Final answer:
Cutaneous stimulation involves applying tactile stimuli to the skin to relieve pain by manipulating the somatosensory system, for instance, through methods like acupuncture or topical analgesics. Dermatomes help define areas for targeted stimulation, which can modulate pain perception.
Step-by-step explanation:
A nurse using cutaneous stimulation to relieve a client's pain is employing a technique that involves applying various forms of tactile stimulation to the skin's surface. This method utilizes the body's somatosensory system, which includes the perception of touch, pressure, pain, temperature, and proprioception (the sense of position and motion). By understanding dermatomes—the skin's topographic regions that relate to the sensory nerve endings based on the spinal nerve that contains those fibers—a healthcare provider can adopt various stimuli to assess or modify sensation. For example, acupuncture, which is a form of alternative medicine for pain relief, can be a form of cutaneous stimulation.
Such stimulation might involve using the cotton tip of an applicator or a fingertip to assess tactile movement or to provide distraction from pain by activating other sensory fibers. Other methods may include the application of topical analgesics such as capsaicin, or thermal stimuli using cold objects like a tuning fork. It is important to perform these types of somatosensory tests in different dermatomes and at both distal and proximal locations to evaluate the spatial specificity of perception.