Der Schmerz
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The present article is a case report on a chronic sympathetically maintained pain syndrome following a mild lesion of the brachial plexus. Apart from slight motor and sensory disturbances, which disappeared within a few months, no autonomic, motor or sensory deficit remained. ⋯ In the climax of the pain attacks it became manifest like a mirror reflexion on the opposite side. The diagnostic and therapeutic problems that occurred during these years and the dependency of the pain attacks on exterior influences are evaluated.
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Atypical facial pain is a collective term used for otherwise unclassifiable pain syndromes of the face. It describes mostly unilateral lancinating and burning pain, which is constantly present but fluctuating in intensity and may be accompanied by dys-or paraesthesias over a period of several years. Women are more often affected than men. ⋯ This also holds true for behaviour therapy, which should be the first-line treatment. Any invasive intervention should be avoided. In the differential diagnosis atypical facial pain should be distinguished from cervicogenic or cluster headache, and also from intracranial tumours of the trigeminal nerve or the cerebellar-pontine angle, erosive tumors of the base of the skull, orbitas and nasopharynx.
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The present paper is one of a series of publications, reviewing German instruments for psychological assessment of pain. Their main focus is on the results of a task force on quality testing for each subject. This paper describes and comments on methods regarding self-reporting of pain cognitions and both cognitive and behavioral strategies for coping with pain. ⋯ A similar procedure was followed with instruments for the assessment of pain-related coping strategies. According to our research there are two subgroups of coping instruments, one more specifically for cognitive coping with pain, and the other combined with behavioral coping strategies. Once again, we elaborated a specific and differential recommendation, giving priority to instruments taking account of both cognitive and behavioral dimensions of coping with pain.