culture.

The ISAP definition goes on to say
that “pain is always subjective. Each
individual learns the application
of the word through experiences
related to injury in early life.” Here
the official medical definition echoes
the words of pain expert Margo
McCaffrey, who in 1968 stated that
pain is “whatever the experiencing
person says it is, and exists whenever
he says it does.” However, if pain
exists only subjectively and can only
be expressed linguistically, how can it be treated medically? In order to help a patient experiencing
pain, a doctor must know what type of pain it is and how intense it is. Unfortunately, both
quantifying and sensory terms seem inadequate to the task of expressing pain. The problem is
compounded by the fact that every patient’s perception or description of pain is affected by his
or her emotional state and other individual variables, as well as cultural standards, because
language is learned in the context of culture.

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