Health, Medicine
Types and characteristics of pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation that is accompanied by emotional experiences caused by real, possible or psychogenic damage to the body tissue.
What kind of pain?
The significance of pain lies in its signaling and pathogenic functions. This means that when a potential or real threat of damage appears to the body, then it communicates this to the brain with the help of unpleasant (painful) echoes.
Pain sensations are divided into two types:
- Acute pain, which are characterized by relative short-term and specific connection with tissue damage;
- Chronic pain, manifested during the period of tissue repair.
Types of pain | Causes of development |
Somatic | Lesion of soft tissues, bones, muscle spasm |
Visceral | The defeat of parenchymal and hollow organs, overgrowth, carcinomatosis of serous membranes, ascites, hydrothorax, constipation |
Neuropathic | Damage (compression) of nervous structures |
On the localization of pain are:
- Anal;
- Gynecological, menstrual, birth, ovulatory;
- Head, eye and dental;
- Thoracic;
- Gastric;
- Intestinal;
- Intercostal;
- Muscular;
- Renal;
- Lumbar;
- Sciatic;
- Heart;
- Pelvic;
- Other pains.
Headache
Headache is one of the most common types of pain.
It is divided into the following main groups:
- Cardiovascular;
- Muscular tension;
- Liquorodynamic;
- Neuralgic;
- Psihalgicheskaya;
- Mixed.
Some of the groups have their own subtypes. But even so, the classification of pain according to the nature of the flow and the pathophysiological mechanism is used to diagnose it.
Name | Characteristics of pain |
Migraine | Pulsating headache, similar to an attack. There are frequent relapses |
Tension headache | The most common pain occurs in acute and chronic form. Symptoms include muscle tension, psychogenic or chronic cephalalgia |
Post-traumatic | Acute or chronic headaches that have occurred as a result of traumatic brain injury |
Vascular headache | Appears as a result of changes in the state of veins and arteries of the skull and brain: stroke, subdural or epidural hematomas and the like |
Liquorodynamic | Symptoms include: low or high blood pressure |
Abuzusnaya | Is the result of the abuse of drugs or narcological substances and alcohol or the cessation of their use |
Beam pain | Symptoms: attacks of severe unilateral pain of varying duration and frequency |
Associated with impaired metabolism | Symptoms: hypercapnia, hypoxia, hypoglycaemia |
Associated with structural changes in the structure of the neck and head | It is the result of various diseases of the neck, eyes, skull, oral cavity and so on |
Neuralgic | It is the result of nerve irritation during the endoneural or extra-neural process. Characteristic of the appearance of zones that provoke a pain attack |
Other cases that can not be classified | Cases of non-traditional and "mixed" type |
Pain in the region of the heart
Heart pain causes a lot more cause for concern than others. After all, their consequences can be very serious.
Most often, heart pain is accompanied by:
- Weakness;
- Heart palpitations;
- Severe sweating;
- A feeling of lack of air.
The pain itself can be of different nature:
- Acute;
- Stupid;
- Stitching;
- Pulling;
- Pressing;
- Compressive;
- constant;
- Paroxysmal.
A type | Characteristics of pain |
Antiginoid pain | The heart receives insufficient amounts of oxygen and nutrients. Pain occurs during exercise or emotional excitement Symptoms : short-term pain, giving up under the scapula, in the left shoulder or lower jaw |
Infarction | Symptoms : prolonged intense pain, which is accompanied by heavy sweating, shortness of breath, blushing |
Cardialgia | This type of pain can be both a symptom of heart diseases such as arrhythmia, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, and complications of intercostal neuralgia Pain occurs with various body movements |
Acquired heart disease | There is a relative lack of coronary blood circulation and disorders of metabolic processes in the myocardium Symptoms : pain in the precordial region (middle and lower parts of the chest) |
Arterial hypertension | Symptoms : prolonged aching pain in the precordial region, caused by increased blood pressure |
Types of abdominal pain
Pain in the abdomen is quite common. It can have a completely different character: be associated with diseases of the digestive system or caused by psychogenic factors.
Classification of pain | Description | |
By origin | Visceral | It manifests itself in the form of colic of varying intensity in the region of the middle part of the abdomen |
The parietal | Long-term cutting pain, accompanied by tension of abdominal muscles and increased pain in body movements | |
Psychogenic | Caused by the degree of suspiciousness of a person and is the result of a stressful situation | |
Neurogenic | More often pains burning and shooting character, appearing at change of temperature of an environment or touches to an angular point | |
By intensity in time | Increasing | Different intensity can be caused by the type of the disease, and its features (severity) |
Constant | ||
Decreasing | ||
Intermittent | ||
By the nature of sensations | Bracing | The result of limited gut lumen narrowing |
Constant | The result of a progressive inflammatory process in the abdominal cavity | |
By duration | Sharp | Lasts from a few minutes to a day. Characteristic of new diseases (eg, inflammation of appendicitis) |
Chronic | Lasts from three months or more. Characteristic for chronic diseases: gastritis, ulcers, gall bladder, pancreatitis |
Pain with gastritis. Description
Such a disease, like gastritis, is quite common in the modern world. It is associated with inflammation of the gastric mucosa due to the appearance in the body of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, as well as such harmful habits as smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol, improper nutrition and stressful situations.
Form of manifestation of gastritis | Description | |
Acute form | Simple or catarrhal gastritis | Sudden and severe pain when eating a poor-quality food or an allergic reaction to a product |
Erosive or corrosive gastritis | Sudden and severe pain in the abdomen when chemicals hit the stomach | |
Phlegmonous gastritis | Consequence of purulent inflammation of the stomach | |
Fibrinous gastritis | A rare form of gastritis, which is the result of blood poisoning | |
Chronic form | It manifests itself in the primary disease or transition from acute to chronic |
Symptoms of acute gastritis:
- Acute paroxysmal pain;
- heartburn;
- Vomiting;
- Increased saliva production;
- Constipation or diarrhea;
- tachycardia;
- Hemorrhage in the stomach.
Symptoms of chronic gastritis:
- loss of appetite;
- Unpleasant odor from the mouth;
- Heaviness in the abdomen after eating;
- Vomiting;
- Lack of hemoglobin.
Pain in pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is the process of inflammation of the pancreas .
Symptoms :
- Strong girdle pain in the left and right hypochondrium and epigastric region;
- Vomiting;
- Stool disorder;
- General weakness;
- Dizziness.
Type of pancreatitis | Description |
Reactive | The result of pancreatic lesions in children |
Acute | The consequence of excessive entrainment of unhealthy food (fatty, acute) and alcohol Symptoms : acute shin pain, vomiting, weakness |
Chronic | The disease develops slowly with such symptoms as periodic aching pain in the stomach, vomiting, nausea |
Pain in liver disease
Unpleasant sensations in the liver can be caused by the following diseases:
- Hepatitis;
- Cirrhosis;
- A tumor;
- An abscess;
- Steatosis.
What are the pains in the liver? The character of the arising pains under the right hypochondrium is aching and prolonged, they have the property to intensify even with small physical exertion, the use of harmful food (fatty, spicy, fried, sweet), alcohol and cigarettes. There may also be nausea, eructations and an unpleasant odor from the mouth.
In severe forms of the disease, the main symptoms are accompanied by itching in different areas of the body, vascular sprouts, yellowish skin color and its peeling.
Pain in the kidneys
It is impossible to accurately determine whether the pain is directly related to the kidneys or it is only the echoes of other diseases in the back and right side. For this, it is necessary to identify other symptoms:
- Pain is blunt and aching;
- Unilateral pain;
- Increased body temperature;
- Violation of urination.
Causes | Description | Kind of pain |
Kidney stones or urolithiasis | The stones enter the ureter and interfere with the flow of urine, which because of this comes back to the kidney, which leads to its edema | Wave-shaped, very strong, can spread not only to the right, but also to the left side, lower abdomen, groin |
Renal infection, pyelonephritis |
There is edema of the kidneys because of getting into them an infection with a blood flow from any source of inflammation: furuncle, uterus and its appendages, intestines, lungs, bladder | Sharp, aching. It is almost impossible to touch any area of pain |
Kidney bleeding | May be the result of a serious injury or cessation of blood supply to the kidney due to renal artery thromboembolism | Dull aching |
Nephroptosis or a budding kidney | The kidney goes down, and it begins to move around its axis, which leads to the inflection of blood vessels and the violation of blood circulation. Women have a greater predisposition to this disease | Dull pain in the lumbar region |
Renal insufficiency | Kidneys partially or completely stop doing their work because of a violation of water-electrolyte balance in the body | At different stages of pain can be different: from noisy to acute |
Pain in the muscles
Myalgia - different in location and origin of muscle pain. What is the symptomatology of this ailment?
With myalgia pain sensations are divided into two types:
- Aching, pressing and dull pain in the muscles;
- General muscle weakness, pain with pressure, nausea, dizziness.
The appearance of pain in the muscles is associated with nervous stress, psychological and emotional overload, overwork, physical stress, exposure to cold and dampness. One or more factors cause spasms of the muscle tissue, which, in turn, leads to clamping the nerve endings, which provokes pain.
Also, cases when myalgia occurs against the background of chronic fatigue, which leads to the accumulation in the tissues of muscles of the under-oxidized metabolic products, are also not uncommon.
A more dangerous scenario, when myalgia itself is a symptom of infectious diseases or rheumatism.
A special point for consideration is muscle pain after training, which for many athletes is one of the criteria for successful physical exercises.
Types of muscle pain after exercise:
- The usual mild is the most common pain that occurs after intense training. The source is microtraumas and microfractures of muscle fibers and an overabundance of lactic acid in them . This pain is normal and lasts about two to three days on average. Her presence means that you did a good job last time.
- Delayed pain that appears in the muscles a couple of days after physical exertion. Usually such a state is characteristic after the change of the training program: its complete change or increase in loads. The duration of this pain from a day to four.
- Pain due to injuries is the result of a minor injury or serious problems (for example, muscle rupture). Symptoms: redness of the injury site, its swelling, aching pain. The norm is not, urgent medical measures are needed, which are minimum in applying a compress to the injured place.
Pain in fights
One of the symptoms of approaching labor is contractions. Description of the pain varies from pulling to sharp in the waist and extending to the lower abdomen and thigh.
The peak pain of labor falls at a time when the uterus begins to contract even more, so that the uterine pharynx opens. The process begins with visceral pain that is difficult to localize. The cervix gradually opens, causing the water to flow and the baby's head to drop. It begins to press on the muscles of the vagina, the cervix and the sacral plexus. The nature of the pain changes to intense, piercing and sharp, more concentrated in the pelvic area.
Contractions can last from three to twelve hours (in rare cases - even longer) and be accompanied by pain of varying degrees. Considerable role in their sensations is played by the psychological state of the woman in labor - it is necessary to understand that this process brings you closer to a meeting with your baby.
And finally, most psychologists tend to believe that many pains are our excessive suspiciousness. Even if it is so, whatever character your painful sensations are, it is better to see a doctor and take a preventive examination.
Similar articles
Trending Now