Sore head gets compassion (10)
I believe the answer is:
tenderness
'compassion' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sore head' is the wordplay.
'sore' becomes 'tender' ('tender' can be a synonym of 'sore').
'head' becomes 'ness' (ness is a headland).
'tender'+'ness'='TENDERNESS'
'gets' is the link.
(Other definitions for tenderness that I've seen before include "Gentleness, sensitivity" , "sore?" , "Gentle quality" , "Compassion" , "Heart" .)