There are still many gaps in our knowledge of the physiology of pain. In many areas medical science is still on the low end of the learning curve, particularly with non-malignant painful conditions.
However research into pain has been on the increase since the 1970s largely because of:
1. the ‘gate theory’ of pain by Melzack and Wall in 1965
2. the unprecedented curiosity about acupuncture anaesthesia
3. the rapid development of pain therapy programs
4. the awareness of the need to understand pain more clearly to more effectively treat it
5. the formation of the I ASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) and the publication of its journal Pain.
Improvements in patient care have been partly due to the interest of professionals in learning how to manage acute and chronic pain more effectively.
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