Somatic pain and visceral pain are two distinct types of pain, and they feel different.Somatic paincomes from the skin, muscles, and soft tissues, whilevisceralpaincomes from the internal organs or blood vessels.
Both somatic and visceral pain are known asnociceptivepain. They occur when pain-detecting nerves (nociceptors) send an impulse up the spinal cord to the brain in response to an injury or inflammation.
Despite similar pain pathways, somatic pain and visceral pain feel very different. Somatic pain is often intense and localized. Visceral pain can be vague, harder to pinpoint, and feel more like an aching or squeezing sensation.
Hero Images / Getty Images
What Is Somatic Pain?
Somatic pain is generally described as musculoskeletal pain. Because many nerves supply the muscles, bones, and other soft tissues, somatic pain is usually easier to locate than visceral pain.
What Somatic Pain Feels Like
When you bump your knee, cut your lip, or twist your ankle, the sudden, sharp feeling is somatic pain. Nociceptors in the skin, muscles, bones, and other soft tissues pick up sensations related to temperature, vibration, and swelling and send pain messages to the brain.
Somatic pain is often intense and localized, but can be superficial or deep:
Unlike visceral pain, though, somatic pain usually fades once the injury heals.
Types of Somatic Pain
When somatic pain lasts longer than expected, it can become chronic pain.Chronic conditions that cause somatic pain include:
Treatment
Somatic pain often responds well to at-home treatments, including:
Bone pain related to osteoporosis orosteopeniais treated with a class of medications known as bisphosphonates, such as:
Severe somatic pain may be treated with opioids on a short-term basis because they carry a high risk of dependency.
Chronic somatic pain often responds to lifestyle changes, including ananti-inflammatory diet, exercise, keeping hydrated, and getting enough sleep.
What Is Visceral Pain?
What Visceral Pain Feels Like
Visceral pain can also radiate to other areas in the body, making it even harder to pinpoint its exact location.This is also known as referred pain. An example of referred visceral pain is when an ectopic pregnancy presents as shoulder pain.
Types of Visceral Pain
A common source of visceral pain is functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID), such asirritable bowel syndrome(IBS). IBS affects up to 15% of the population and is more common in females.
Other conditions that cause visceral pain include:
Anxiety, depression, and stress can contribute to visceral pain, although the exact relationship between emotional distress and visceral pain is not yet clearly understood.
Treatments
IBS is treated with medications to relieve symptoms of abdominal cramps, constipation, or diarrhea, antidepressants, dietary changes, and probiotic supplements.
Endometriosis is treated with hormone therapy and, in some cases, surgery.
Research is underway to find more effective drug treatments and combinations.
When to See a Healthcare Provider
While some types of pain (somatic or visceral) may resolve on their own with self-care, other types of pain may indicate an underlying condition that requires treatment.
That said, seek medical attention if you experience:
It’s also important to reach out to your healthcare provider if your pain:
Summary
Somatic pain and visceral pain come from different areas of the body. Somatic pain is in the muscles, bones, or soft tissues. Visceral pain comes from your internal organs and blood vessels.
Somatic pain is intense and may be easier to pinpoint than visceral pain. That’s because your muscles, bones, and skin are supplied with a lot of nerves to detect pain. Pain may be superficial, which means it’s just on the skin, or deep, involving bone and muscles.
Your internal organs don’t have as many pain-detecting nerves, so visceral pain tends to be vague or have a squeezing or aching feeling.
Both somatic and visceral pain can be treated with NSAIDs or, in severe cases, opioids. Muscle relaxants may also help with deep somatic pain.
15 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Boezaart AP, Smith CR, Chembrovich S, et al.Visceral versus somatic pain: an educational review of anatomy and clinical implications.Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2021;46(7):629–36. doi:10.1136/rapm-2020-102084Kim KH, Seo HJ, Abdi S, Huh B.All about pain pharmacology: what pain physicians should know.Korean J Pain. 2020;33(2):108-120. doi:10.3344/kjp.2020.33.2.108Crofford LJ.Chronic pain: where the body meets the brain.Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2015;126:167-183.National Library of Medicine.Baclofen.Singh K, Senatorov IS, Cheshmehkani A, Karmokar PF, Moniri NH.The skeletal muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprine is a potent non-competitive antagonist of histamine H1 receptors.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2022;380(3):202-209. doi:10.1124/jpet.121.000998American College of Rheumatology.Bisphosphonate therapy.Sikandar S, Dickenson AH.Visceral pain: the ins and outs, the ups and downs.Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2012;6(1):17–26. doi:10.1097/SPC.0b013e32834f6ec9Jin Q, Chang Y, Lu C, Chen L, Wang Y.Referred pain: characteristics, possible mechanisms, and clinical management.Front Neurol. 2023;14:1104817. doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1104817Nemours Kids Health.Ectopic pregnancy.American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons.Irritable bowel syndrome expanded version.Meerveld BG, Johnson AC.Mechanisms of stress-induced visceral pain.J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018;24(1):7-18. doi:10.5056/jnm17137Johns Hopkins Medicine.Irritable bowel syndrome.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Endometriosis.Yuan T, Greenwood-Van Meerveld B.Abdominal and pelvic pain: current challenges and future opportunities.Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021;2:634804. doi:10.3389/fpain.2021.634804Betterhealth.vic.gov.au.When do I need to see my doctor about persistent pain?Additional ReadingDavis MP.Drug Management of Visceral Pain: Concepts from Basic Research.Pain Research and Treatment. 2012;2012:1-18. doi:10.1155/2012/265605.
15 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Boezaart AP, Smith CR, Chembrovich S, et al.Visceral versus somatic pain: an educational review of anatomy and clinical implications.Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2021;46(7):629–36. doi:10.1136/rapm-2020-102084Kim KH, Seo HJ, Abdi S, Huh B.All about pain pharmacology: what pain physicians should know.Korean J Pain. 2020;33(2):108-120. doi:10.3344/kjp.2020.33.2.108Crofford LJ.Chronic pain: where the body meets the brain.Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2015;126:167-183.National Library of Medicine.Baclofen.Singh K, Senatorov IS, Cheshmehkani A, Karmokar PF, Moniri NH.The skeletal muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprine is a potent non-competitive antagonist of histamine H1 receptors.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2022;380(3):202-209. doi:10.1124/jpet.121.000998American College of Rheumatology.Bisphosphonate therapy.Sikandar S, Dickenson AH.Visceral pain: the ins and outs, the ups and downs.Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2012;6(1):17–26. doi:10.1097/SPC.0b013e32834f6ec9Jin Q, Chang Y, Lu C, Chen L, Wang Y.Referred pain: characteristics, possible mechanisms, and clinical management.Front Neurol. 2023;14:1104817. doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1104817Nemours Kids Health.Ectopic pregnancy.American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons.Irritable bowel syndrome expanded version.Meerveld BG, Johnson AC.Mechanisms of stress-induced visceral pain.J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018;24(1):7-18. doi:10.5056/jnm17137Johns Hopkins Medicine.Irritable bowel syndrome.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Endometriosis.Yuan T, Greenwood-Van Meerveld B.Abdominal and pelvic pain: current challenges and future opportunities.Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021;2:634804. doi:10.3389/fpain.2021.634804Betterhealth.vic.gov.au.When do I need to see my doctor about persistent pain?Additional ReadingDavis MP.Drug Management of Visceral Pain: Concepts from Basic Research.Pain Research and Treatment. 2012;2012:1-18. doi:10.1155/2012/265605.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Boezaart AP, Smith CR, Chembrovich S, et al.Visceral versus somatic pain: an educational review of anatomy and clinical implications.Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2021;46(7):629–36. doi:10.1136/rapm-2020-102084Kim KH, Seo HJ, Abdi S, Huh B.All about pain pharmacology: what pain physicians should know.Korean J Pain. 2020;33(2):108-120. doi:10.3344/kjp.2020.33.2.108Crofford LJ.Chronic pain: where the body meets the brain.Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2015;126:167-183.National Library of Medicine.Baclofen.Singh K, Senatorov IS, Cheshmehkani A, Karmokar PF, Moniri NH.The skeletal muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprine is a potent non-competitive antagonist of histamine H1 receptors.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2022;380(3):202-209. doi:10.1124/jpet.121.000998American College of Rheumatology.Bisphosphonate therapy.Sikandar S, Dickenson AH.Visceral pain: the ins and outs, the ups and downs.Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2012;6(1):17–26. doi:10.1097/SPC.0b013e32834f6ec9Jin Q, Chang Y, Lu C, Chen L, Wang Y.Referred pain: characteristics, possible mechanisms, and clinical management.Front Neurol. 2023;14:1104817. doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1104817Nemours Kids Health.Ectopic pregnancy.American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons.Irritable bowel syndrome expanded version.Meerveld BG, Johnson AC.Mechanisms of stress-induced visceral pain.J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018;24(1):7-18. doi:10.5056/jnm17137Johns Hopkins Medicine.Irritable bowel syndrome.Johns Hopkins Medicine.Endometriosis.Yuan T, Greenwood-Van Meerveld B.Abdominal and pelvic pain: current challenges and future opportunities.Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021;2:634804. doi:10.3389/fpain.2021.634804Betterhealth.vic.gov.au.When do I need to see my doctor about persistent pain?
Boezaart AP, Smith CR, Chembrovich S, et al.Visceral versus somatic pain: an educational review of anatomy and clinical implications.Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2021;46(7):629–36. doi:10.1136/rapm-2020-102084
Kim KH, Seo HJ, Abdi S, Huh B.All about pain pharmacology: what pain physicians should know.Korean J Pain. 2020;33(2):108-120. doi:10.3344/kjp.2020.33.2.108
Crofford LJ.Chronic pain: where the body meets the brain.Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 2015;126:167-183.
National Library of Medicine.Baclofen.
Singh K, Senatorov IS, Cheshmehkani A, Karmokar PF, Moniri NH.The skeletal muscle relaxer cyclobenzaprine is a potent non-competitive antagonist of histamine H1 receptors.J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2022;380(3):202-209. doi:10.1124/jpet.121.000998
American College of Rheumatology.Bisphosphonate therapy.
Sikandar S, Dickenson AH.Visceral pain: the ins and outs, the ups and downs.Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2012;6(1):17–26. doi:10.1097/SPC.0b013e32834f6ec9
Jin Q, Chang Y, Lu C, Chen L, Wang Y.Referred pain: characteristics, possible mechanisms, and clinical management.Front Neurol. 2023;14:1104817. doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1104817
Nemours Kids Health.Ectopic pregnancy.
American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons.Irritable bowel syndrome expanded version.
Meerveld BG, Johnson AC.Mechanisms of stress-induced visceral pain.J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2018;24(1):7-18. doi:10.5056/jnm17137
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Irritable bowel syndrome.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Endometriosis.
Yuan T, Greenwood-Van Meerveld B.Abdominal and pelvic pain: current challenges and future opportunities.Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2021;2:634804. doi:10.3389/fpain.2021.634804
Betterhealth.vic.gov.au.When do I need to see my doctor about persistent pain?
Davis MP.Drug Management of Visceral Pain: Concepts from Basic Research.Pain Research and Treatment. 2012;2012:1-18. doi:10.1155/2012/265605.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
