Pain has many faces. It can be pulsing, aching, sharp, dull or even drilling. The differentiation of these different forms of manifestation is crucial for the treatment, since it provides clues about the cause of the pain and the place where it originates from.
Which is why pain is subdivided once again into types of pain. They can be classified as nociceptive, neuropathic and psychogenic pains based on their cause and location.
Nociceptive Pain
Pain which is triggered by an injury or tissue damage is referred to as nociceptive pain. Receptors known as nociceptors are activated in the process. Nociceptors are “pain feelers” of sorts which detect pain stimuli and transmit them to the central nervous system.
Feelings of pain which emanate from the skin, muscles, joints, bones or connective tissue are referred to as somatic pain. They are sharp in nature and are usually easy to locate. If the pain is triggered by the inner organs, such as in the case of appendicitis, it is known as a visceral pain. Visceral pain is often dull, aching and rather difficult to locate.
Neuropathic Pain
In contrast to nociceptive pain, the pain is not triggered by tissue damage, but damage or a functional disorder in the nerve itself. The pain can be described as burning, sharp and shooting. Triggers for neuropathic pain include metabolic disorders like diabetes, infectious diseases such as shingles or nerve damage caused by surgery or trauma.
Psychogenic Pain
This form of pain is not based on any organic causes. Psychogenic pain is triggered by psychological problems. But this can be difficult to diagnose.
Before a diagnosis can be made, all organic causes (i.e. all physically detectable causes) must first be ruled out. For the patient, this often means a long and also frustrating route to the correct diagnosis and thus a long route to effectively treating the pain.
M-N/A-UK-03-24-0010 - March 2024