(HealthDayNews) -- Infants -- particularly tiny ones born with a low birth weight -- don't have many ways to communicate distress. But there are some clues.
Members of the British Columbia Research Institute for Children's and Women's Health in Vancouver observed 64 preterm babies to see how they responded to pain. Among other factors, they monitored the babies' heart rate, which is a good indicator of pain.
As reported in the Clinical Journal of Pain, when a preemie jumps, twitches or squirms, that's usually not a sign of discomfort. It's just normal movement. On the other hand, when a preemie spreads his fingers or extends his legs, that's a sign of pain.
And when a preemie raises his eyebrows, it doesn't indicate immediate pain -- but it does suggest that the infant has been in pain within the past 24 hours, and that he's still recovering from it.
