5 Types of bodily pain – Marietta, GA

Generally, pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is not right with it. The purpose of pain is to make you uncomfortable so you would know that you are injured and sick and will take action to treat it.

The pain is a spectrum, which means its perception varies from person to person. One individual might have a bone broken in their body and not even realise it immediately. On the other hand, another person might feel an intense amount of pain from the same injury.

Since everyone has a different body, their nerve fibres and brain respond differently to the same stimuli (an injury or act that causes pain). Therefore, the pain perception and pain tolerance is also different in every body.

There are 5 common types of pain but some pains can fit into more than one category, which means there is overlapping. We will try to make it as simple as we can to help you understand.

You might have heard about acute pain. Relatively, acute pain means the pain that is for a short duration. And this short duration can be anywhere from a few minutes to three months, sometimes even up to six months. It all depends on the severity of the pain and how it was caused.

It is critical that acute pain is treated properly if it is caused by an injury, otherwise it can evolve into chronic pain, which is explained below.

A direct opposite of acute pain, chronic pain is the one that is longer in duration. It can be constant or can occur at regular intervals. For instance, if you have been experiencing headaches for months or years intermittently, they can be considered chronic, even if the pain is currently not present.

Neuropathic pain occurs when the nerves and other parts of the nervous system are damaged. Burning and stabbing pain, as it is commonly described as, makes you sensitive to touch and makes it difficult for you to differentiate between hot and cold.

Commonly a chronic pain, neuropathic pain may be intermittent or it can be so severe that it occurs that it can create difficulty in performing everyday’s tasks.

Nociceptive pain is caused when body tissue is damaged. Often described as sharp or throbbing pain, it is often caused by external injury. For instance, hitting your elbow, stubbing your toe, scraping your knee, etc.

The most commonly affected parts in this pain are joints, skin, muscles, tendons, and bones. It can either be acute or chronic.

It occurs due to the inflammation or compression of the nerve. It radiates from the back and hip to legs through spine and spinal nerve root (radiculopathy). The symptoms include tingling, muscle weakness, and numbness.

This kind of pain is commonly known as sciatica (due to the effect on the sciatic nerve). People usually feel this pain steadily in the leg, and walking, sitting, and other activities can worsen the pain.

Those were the most common types of pain. If you experience pain anywhere with any amount of intensity, don’t shrug it off. Visit Marietta pain clinic and consult a doctor.

Keep up with the top stories from Reader’s Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.