Do Infants And Children Experience Pain The Same As Adults?

Dr. Krane answers the question: 'Do Kids Feel Pain The Same As Adults?'

By
Elliot J. Krane, M.D., Director, Pain Management Service, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford
August 20, 2008, 2:20 PM ET
1 min read

— -- Question: Do Infants And Children Experience Pain The Same As Adults?

Answer: Well, bearing in mind that the definition of pain is the unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with real or perceived tissue injury, children definitely do not perceive pain the same as adults do because the emotional experience is very very different. Even putting aside the fact that there may be some chemical differences in the neuroanatomy and the neurophysiology of children, and the way their central nervous systems act and behave compared to adults that changes the way pain is felt by their brains. They have a different emotional experience than do adults, and that emotional experience defines and drives how they experience pain.

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