Understanding Pain and Resilience

When it comes to pain and pain resilience, there is never a one-size-fits-all threshold. What feels like mild discomfort to one person may be perceived as severe or even unbearable to another. Past experiences, fear, illness, or injury can all influence how someone experiences and reports pain. Some individuals may also downplay their symptoms to avoid hospital admissions, medical interventions, or unwanted attention.

This variation in perception can significantly affect the way expert witnesses compile care reports. Accurately describing pain can be difficult and emotional for the person involved, and it’s often influenced by psychological symptoms and individual sensitivity.

What is pain and resilience?

Resilience refers to a person’s ability to overcome or adapt to adversity. Pain, meanwhile, can be physical or psychological - and both types can affect someone’s ability to focus on recovery and positive outcomes.

How is pain measured?

The most common method used to measure pain is the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), where a person is asked to rate their pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable).

When compiling a care report, expert witnesses at Tessa Gough Associates will always assess whether pain affects the claimant, and note any strategies they have developed to manage it. They differentiate between pre-morbid pain levels and those following an accident or injury, and consider all relevant pain management records and clinical recommendations.

Are some people more susceptible to feeling pain?

Many factors influence how a person tolerates pain. This includes age, gender, previous trauma, medical emergencies, or sociological stressors. While it’s commonly believed that women have a higher pain threshold (often linked to childbirth), resilience to pain is complex and shaped by lived experience.

Individuals with lower pain resilience may have a history of stress, poor social support, or catastrophic thinking. In these cases, even the expectation of pain can worsen its impact, contributing to anxiety and depression.

Those with high pain resilience often show traits like optimism, determination, and emotional control. They may describe their pain as bearable, believing it will pass - which can play a protective role.

Living with pain

For many people, pain becomes part of everyday life. This is known as chronic pain. While it brings daily challenges, there are several resources and strategies that can help individuals manage it, promote recovery, and build resilience:

• ›Biological – Understanding the relationship between pain and physical health, including genetics and physiology
• ›Social – Drawing on support from family, community, and culture
• ›Psychological – Building mental wellbeing through positive thinking, mindfulness, and coping strategies
• ›Medications – Prescribed treatments like NSAIDs or opioids to relieve pain
• ›Alternative therapies – Techniques like acupuncture, meditation, or biofeedback
• ›Interventional pain medicine – Procedures such as nerve blocks or pain pumps, when other treatments have failed

How Tessa Gough Associates can help

Pain and resilience look different for every individual - so treatment, support, and care planning must be tailored accordingly. Pain is multidimensional, and expert witnesses at Tessa Gough Associates understand the need to assess each aspect to support appropriate management.

Our nationwide team of expert witnesses explore the root causes of pain and make clear, clinically informed recommendations that support better outcomes for both clients and their families.

If you’d like to find out more or instruct an expert witness, please get in touch. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.