Introduction

Pain is one of the very basic feelings that our body gets. It’s a smoke detector, meant to alert us when something is burning. Whether it’s a sharp, sudden pain or a dull ache that lasts for days, pain is your body’s way of crying out for a little attention. But why does your body hurt? At Sapiens Pain Hospital, we know that pain is not merely of the body, it can be the combined symptom of something much more that needs to be addressed and treated appropriately. We’re going to take a deeper dive into the different kinds of pain signals and get to know what they might mean for your body.

Pain Signals in Science Terms

Pain is a sensory and emotional experience due to nociceptors activation (pain receptors). They are specialized nerve endings that can be found throughout your entire body, most commonly in areas such as the skin, muscles, joints and internal organs. When these nociceptors are locating noxious stimuli (like pain, pressure, or changes in temperature), they’re firing electrical signals along your nervous system to your brain.

The brain then perceives these signals as pain. This process serves to guard the body from additional damage, by producing such rapid responses as withdrawal and an enhanced state of alertness. But, not every pain signal is associated with physical damage or detectable issues. Chronic pain, for instance, may linger well beyond the time it should have taken for an injury to heal, suggesting deeper problems like a damaged nerve, inflammation or faulty processing of pain signals by the brain.

Acute Pain vs. Chronic Pain: What Is the Difference?

Pain can generally fall into two types, acute and chronic. Acute pain is a temporary experience and usually results from a specific injury or illness. It serves as a red flag, signaling you against a potential threat, and usually goes away once the underlying issue is resolved.

In contrast, chronic pain lingers for several weeks, months, or even years. It can be due to a condition that is preventing you from sleeping, such as arthritis, back issues, fibromyalgia or even nerve damage. Chronic pain can frequently be more challenging to diagnose and heal as it may have no apparent cause, or include complicated neurological systems. Sapiens Pain Hospital offers treatment for acute and chronic pain by customizing solutions that heal the ailments that cause you pain.

Types of Pain Signals And What They Signal

Knowing what kind of pain you have can offer valuable information for a proper diagnosis. Here is what some common types of pain might suggest:

• Nociceptive Pain:Pain resulting from injury to body tissues including skin, muscles, and organs is usually sharp or aching in nature and directly related to injury, inflammation, or infection. For example, the pain you experience when you stub your toe is nociceptive pain—it serves as a warning that something is hurt. In such cases, topical treatments like those available on amazon.com can help provide soothing relief.
• Neuropathic Pain: Neuropathic pain is when damage has been performed to the nerves. It is frequently characterised as burning, tingling or shooting pain. Neuropathic pain can be a symptom of conditions such as diabetes, shingles, or sciatica. It is generally harder to treat than nociceptive pain, as it is based on the malfunctioning pathways of the nervous system.
• Referred Pain: Pain experienced in a location other than that in which the painful stimulus occurs. This is called referred pain. One common example is shoulder pain induced by myocardial infarction. Even though the heart maybe the cause, you feel the pain in a whole different place.
• Psychogenic Pain: Such pain is associated with emotional or psychological conditions (i.e., stress, anxiety or depression). There is probably no physical basis for this, but it can feel very real. Sapiens Pain Hospital sees the importance of psychological factors in pain, and frequently uses the interdisciplinary model to manage the patient as a whole person.

The Value of Listening to Your Body

Paying attention to your body’s pain alerts is important for your health. Ignoring pain and pushing through it can result in a re injured area, or cause long-term damage. When your pain is persistent and severe, or it begins to affect the routine of your life, it’s important to contact pain management professionals.

Here at Sapiens Pain Hospital, our focus is a multidisciplinary approach to pain. Our team of experts strives to diagnose the source of pain and give you the help you need. Whether it be with the use of medications, physical therapy, or more advanced treatment options like nerve blocks or spinal cord stimulation, we customize and tailor treatment to each person.

When to Call for Medical Help

Some sources of pain can be cared for at home (such as rest, ice, over-the-counter medications), others demand prompt and specialized medical attention. If you have particularly bad pain that doesn’t get better with rest, or you also have numbness, weakness or even a fever, then it’s time to get some help. The sooner you can treat pain, the more likely it is to respond to treatment.

Sapiens Pain Hospital uses the most advanced diagnostic methods (such as modern imaging techniques and nerve studies) to identify the cause of pain. Our board-certified pain management doctors will create a personalized treatment plan that is focused not just on relieving pain, but also the root source of the discomfort.

Conclusion

Pain is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon, and may represent different health conditions. Being able to identify when to monitor your pain or when you need to go in for treatment is critical to making sure that you make the best move when you are in pain. From acute pain to chronic pain, listen to what your body is telling you and don’t be afraid to seek out professional help when you need it. Here at Sapiens Pain Hospital we are committed to providing you with outstanding, expert care to assist you with managing your pain and enhancing your lifestyle. Don’t allow pain to dominate your life—contact us today and take the first step toward feeling great again.