Methods and compositions for pain management

1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides novel methods and diagnostic kits for the objective measurement of the severity of pain or stress being experienced by a patient with a disorder, diagnosis and treatment for patients suffering from painful disorders, and monitoring the effectiveness of different pain-treatment protocols. Pain-measuring methods comprise collecting a sample from a patient and determining the presence of a pain-associated marker in the sample. Methods for alleviating pain comprise administrating a dose of a therapeutically effective amount of a composition to the patient wherein the dose is determined by the presence of a pain-associated marker in a biological sample obtained from the patient. Compositions for alleviating pain comprise substances that are pain-associated markers or agents that interfere with pain-associated markers, and block or modulate the progression of pain perceived by the patient.