REGEXP() Question

[Sheena Archambault]

Hello,
I'm somewhat new to REGEXP() and I'd like to know if there's a way to combine the following into a single REGEXP

($field REGEXP '[ .:,]".$term."[ .,:]'
OR $field = '".$term."'
OR $field REGEXP '[ .:,]".$term."$'
OR $field REGEXP '^".$term."[ .:,]' )" ;

Basically I want to find my search to find whole words/terms/numbers only. the term could have spaces on both sides, or could have a space on one side and a . or , or : on the other. Or the term could be the entire field, or at one end or the other of the field. I'd like to combine all this into a single REGEXP if possible.

Thank You!