Guiding Principles for Developing a Therapy Plan

The goal of pain management is to reduce pain to a level where it is well tolerated and does not interfere with daily activities or reduce quality of life. To expect to completely eliminate pain is probably unrealistic. Early intervention, whether in acute or chronic pain, with effective therapies makes pain easier to control. Thus, the recognition of situations that may be associated with pain, the assessment of patients for pain, and proactive treatment are all critically important.