logo logo2 guarantee
     
Click HerePainwave
What is the Painwave?
 How it Works
 Uses
 Success Stories
Guarantee
 Order Now
 Research
 Instructions
 HOME
Click HereTypes of Pain
Chronic Pain
 Acute Pain
 Back Pain
 Other Pain
 Sports Injuries
Click HereX4000 V's TENS
X4000 V's TENS
Click HereYour Questions
Your Questions
Click HereAbout Us
About Us
Click HereContact Us
Contact Us
success
 

Other Pain

  • Cutaneous pain is caused by injury to the skin or superficial tissues. Cutaneous nociceptors terminate just below the skin, and due to the high concentration of nerve endings, produce a well-defined, localized pain of short duration. Examples of injuries that produce cutaneous pain include paper cuts, minor cuts, minor (first degree) burns and lacerations.
  • Somatic pain originates from ligaments, tendons, bones, blood vessels, and even nerves themselves. It is detected with somatic nociceptors. The scarcity of pain receptors in these areas produces a dull, poorly-localized pain of longer duration than cutaneous pain; examples include sprains and broken bones. Myofascial pain usually is caused by trigger points in muscles, tendons and fascia, and may be local or referred.
  • Visceral pain originates from body's viscera, or organs. Visceral nociceptors are located within body organs and internal cavities. The even greater scarcity of nociceptors in these areas produces pain that is usually more aching and of a longer duration than somatic pain. Visceral pain is extremely difficult to localize, and several injuries to visceral tissue exhibit "referred" pain, where the sensation is localized to an area completely unrelated to the site of injury. Myocardial ischaemia (the loss of blood flow to a part of the heart muscle tissue) is possibly the best known example of referred pain; the sensation can occur in the upper chest as a restricted feeling, or as an ache in the left shoulder, arm or even hand. "The brain freeze" is another example of referred pain, in which the vagus nerve is cooled by cold inside the throat. Referred pain can be explained by the findings that pain receptors in the viscera also excite spinal cord neurons that are excited by cutaneous tissue. Since the brain normally associates firing of these spinal cord neurons with stimulation of somatic tissues in skin or muscle, pain signals arising from the viscera are interpreted by the brain as originating from the skin. The theory that visceral and somatic pain receptors converge and form synapses on the same spinal cord pain-transmitting neurons is called "Ruch's Hypothesis".
  • Neuropathic pain, or "neuralgia", can occur as a result of injury or disease to the nerve tissue itself. This can disrupt the ability of the sensory nerves to transmit correct information to the thalamus, and hence the brain interprets painful stimuli even though there is no obvious or known physiologic cause for the pain. Neuropathic pain is, as stated above, the disease of pain. It is not the sole definition for chronic pain, but does meet its criteria.

  • Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is the terminology for a group of injuries which affects the muscles, tendons and nerves of the upper body mainly - including neck and arms. 
     
    There are two main types of RSI:
    Named Conditions which include tenosynovitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, tennis elbow, De Quervain's Syndrome amongst others.
    Non-specific pain syndrome (Diffuse RSI) where a raft of symptoms exist without any specific site of pain.
    The most common symptom presentation for RSI includes: general aches and pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, weakness and cramps (which can also occur in lower limbs). RSI is caused by a combination of musculoskeletal overuse and operational repetition, inappropriate posture, repetitive actions linked to insufficient breaks and recovery time. Attendant stress is often a contributing factor, some of which is exacerbated by the condition itself.