Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare announced a new on-site art exhibition displaying patient-created images that depict the patients’ perspectives of chronic pain.  Titled “The Wonder of Pain,” the exhibit is available to the public through September 29.

“I am excited to be a part of this very insightful exhibit,” said exhibit designer Daniel Skenderian, Ph.D., director of Neurobehavioral Sciences at Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare. “A new bio-psycho-social model of pain, each image represents its artist’s perspective of how he or she depicts his or her individual chronic pain. These new models help medical staff consider comprehensive, multidisciplinary treatment options instead of just focusing on medication or surgery to relieve chronic pain.” 

The exhibit includes 13 original drawings, all of which have been created by Casa Colina patients who have received in-patient care for various types of chronic pain.  Each image is identified by the artist’s gender, age and type of chronic pain.  The drawings are the result of the prompt, “If you could visualize your pain in your mind, what would it look like?”

“All the pictures are quite different, but there are also commonalities, such as the use of the color red to represent pain,” added Skenderian. “The use of color, design and intensity all demonstrate an emotional component of pain. Although each patient experiences pain differently, these models provide very insightful perspectives.”

September is Chronic Pain Awareness Month, according to the American Chronic Pain Association. With chronic pain afflicting more than 25 percent of the adult U.S. population, modern medicine continues to conduct research to further manage and understand the origins of chronic pain, which is defined as ongoing or recurrent pain that lasts beyond the usual course of acute illness or injury and that adversely affects the individual’s well-being.

For more information on Casa Colina Hospital, call (909) 596-7733, ext. 3900 or visit www.casacolina.org.