There are two major types of pain: nociceptive and neuropathic. It is helpful to consider nociceptive pain that which one experiences when an injury occurs. It is the pain of a strain, a broken bone or bruise, for example. Nociceptive pain results from either tissue injury or potential tissue injury. The other type of pain is neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain occurs when changes occur in the nervous system that allow aberrant transmission. It is the pain after shingles or from a diabetic neuropathy, for example. Neuropathic pain is often described in terms of abnormal sensations such as hot, cold, shocking, burning or numb.

Nociceptive pain:

Neuropathic pain: hot, cold, shocking, burning, electrical or numb

Mixed pain syndromes:

The determination of nociceptive versus neuropathic pain is very important in terms of treatment. Narcotic/opioid pain medications address only nociceptive pain. The neuropathic pain syndrome often is harder to treat, worsens over time without treatment, and requires special agents for treatment. There are actually no medications specifically made for neuropathic pain, but certain anti-epileptics, anti-depressants, heart medications and a few other unique agents can effectively treat neuropathic pain. The use of medications such as anti-epileptics or heart medications for neuropathic pain may be confusing both to the patient and to the insurance carrier, as it may seem unclear at first why such agents are being used for pain.

Definitions coming soon:

Allodynia

Hyperalgesia

RSD (Reflex sympathetic dystrophy)

CRPS (Chronic regional pain syndrome)