Pain: Types, Causes and Treatment

Pain is a signal in the nervous system that something may be wrong — an unpleasant feeling such as a prick, tingle, sting, burn or ache. People feel pain differently, even when the cause is the same. It can be sharp or dull, mild or severe, constant or on and off, and felt in one area — the back, abdomen, chest or pelvis — or all over.

Pain serves a purpose: without it, you might badly hurt yourself without knowing, or miss a medical problem that needs treatment. Finding its cause helps a health care provider decide how to manage or treat it.

Types of pain

By how long and how often it occurs:

• Acute pain usually starts suddenly because of disease, injury or inflammation (irritation, redness and/or swelling). It's often sharp and acts as a warning, and usually goes away when the cause is treated or heals — though it can sometimes become chronic. Broken bones and dental problems are examples of causes.
• Chronic pain lasts more than three months, or longer than healing should take. It can affect every part of daily life, including mood and relationships. Arthritis and back problems are possible causes.
• Episodic pain comes and goes, and can occur with long-term conditions such as sickle cell disease or chronic migraines.

By likely cause:

• nociceptive — from tissue damage or inflammation;
• neuropathic — from nerve damage;
• nociplastic — from changes in how the nervous system processes pain.

Causes

Why pain happens, and why people feel it differently, can be hard to understand. The cause of acute pain from an injury is often easier to find than that of chronic pain; sometimes there is an ongoing cause, such as cancer, and sometimes no clear cause at all. Environmental factors and psychological ones, such as stress and beliefs about pain, can affect how pain feels and how it responds to treatment.

How pain is assessed

Only you know how your pain feels, so a provider relies on how you describe it. They may ask:

• where it is and how long you've had it;
• what it feels like — stinging, burning, sharp;
• how often it happens and when (morning, evening, all the time);
• what relieves it;
• how it affects daily life;
• whether it's mild, moderate or severe, and to rate it on a scale.

If the cause is unknown, a physical exam and blood or other tests may help find it.

Treatment

Pain can't always be cured, but there are many ways to manage it, depending on its cause and type:

• medicines, such as pain relievers;
• non-drug treatments, such as acupuncture and physical therapy, and sometimes surgery;
• lifestyle changes — a healthy diet, more exercise, weight loss, managing stress and improving mental health.

Sources

• MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine: "Pain," with information from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health.