A deeply subjective, sensory and emotional experience. A warning system, the signal that pain is sending to our control centre is in essence ‘hey guys, something’s up’. Pain is a complex neurophysiological phenomenon, an unpleasant sensation. Classed as either acute or chronic, pain is typically described as being somatic, neuropathic or visceral.
Acute and chronic pain:
Short lived pain with a well defined onset? Acute pain. (like when you stub your toe)
Persistent pain associated with seemingly unending worsening (degenerative or chronic pathological process i.e. arthritis)? Chronic pain (like endo)
Somatic, Neuropathic and Visceral pain:
Sharp, stabbing and localized? Somatic pain.
Shooting, electric, burning and numbing? Neuropathic pain. Often the result of nerves being stimulated or compressed.
Dull, aching, poorly localized? Visceral pain.
How do we sense pain? The part of the brain involved with pain perception and interpretation is the thalamus, which is part of the limbic system. Smell analysis takes place in the limbic system too, so smells can affect our perception of pain! When we feel fear, guilt, anxiety, pain is worsened. When we feel relaxed and pleasure, pain is decreased.
When pain becomes prolonged, our nervous system overworked, often things that shouldn’t cause pain or be painful, are very much that!
See Pain Hypersensitivity to Central Sensitization; Endometriosis is one of the most painful diseases, here’s the neuroscience.
See our programmes for the know-how on pain perception alteration.