Pain
An unpleasant sensation induced by noxious stimuli which are detected by NERVE ENDINGS of NOCICEPTIVE NEURONS.
Pain Measurement
Scales, questionnaires, tests, and other methods used to assess pain severity and duration in patients or experimental animals to aid in diagnosis, therapy, and physiological studies.
Pain Perception
The process by which PAIN is recognized and interpreted by the brain.
Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation
Pain Management
A form of therapy that employs a coordinated and interdisciplinary approach for easing the suffering and improving the quality of life of those experiencing pain.
Hyperalgesia
An increased sensation of pain or discomfort produced by mimimally noxious stimuli due to damage to soft tissue containing NOCICEPTORS or injury to a peripheral nerve.
Chronic Pain
Aching sensation that persists for more than a few months. It may or may not be associated with trauma or disease, and may persist after the initial injury has healed. Its localization, character, and timing are more vague than with acute pain.
Thermosensing
The sensation of cold, heat, coolness, and warmth as detected by THERMORECEPTORS.
Pain, Referred
A type of pain that is perceived in an area away from the site where the pain arises, such as facial pain caused by lesion of the VAGUS NERVE, or throat problem generating referred pain in the ear.
Analgesics
Compounds capable of relieving pain without the loss of CONSCIOUSNESS.
Ear, External
Dental Pulp Test
Analgesia
Nociceptors
Peripheral AFFERENT NEURONS which are sensitive to injuries or pain, usually caused by extreme thermal exposures, mechanical forces, or other noxious stimuli. Their cell bodies reside in the DORSAL ROOT GANGLIA. Their peripheral terminals (NERVE ENDINGS) innervate target tissues and transduce noxious stimuli via axons to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Fibromyalgia
A common nonarticular rheumatic syndrome characterized by myalgia and multiple points of focal muscle tenderness to palpation (trigger points). Muscle pain is typically aggravated by inactivity or exposure to cold. This condition is often associated with general symptoms, such as sleep disturbances, fatigue, stiffness, HEADACHES, and occasionally DEPRESSION. There is significant overlap between fibromyalgia and the chronic fatigue syndrome (FATIGUE SYNDROME, CHRONIC). Fibromyalgia may arise as a primary or secondary disease process. It is most frequent in females aged 20 to 50 years. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p1494-95)
Facial Pain
Pain in the facial region including orofacial pain and craniofacial pain. Associated conditions include local inflammatory and neoplastic disorders and neuralgic syndromes involving the trigeminal, facial, and glossopharyngeal nerves. Conditions which feature recurrent or persistent facial pain as the primary manifestation of disease are referred to as FACIAL PAIN SYNDROMES.
Low Back Pain
Acute or chronic pain in the lumbar or sacral regions, which may be associated with musculo-ligamentous SPRAINS AND STRAINS; INTERVERTEBRAL DISK DISPLACEMENT; and other conditions.
Pressure
Neck Pain
Acupuncture Points
Acupuncture Analgesia
Analgesia produced by the insertion of ACUPUNCTURE needles at certain ACUPUNCTURE POINTS on the body. This activates small myelinated nerve fibers in the muscle which transmit impulses to the spinal cord and then activate three centers - the spinal cord, midbrain and pituitary/hypothalamus - to produce analgesia.
Back Pain
Acute or chronic pain located in the posterior regions of the THORAX; LUMBOSACRAL REGION; or the adjacent regions.
Myofascial Pain Syndromes
Muscular pain in numerous body regions that can be reproduced by pressure on TRIGGER POINTS, localized hardenings in skeletal muscle tissue. Pain is referred to a location distant from the trigger points. A prime example is the TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT DYSFUNCTION SYNDROME.
Analgesics, Opioid
Compounds with activity like OPIATE ALKALOIDS, acting at OPIOID RECEPTORS. Properties include induction of ANALGESIA or NARCOSIS.
Sensation
Nociceptive Pain
Dull or sharp aching pain caused by stimulated NOCICEPTORS due to tissue injury, inflammation or diseases. It can be divided into somatic or tissue pain and VISCERAL PAIN.
Neuralgia
Intense or aching pain that occurs along the course or distribution of a peripheral or cranial nerve.
Analgesics, Non-Narcotic
A subclass of analgesic agents that typically do not bind to OPIOID RECEPTORS and are not addictive. Many non-narcotic analgesics are offered as NONPRESCRIPTION DRUGS.
Pain, Intractable
Persistent pain that is refractory to some or all forms of treatment.
Differential Threshold
Electric Stimulation Therapy
Application of electric current in treatment without the generation of perceptible heat. It includes electric stimulation of nerves or muscles, passage of current into the body, or use of interrupted current of low intensity to raise the threshold of the skin to pain.
Pelvic Pain
Pain in the pelvic region of genital and non-genital origin and of organic or psychogenic etiology. Frequent causes of pain are distension or contraction of hollow viscera, rapid stretching of the capsule of a solid organ, chemical irritation, tissue ischemia, and neuritis secondary to inflammatory, neoplastic, or fibrotic processes in adjacent organs. (Kase, Weingold & Gershenson: Principles and Practice of Clinical Gynecology, 2d ed, pp479-508)
Acupuncture Therapy
Treatment of disease by inserting needles along specific pathways or meridians. The placement varies with the disease being treated. It is sometimes used in conjunction with heat, moxibustion, acupressure, or electric stimulation.
Hyperesthesia
Electroacupuncture
A form of acupuncture with electrical impulses passing through the needles to stimulate NERVE TISSUE. It can be used for ANALGESIA; ANESTHESIA; REHABILITATION; and treatment for diseases.
Somatosensory Disorders
Disorders of sensory information received from superficial and deep regions of the body. The somatosensory system conveys neural impulses which pertain to proprioception, tactile sensation, thermal sensation, pressure sensation, and pain. PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DISEASES; SPINAL CORD DISEASES; and BRAIN DISEASES may be associated with impaired or abnormal somatic sensation.
Double-Blind Method
beta-Endorphin
Acute Pain
Intensely discomforting, distressful, or agonizing sensation associated with trauma or disease, with well-defined location, character, and timing.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
A disorder with chronic or recurrent colonic symptoms without a clearcut etiology. This condition is characterized by chronic or recurrent ABDOMINAL PAIN, bloating, MUCUS in FECES, and an erratic disturbance of DEFECATION.
Radial Nerve
A major nerve of the upper extremity. In humans the fibers of the radial nerve originate in the lower cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord (usually C5 to T1), travel via the posterior cord of the brachial plexus, and supply motor innervation to extensor muscles of the arm and cutaneous sensory fibers to extensor regions of the arm and hand.
Morphine
The principal alkaloid in opium and the prototype opiate analgesic and narcotic. Morphine has widespread effects in the central nervous system and on smooth muscle.
Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome
A symptom complex consisting of pain, muscle tenderness, clicking in the joint, and limitation or alteration of mandibular movement. The symptoms are subjective and manifested primarily in the masticatory muscles rather than the temporomandibular joint itself. Etiologic factors are uncertain but include occlusal dysharmony and psychophysiologic factors.
Analysis of Variance
Vibration
Whiplash Injuries
Lidocaine
Migraine Disorders
A class of disabling primary headache disorders, characterized by recurrent unilateral pulsatile headaches. The two major subtypes are common migraine (without aura) and classic migraine (with aura or neurological symptoms). (International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd ed. Cephalalgia 2004: suppl 1)
Anesthetics, Local
Drugs that block nerve conduction when applied locally to nerve tissue in appropriate concentrations. They act on any part of the nervous system and on every type of nerve fiber. In contact with a nerve trunk, these anesthetics can cause both sensory and motor paralysis in the innervated area. Their action is completely reversible. (From Gilman AG, et. al., Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 8th ed) Nearly all local anesthetics act by reducing the tendency of voltage-dependent sodium channels to activate.
Cross-Over Studies
Studies comparing two or more treatments or interventions in which the subjects or patients, upon completion of the course of one treatment, are switched to another. In the case of two treatments, A and B, half the subjects are randomly allocated to receive these in the order A, B and half to receive them in the order B, A. A criticism of this design is that effects of the first treatment may carry over into the period when the second is given. (Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)
Shoulder Pain
Unilateral or bilateral pain of the shoulder. It is often caused by physical activities such as work or sports participation, but may also be pathologic in origin.
Chronic Disease
Diseases which have one or more of the following characteristics: they are permanent, leave residual disability, are caused by nonreversible pathological alteration, require special training of the patient for rehabilitation, or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation, or care. (Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)
Skin Physiological Phenomena
Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory
The electric response evoked in the CEREBRAL CORTEX by stimulation along AFFERENT PATHWAYS from PERIPHERAL NERVES to CEREBRUM.
Perception
Touch
Sensation of making physical contact with objects, animate or inanimate. Tactile stimuli are detected by MECHANORECEPTORS in the skin and mucous membranes.
NAV1.7 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel
A voltage-gated sodium channel subtype found widely expressed in nociceptive primary sensory neurons. Defects in the SCN9A gene, which codes for the alpha subunit of this sodium channel, are associated with several pain sensation-related disorders.
Spinal Cord
Preanesthetic Medication
Drugs administered before an anesthetic to decrease a patient's anxiety and control the effects of that anesthetic.
Skin
NAV1.8 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel
A voltage-gated sodium channel subtype that is expressed in nociceptors, including spinal and trigeminal sensory neurons. It plays a role in the transmission of pain signals induced by cold, heat, and mechanical stimuli.
Injections, Spinal
Sensation Disorders
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Thoracic Wall
The outer margins of the thorax containing SKIN, deep FASCIA; THORACIC VERTEBRAE; RIBS; STERNUM; and MUSCLES.
NAV1.9 Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel
A voltage-gated sodium channel subtype found in the neurons of the NERVOUS SYSTEM and DORSAL ROOT GANGLIA. It may play a role in the generation of heat and mechanical pain hypersensitivity.
Periaqueductal Gray
Central gray matter surrounding the CEREBRAL AQUEDUCT in the MESENCEPHALON. Physiologically it is probably involved in RAGE reactions, the LORDOSIS REFLEX; FEEDING responses, bladder tonus, and pain.
Lasers
An optical source that emits photons in a coherent beam. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) is brought about using devices that transform light of varying frequencies into a single intense, nearly nondivergent beam of monochromatic radiation. Lasers operate in the infrared, visible, ultraviolet, or X-ray regions of the spectrum.
Acetaminophen
Endorphins
One of the three major groups of endogenous opioid peptides. They are large peptides derived from the PRO-OPIOMELANOCORTIN precursor. The known members of this group are alpha-, beta-, and gamma-endorphin. The term endorphin is also sometimes used to refer to all opioid peptides, but the narrower sense is used here; OPIOID PEPTIDES is used for the broader group.
Diabetic Neuropathies
Peripheral, autonomic, and cranial nerve disorders that are associated with DIABETES MELLITUS. These conditions usually result from diabetic microvascular injury involving small blood vessels that supply nerves (VASA NERVORUM). Relatively common conditions which may be associated with diabetic neuropathy include third nerve palsy (see OCULOMOTOR NERVE DISEASES); MONONEUROPATHY; mononeuropathy multiplex; diabetic amyotrophy; a painful POLYNEUROPATHY; autonomic neuropathy; and thoracoabdominal neuropathy. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p1325)
Naloxone
Questionnaires
Treatment Outcome
Peripheral Nerves
The nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord, including the autonomic, cranial, and spinal nerves. Peripheral nerves contain non-neuronal cells and connective tissue as well as axons. The connective tissue layers include, from the outside to the inside, the epineurium, the perineurium, and the endoneurium.
Reproducibility of Results
The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.
Nerve Fibers
Slender processes of NEURONS, including the AXONS and their glial envelopes (MYELIN SHEATH). Nerve fibers conduct nerve impulses to and from the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Random Allocation
Edema
Prospective Studies
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Anxiety
Feeling or emotion of dread, apprehension, and impending disaster but not disabling as with ANXIETY DISORDERS.
Severity of Illness Index
Hand
The distal part of the arm beyond the wrist in humans and primates, that includes the palm, fingers, and thumb.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
Anti-inflammatory agents that are non-steroidal in nature. In addition to anti-inflammatory actions, they have analgesic, antipyretic, and platelet-inhibitory actions.They act by blocking the synthesis of prostaglandins by inhibiting cyclooxygenase, which converts arachidonic acid to cyclic endoperoxides, precursors of prostaglandins. Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis accounts for their analgesic, antipyretic, and platelet-inhibitory actions; other mechanisms may contribute to their anti-inflammatory effects.
Drug Tolerance
Progressive diminution of the susceptibility of a human or animal to the effects of a drug, resulting from its continued administration. It should be differentiated from DRUG RESISTANCE wherein an organism, disease, or tissue fails to respond to the intended effectiveness of a chemical or drug. It should also be differentiated from MAXIMUM TOLERATED DOSE and NO-OBSERVED-ADVERSE-EFFECT LEVEL.
Threshold Limit Values
Standards for limiting worker exposure to airborne contaminants. They are the maximum concentration in air at which it is believed that a particular substance will not produce adverse health effects with repeated daily exposure. It can be a time-weighted average (TLV-TWA), a short-term value (TLV-STEL), or an instantaneous value (TLV-Ceiling). They are expressed either as parts per million (ppm) or milligram per cubic meter (mg/m3).
Single-Blind Method
Disease Models, Animal
Taste Threshold
Functional Laterality
Behavioral manifestations of cerebral dominance in which there is preferential use and superior functioning of either the left or the right side, as in the preferred use of the right hand or right foot.
Reference Values
Sex Factors
Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.
Rats, Wistar
Anaerobic Threshold
The oxygen consumption level above which aerobic energy production is supplemented by anaerobic mechanisms during exercise, resulting in a sustained increase in lactate concentration and metabolic acidosis. The anaerobic threshold is affected by factors that modify oxygen delivery to the tissues; it is low in patients with heart disease. Methods of measurement include direct measure of lactate concentration, direct measurement of bicarbonate concentration, and gas exchange measurements.