Understanding Pain: Classifications and Causes

Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2024/08/06
Publication Type: Informative
Topic: Pain: Acute and Chronic - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: List of the major types of pain including explanations of each type and subtype. The sensation of pain divides into four main categories: acute pain, nociceptive pain, chronic pain, and neuropathic pain.

Defining Pain

Pain: The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage. In medical diagnosis, pain is a symptom of an underlying condition. Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system. Pain may be sharp or dull. It may come and go, or it may be constant. Pain is mediated by specific nerve fibers that carry the pain impulses to the brain, where many factors may modify their conscious appreciation. Pain can help diagnose a problem. Without pain, you might seriously hurt yourself without knowing it, or you might not realize you have a medical concern that needs treatment. Once you take care of the issue, the pain usually goes away. However, sometimes pain lasts for weeks, months, or even years. This is called chronic pain. Sometimes chronic pain is due to an ongoing cause, such as cancer or arthritis.

Introduction

Pain is the most common reason for physician consultation in most developed countries. It is a significant symptom in many medical conditions and can interfere with a person's quality of life and general functioning.

Focus

Pain is a complex and multifaceted experience that can be classified in various ways based on its duration, origin, and underlying mechanisms. The primary types of pain are:

Psychogenic Pain

Also called psychalgia or somatoform pain is physical pain caused, increased, or prolonged by mental, emotional, or behavioral factors. Headache, back pain, or stomach pain are some of the most common types of psychogenic pain.

Phantom Pain

The pain sensation from a limb or organ that has been lost or from which a person no longer receives physical signals. Phantom limb pain is an experience almost universally reported by amputees and quadriplegics. Phantom pain is neuropathic pain.

Acute Pain

Pain that comes on quickly can be severe but lasts a relatively short period. Unlike chronic pain. Acute pain warns of disease or a threat to the body.

Chronic Pain

Defined as pain that persists longer than the temporal course of natural healing, associated with a particular type of injury or disease process. Chronic pain impairs the ability to direct attention, particularly compared to peers with low intensity or no chronic pain; people with high-intensity chronic pain have significantly reduced ability to perform attention-demanding tasks.

One of the hardest things about chronic pain is that only you know how bad the pain feels. There are no tests that reveal how much you are suffering. Often, no outward signs show how much a person is in pain.

Nociceptive Pain

Pain caused by damage to body tissue, often described as sharp, aching, or throbbing. Subtypes include:

Somatic Pain: Originates from skin, muscles, joints, connective tissues, and bones.
Visceral Pain: Originates from internal organs. Harder to localize and often described as deep, squeezing, or cramping.

Examples: Sprained ankle, cuts, burns, and inflammatory conditions like arthritis.

Neuropathic Pain

Pain caused by damage to the nerves or other parts of the nervous system. Often described as shooting, stabbing, or burning. Can cause hypersensitivity to touch and temperature changes. Examples: Sciatica, shingles, diabetic neuropathy, and trigeminal neuralgia.

Radicular Pain

Specific type of neuropathic pain that occurs when a spinal nerve gets compressed or inflamed, radiating from the back and hip into the leg(s). Examples: Sciatica (pain due to the sciatic nerve being affected)

Nociplastic Pain

Pain that arises from altered nociception despite no clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage or disease affecting the somatosensory system. Often seen in conditions like fibromyalgia and some types of chronic pain syndromes.

Breakthrough Pain

Sudden and brief flare-ups of pain that occur despite ongoing pain management. For example, cancer pain that breaks through the effects of medication.

Pain Scale Chart: 1 to 10 Levels: Pain scale diagram and chart that includes an explanation of each of the one to ten classified pain levels.

Author Credentials: Ian is an Australian-born writer, editor, and advocate who currently resides in Montreal, Canada. He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.