Whether it’s dull or sharp, or no matter which part of your body it occurs, such as head, back, or legs, pain can make life difficult and miserable for you. Pains are of multiple types, and have varying causes for them to occur. The pain that you are able to push away from you could be incapacitating to someone else. Here, we have described briefly about different types of pains, how they distinguish from one another, and how can you get treatment for them.
Different types of pains
Nociceptive pain: Nociceptive pain is caused by the activation of nociceptors in the body by the harmful stimuli. The pain is caused to protect the body from harm and danger.
Neuropathic pain: Neuropathic pain is caused by injury to the nerves that send the sensation of pain to the brain. It is typically described as sharp and shooting, and is often more intense than other common types of pains.
Psychogenic pain: The pain is associated with some degree of psychological disturbance. The causative effects of psychogenic pain include depression, anxiety, and stress.
Acute pain: This is the normal and temporary response of your body to alert your brain about an injury. Acute pain can vary greatly in intensity, so the treatment will have to be based on the individual need of each person.
Chronic pain: The pain will continue longer than the acute pain, and may last for up to 12 weeks, or even more. It can persist for extended periods of time without improvement.
Breakthrough pain: The person will experience episodes of acute pain that usually occurs when taking analgesic medications to manage their chronic pain. It is called so due to the breakthrough effect of the relief from the pain for a short period of time.
Inflammatory pain: It is caused due to abnormal inflammation caused by an inappropriate response by the body’s immune system. It can be triggered due to causes like gout and rheumatoid arthritis.
Functional pain: The pain occurs without any obvious origin. It can be caused due to conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia.
Somatic pain: It often results from the stimulation of pain receptors in tissues such as skin, joints, muscles, and bones. The pain is usually localized, the individual will describe it as aching, throbbing and gnawing.
Visceral pain: Visceral pain results from the stimulation of pain receptors in your internal organs. It is felt by the person around their chest, abdomen, or pelvis. The pain is usually vague and described as aching, pressure, squeezing, cramping,
Central pain syndrome (CPS): This chronic pain stems from the damage to your central nervous system. It can be debilitating, and may be accompanied by itching and the loss of sensation in arms, legs and face. CPS can be caused due to stroke, tumors, and spinal cord injury.
Diagnosis and treatment of pain
Your body will process each type of pain differently. To diagnose your chronic pain, the doctor may conduct blood tests, MRI, X-ray, nerve conduction studies, urine tests, and spinal fluid tests. Once diagnosed, your doctor may recommend certain pain relievers and medications to treat your pain symptoms, such as:
- Muscle relaxers
- Anticonvulsants for relief from the nerve pain
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- Opioids
- Topical products to be applied on the skin
- Sedatives to help with insomnia and anxiety
- Medical marijuana
Consulting services for employees’ health insurances
If your employees keep suffering from one or other types of pans, it will not only result in the increased number of leaves but also lower their productivity if they do report for work, because pain distracts the person’s attention and makes them incapable to work with their best output. To ensure that your employees do not suffer in pain due to the high costs of treatment medications, you can consider providing them with the coverage of health insurance. However, if you do not know which corporate health insurance plan would be best suited for you, you can contact the experts of the PrudentRx Program. Their expert health insurance consultants will help you get the best health insurance for your employees that results in CVS copay optimization so that your employees are able to save the maximum on PrudentRX drug list, and other associated costs. For more information, you can refer to PrudentRx FAQs prepared by the expert corporate health insurance providers.
