Undertreated pain causes unnecessary functional impairment.
Recall that pain is not simply the physiologic sensation, but also the emotional context overlying this, or suffering. The effect of HIV-related pain can be as devastating as the disease process itself. Persons who have a painful affection in any part of the body, and are in a great measure sensible of the pain, are disordered in intellect. It is essential for physicians who treat HIV seropositive patients to recognize that even when the disease progression is stable, inadequate analgesia may continue to interfere with a patient's return to normal productive, healthy activities. For example, some significant HIV-related pain syndromes may affect even individuals with relatively high CD4 counts, and antiretroviral therapies are also associated with painful side effects.