Recognizing The Types Of Pain
Pain is the unpleasant physical sensation associated with bodily harm. Feeling of pain is triggered in the nervous system, and one can feel it in any part of the body such as abdomen, chest, back or all over the body. The pain can be dull or sharp, and it be constant or may come and go. Having a pain is a good sign, as without pain, it is possible to get seriously hurt without even knowing about it. Many underlying medical problems are detected due to pain. Some pains are cured after taking the treatment or medication, however, sometimes the pain goes on for days, weeks or months. This is known as chronic pain, and is usually caused by the ongoing condition such as arthritis or cancer.
There are many different ways to treat the pain, and type of treatment depends on cause of pain.
Types of Pain
Most of the pain is caused by damage to the tissues in our body. Tissues that are usually damaged and cause pain are skin, muscle, internal organs or bone. Nerve pain or neuropathic pain are particularly intense, and are accompanied by strange sensations.
Somatic pain is well-localized pain resulting from activation of peripheral nociceptors without any injury to central nervous system or peripheral nerve. It is pain sensed by the nerves located in the skin and deep tissues. This type of pain is felt after exercising for a long period of time or when the muscle is stretched too far. On detecting the tissue damage, the nociceptors send the signal to brain.
Visceral pain is sensed by the nociceptors in the internal organs of abdominal cavity. The pain receptors send the signal of pain when damage is detected. Visceral pain is also described as generalized squeezing or aching, and is caused by organ compression. Visceral pain can also radiate to other parts of the body, and hence it becomes difficult to pinpoint the exact location.
Low back pain is the most common type of pain, and more than 80% of the people experience it at least once in their lifetime.
Acute pain and chronic pain are most common, and primary care practitioners see thousands of cases each day. In acute pain, the patient experiences pain due to damage to the tissue or some other body part that is crushed, inflamed or pinched in some way. Chronic pain is the defined as pain lasting more than six months.
You need to see your doctor if you suffer from unexplained, severe pain, muscle pain that lasts more than 3 days, have a rash or tick bit, have poor circulation in the area of muscle aches or you have sign of infection such as redness or swelling.
