• An unpleasant sensory and emotional

experience associated with actual or

potential tissue damage, or described
in terms of such damage (IASP, 2012)
• "Pain is whatever the experiencing
person says it is, and exists whenever
he says it does (McCaffrey, 2002).”
• Associated with many conditions

• Most common reason that people

seek medical attention
 Nociception

 Nociceptors

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 Transduction:
 Transmission:
 Perception: awareness of pain

 Modulation:

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 Neuromodulators

 Excitatory neurotransmitters in CNS and PNS

 Inhibitory neurotransmitters

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 Pain threshold

 Perceptual dominance

 Pain tolerance

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 Morphinelike neuropeptides
 Bind with opioid receptors to inhibit pain
impulses in periphery, spinal cord, and brain

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 Mostprevalent natural opioids
 Endorphins in our body

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 Classifiedas escanoids
 Synthesized from phospholipids
 Cannabis produces a resin containing
cannabinoids

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 Descending inhibitory or facilitory pathway

 Segmental inhibition of pain

 Diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC)

 Placebo effect-

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 Protective mechanism

 Transient
 Beginssuddenly and relieved after pain
stimulus removed

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 Acute somatic
 Results from noxious stimuli to skin, joints,
tendons and muscles

 Acute visceral
 Noxious stimuli in the internal organs and lining
of body cavities

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 Referredpain- pain felt in another part of
the body apart from where it first occurred.

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 May be persistent or intermittent
 May be sudden or develop insidiously
 Usually defined as lasting at least 3 to 6
months

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 Chronic and intractable
 Amplification of pain without stimulation

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• Phantom pain

• Intractable pain
1. A 15-year-old male hits his finger while
hammering a nail. Which of the following
best describes the type of pain he would
feel?

A. Visceral pain
B. Somatic pain
C. Chronic pain
D. Neuropathic pain

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