In 1994 Popper wrote: "By and large definitions do not contribute to making oneself understood or making oneself clearer. Our intellectual efforts to define pain are making us less, rather than more, inclined to respond naturally and appropriately to pain."

Repeated exposure to children in pain may desensitise professionals as a self-preservation mechanism enabling them to continue to function. 

Different types of pain

Determining the type of pain helps to determine its treatment.

Pain can be classified according to:

• Duration e.g.: acute or chronic
• Underlying mechanism: Nociceptive (visceral and somatic), Neuropathic, Sympathetic, Psychogenic
• Situation: incident pain, procedural pain, breakthrough pain

Pain is a "total experience" it is not just physical, it has psychological, spiritual, cultural and social components: thie is knon as "total pain".