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The Role of Rehabilitation in Managing Pain in Seniors

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Handbook of Pain Relief in Older Adults

Part of the book series: Aging Medicine ((AGME))

Abstract

Since Plato first spoke those words, physical medicine and rehabilitation have played an increasingly important and well-substantiated role in the management of pain in the elderly. The basic principles of rehabilitation in the geriatric population are to prevent disability, treat specific impairments, prevent secondary disability, restore functional ability, and prevent handicaps by adapting to disability. To fully understand these principles, the progression of pain must be understood from a rehabilitation perspective. Pain as an impairment is the loss or abnormality of a psychological, physiologic, or anatomic structure or function. Pain is defined as a disability when the impairment restricts a person’s ability to perform a task or activity within the normal range of human ability. Pain as a disability then becomes a handicap when it causes enough of a disadvantage that it interferes with a ­person’s ability to interact with the environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. HCR ManorCare, 333 N. Summit Street, Toledo, Ohio, 43699-0086, USA

    Mark J. Gloth

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  1. Mark J. Gloth
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  2. Richard A. Black
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Correspondence to Mark J. Gloth .

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  1. School of Medicine, Victory Springs Senior Health Associates, John Hopkins University, Business Center Drive, Reistertown, 21205, Maryland, USA

    F. Michael Gloth III

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Gloth, M.J., Black, R.A. (2011). The Role of Rehabilitation in Managing Pain in Seniors. In: Gloth, F. (eds) Handbook of Pain Relief in Older Adults. Aging Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-618-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-618-4_6

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60761-617-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60761-618-4

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