How you feel pain?
Jabbing, throbbing, burning, stinging, tingling, nagging
or aching — pain comes in many forms.
Acute pain warns of tissue damage. It's the type of pain
that generally accompanies illness, injury or surgery.
It may be mild and last just a moment, such as pain from a
sting. Or it can be severe and last for weeks or months, as
pain from a burn, a pulled muscle or a broken bone sometimes
does.
How you feel pain is a complicated phenomenon. Your individual
experience of pain is part biology, but it's also influenced by
a range of psychological and cultural factors. In fact, despite
years of research, questions still remain about exactly what
happens between the moment you stub your toe and the moment
you utter 'ouch' — or some other choice word.
How pain messages travel?
Pain basically results from a series of exchanges among
three major components of your nervous system:
-Your peripheral nerves. Your peripheral (pe-RIF-er-ul)
nerves extend from your spinal cord to your skin, muscles
and internal organs.
-Your spinal cord. The nerve fibers that transmit pain
messages — such as the throbbing pain from that stubbed
toe — enter the spinal cord in an area called the dorsal
horn.
-Your brain. When news of your stubbed toe travels up the
spinal cord, it arrives at the thalamus — a sorting and
switching station located deep inside your brain.
Severe pain grabs your attention more quickly and generally
produces a greater physical response than mild pain. The location
of your pain also can affect your perception of pain. A headache
that interferes with your ability to work or concentrate may be
more bothersome — and therefore receive a stronger response —
than arthritic pain in your knee or a cut to your finger.
How you feel chronic pain?
When pain persists beyond the time expected for an injury to
heal or an illness to end, it can become a chronic condition.
No longer is the pain viewed as just the symptom of another
disease, but as an illness unto itself. Pain is generally described
as chronic when it lasts six months or longer.
As with acute pain, chronic pain can feel tingling, jolting,
burning, dull, aching or sharp. It may remain constant, or it
can come and go, like the pain of migraines.
Sometimes, chronic pain is due to a chronic condition, such as
arthritis, which produces painful inflammation in your joints.
Occasionally, chronic pain may stem from an accident, infection
or surgery that damages a peripheral or spinal nerve. This type
of nerve pain is called neuropathic (noor-o-PATH-ik) pain — meaning
the damaged nerve, not the original injury, is causing the pain.
Neuropathic pain can also result from diseases such as diabetes or
in the aftermath of shingles (postherpetic neuralgia).
Occasionally, the cause of chronic pain isn't well understood. There
may be no evidence of disease or damage to tissues that doctors can
directly link to pain. Or pain may remain after the original injury
shows every indication of being healed.
Pain researchers are focused on identifying the biology that underlies
sensitization. They're also investigating other genetic and psychological
factors behind how you feel pain, with the goal of developing new and
better pain treatments.
SEE OUR PRODUCT LIST
or aching — pain comes in many forms.
Acute pain warns of tissue damage. It's the type of pain
that generally accompanies illness, injury or surgery.
It may be mild and last just a moment, such as pain from a
sting. Or it can be severe and last for weeks or months, as
pain from a burn, a pulled muscle or a broken bone sometimes
does.
How you feel pain is a complicated phenomenon. Your individual
experience of pain is part biology, but it's also influenced by
a range of psychological and cultural factors. In fact, despite
years of research, questions still remain about exactly what
happens between the moment you stub your toe and the moment
you utter 'ouch' — or some other choice word.
How pain messages travel?
Pain basically results from a series of exchanges among
three major components of your nervous system:
-Your peripheral nerves. Your peripheral (pe-RIF-er-ul)
nerves extend from your spinal cord to your skin, muscles
and internal organs.
-Your spinal cord. The nerve fibers that transmit pain
messages — such as the throbbing pain from that stubbed
toe — enter the spinal cord in an area called the dorsal
horn.
-Your brain. When news of your stubbed toe travels up the
spinal cord, it arrives at the thalamus — a sorting and
switching station located deep inside your brain.
Severe pain grabs your attention more quickly and generally
produces a greater physical response than mild pain. The location
of your pain also can affect your perception of pain. A headache
that interferes with your ability to work or concentrate may be
more bothersome — and therefore receive a stronger response —
than arthritic pain in your knee or a cut to your finger.
How you feel chronic pain?
When pain persists beyond the time expected for an injury to
heal or an illness to end, it can become a chronic condition.
No longer is the pain viewed as just the symptom of another
disease, but as an illness unto itself. Pain is generally described
as chronic when it lasts six months or longer.
As with acute pain, chronic pain can feel tingling, jolting,
burning, dull, aching or sharp. It may remain constant, or it
can come and go, like the pain of migraines.
Sometimes, chronic pain is due to a chronic condition, such as
arthritis, which produces painful inflammation in your joints.
Occasionally, chronic pain may stem from an accident, infection
or surgery that damages a peripheral or spinal nerve. This type
of nerve pain is called neuropathic (noor-o-PATH-ik) pain — meaning
the damaged nerve, not the original injury, is causing the pain.
Neuropathic pain can also result from diseases such as diabetes or
in the aftermath of shingles (postherpetic neuralgia).
Occasionally, the cause of chronic pain isn't well understood. There
may be no evidence of disease or damage to tissues that doctors can
directly link to pain. Or pain may remain after the original injury
shows every indication of being healed.
Pain researchers are focused on identifying the biology that underlies
sensitization. They're also investigating other genetic and psychological
factors behind how you feel pain, with the goal of developing new and
better pain treatments.
SEE OUR PRODUCT LIST
