Breaking Down the Definition of Pain

Pain, according to the International Association for the Study of Pain, is defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.” Let’s break down some key components of this definition.

1. “Sensory and emotional experience.” Pain is bigger than just the negative feeling in your body. Pain can be associated with fear, anger, sadness, grief, anxiety, and many other emotions. The association is reciprocal - pain can generate an emotional experience and an emotional experience can generate pain. The emotions of a situation can also enhance the pain experience. For example, imagine you stub your toe while running late for work with a crying baby. In the stress of this moment, that pain is much worse than stubbing stubbing your toe on a quiet Saturday morning. Same pain trigger, different pain experience when experienced in an emotionally-heightened setting.   

2. “Actual or potential tissue damage.” Pain is experienced in the body in response to a perceived threat, either in the body or the environment. For example, when you fall and break a bone, there is an immediate pain response to alert you that your body is in imminent danger. This response is crucial to our survival - we need to know when something is wrong with the body. However, we also experience pain/discomfort after a heavy workout. This is the body saying “hey - there might be something wrong here and I would like you to pay attention to it.” In summary, the experience of pain does not automatically mean something is physically wrong with the body.

3. “Resembling that associated with.” This element of the definition highlights that pain can be experienced in the absence of a true threat to the physical body and   still be real pain. This situation arises when the brain is perceiving an emotional or environmental threat and presenting pain as a means to summon your attention. From the outside, the pain presentation is the same as when the body is structurally compromised. On the inside, however, this looks like normal imaging and testing, normal strength, and normal movement. This looks like the doctors maybe not having a good explanation for the symptoms. While these symptoms are provoked by the brain, by definition, it’s not all in your head - this pain is real pain.

The key takeaway: pain is a complex experience that is influenced by the body, the mind, and the external environment. No one should be navigating pain alone. Do you need help finding the source of your pain? Physio Therapy Solutions can help! Contact Ashleigh for an individualized, one on one evaluation today. Chronic pain doesn’t have to be chronic.

Phone: 440-768-4788

Email: ptsolutions.ashleigh@icloud.com