Pain Information
Pain Glossary
Allodynia
Pain due to a stimulus which does not normally provoke pain.
Analgesia
Absence of pain in response to stimulation which would normally be painful.
Anaesthesia Dolorosa
Pain in an area or region which is anesthetic
Causalgia
A syndrome of sustained burning pain, allodynia, and hyperpathia after a traumatic nerve lesion, often combined with vasomotor and sudomotor dysfunction and later trophic changes.
Central Pain
Pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction in the central nervous system
Dysaesthesias
An unpleasant abnormal sensation, whether spontaneous or evoked
Hyperalgesia
An increased response to a stimulus which is normally painful
Hyperesthesia
Increased sensitivity to stimulation, excluding the special senses
Hyperpathia
A painful syndrome characterized by an abnormally painful reaction to a stimulus, especially a repetitive stimulus, as well as an increased threshold
Hypalgesia
Diminished pain in response to a normally painful stimulus
Hypaesthesia
Decreased sensitivity to stimulation, excluding the special senses
Neuralgia
Pain in the distribution of a nerve or nerves
Neuritis
Inflammation of a nerve or nerves
Neurogenic Pain
Pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion, dysfunction, or transitory perturbation in the peripheral or central nervous system
Neuropathic Pain
Pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction in the nervous system
Neuropathy
A disturbance of function or pathological change in a nerve: in one nerve, mononeuropathy; in several nerves, mononeuropathy multiplex; if diffuse and bilateral, polyneuropathy
Nociceptor
A receptor preferentially sensitive to a noxious stimulus or to a stimulus which would become noxious if prolonged
Noxious Stimulus
A noxious stimulus is one which is damaging to normal tissues
Pain
An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.
Pain Threshold
The least experience of pain which a subject can recognize
Pain Tolerance Level
The greatest level of pain which a subject is prepared to tolerate
Paraesthesia
An abnormal sensation, whether spontaneous or evoked
Peripheral Neurogenic Pain
Pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction or transitory perturbation in the peripheral nervous system
Peripheral Neuropathic Pain
Pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction in the peripheral nervous system
More extensive information can be found on the IASP Pain Terminology web page and in Classification of Chronic Pain, Second Edition, IASP Task Force on Taxonomy, edited by H. Merskey and N. Bogduk, IASP Press, Seattle, © 1994
