anxiety increases as the time for administration of
Shockwaves approaches
Measurements of pahnar sweat dunng hthotnpsy contmued
to significantly mcrease (Pe determinmg fadors m mcreasmg the
level of pam (Flaherty & Fitzpatnck 1978) Thus, mtensity
of pain can be mfluenced by the presence of anxiety and the
pahent can find himself m a vicious arcle where fear
increases the perception of pam, discomforf increases the
percephon of pain and pam itself maeases the jjerception
of pam (Hough 1986)
The pahents who judged the treatment to be pamful also
felt they had been misled and "betrayed' by the medical
staff who had presented the treatment as a painless procedure
While acknowledgmg that the treatment was convenient
and relatively easy to perform without the need for
any anaesthetic or analgesic agents, pahents t)eheved it
was inaccurate to descnbe the techmque as pam free