Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Are Nociceptors?TypesSomatic PainVisceral PainPhasesChronic Nociceptive PainTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Are Nociceptors?
Types
Somatic Pain
Visceral Pain
Phases
Chronic Nociceptive Pain
Treatment
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The pain felt from a cut, bruise, or arthritis are examples of somatic pain.
Unlike somatic pain, you might not feel visceral pain exactly at the area that is injured or inflamed. In other words, visceral pain can be felt further away from its actual origin; this is called referred pain.
Anotherdifference between somatic and visceral painis that visceral pain may be associated with other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or jitteriness, which less commonly occurs with somatic pain.
When nociceptors detect physical damage to your body, they create electrical signals. The signals travel to your spinal cord, which then sends the message up to the brain.
This process occurs rapidly, involves four key steps, and is the same for both somatic and visceral nociceptive pain:
The concepts of pain threshold (when a sensation becomes “painful”) and pain tolerance (the amount of pain a person endures) also fit into this process. A person’s pain threshold and tolerance are based on a number of factors, both learned and inherited.
Most of the time, nociceptors stop firing once the injury or illness has resolved, which may require treatment, healing time, or both, depending on the underlying cause. You have probably noticed this when you have recovered from a cut, a broken bone, or an infection.
Sometimes, however, the body can release substances that make nociceptors more sensitive even after an injury has healed, causing them to continue to fire. For example, when a painful condition is prolonged, the repetitive stimulation can sensitize the neurons for the long-term, resulting in excessive reactivity to pain.
This can lead to chronic pain issues such asheadaches,arthritis,fibromyalgia, andpelvic pain.
Treatment of nociceptive pain depends on the specific injury, and whether the pain is acute or chronic. For example, an acute injury like a hard bump on a table may simply require ice or a one-time dose of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) like ibuprofen. On the other hand, chronic pain, like from fibromyalgia, may require a daily medication to thwart pain signaling.
Of course, besides medications, there are a plethora of other therapies used to treat nociceptive pain, with some examples including:
A Word From Verywell
While nociceptive pain may be distressing, the good news is that it’s generally responsive to pain medications like NSAIDs or opioids. These can usually control the pain until the body heals itself (think a broken bone in a cast or a paper cut) or the underlying problem is resolved (think passing akidney stoneor a surgeon removing an inflamed appendix).
4 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.Gerwin RD.Myofascial and Visceral Pain Syndromes: Visceral-Somatic Pain Representations.Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain. 2002;10(1-2):165-175. doi:10.1300/j094v10n01_13.Thai V, Fainsinger RL.Pain.Palliative Care. 2011:95-114. doi:10.1016/b978-1-4377-1619-1.00007-x.McEntire DM, Kirkpatrick DR, Dueck NP, et al.Pain transduction: A pharmacologic perspective.Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2016;9(8):1069-80. doi:10.1080/17512433.2016.1183481Ji R-R, Nackley A, Huh Y, Terrando N, Maixner W. Neuroinflammation and CentralSensitization in Chronic and Widespread Pain.Anesthesiology. 2018;129(2):343-366. doi:10.1097/aln.0000000000002130.Additional ReadingBaliki MN, Apkarian AV. Nociception, pain, negative moods and behavior selection.Neuron. 2015 Aug 5;87(3):474-91.Markman J, Narasimhan SK.(2014). Merck Manual Professional Version. Overview of Pain.Dubin AE, Patapoutian A.Nociceptors: The Sensors of the Pain Pathway.J Clin Invest.2010 Nov 1;120(11):3760-72.Wandner LD, Scipio CD, Hirsh AT, Torres CA, Robinson ME.The Perception of Pain in Others: How Gender, Race, and Age Influence Pain Expectations.J Pain. 2012 Mar;13(3):220-27.
4 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.Gerwin RD.Myofascial and Visceral Pain Syndromes: Visceral-Somatic Pain Representations.Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain. 2002;10(1-2):165-175. doi:10.1300/j094v10n01_13.Thai V, Fainsinger RL.Pain.Palliative Care. 2011:95-114. doi:10.1016/b978-1-4377-1619-1.00007-x.McEntire DM, Kirkpatrick DR, Dueck NP, et al.Pain transduction: A pharmacologic perspective.Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2016;9(8):1069-80. doi:10.1080/17512433.2016.1183481Ji R-R, Nackley A, Huh Y, Terrando N, Maixner W. Neuroinflammation and CentralSensitization in Chronic and Widespread Pain.Anesthesiology. 2018;129(2):343-366. doi:10.1097/aln.0000000000002130.Additional ReadingBaliki MN, Apkarian AV. Nociception, pain, negative moods and behavior selection.Neuron. 2015 Aug 5;87(3):474-91.Markman J, Narasimhan SK.(2014). Merck Manual Professional Version. Overview of Pain.Dubin AE, Patapoutian A.Nociceptors: The Sensors of the Pain Pathway.J Clin Invest.2010 Nov 1;120(11):3760-72.Wandner LD, Scipio CD, Hirsh AT, Torres CA, Robinson ME.The Perception of Pain in Others: How Gender, Race, and Age Influence Pain Expectations.J Pain. 2012 Mar;13(3):220-27.
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.
Gerwin RD.Myofascial and Visceral Pain Syndromes: Visceral-Somatic Pain Representations.Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain. 2002;10(1-2):165-175. doi:10.1300/j094v10n01_13.Thai V, Fainsinger RL.Pain.Palliative Care. 2011:95-114. doi:10.1016/b978-1-4377-1619-1.00007-x.McEntire DM, Kirkpatrick DR, Dueck NP, et al.Pain transduction: A pharmacologic perspective.Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2016;9(8):1069-80. doi:10.1080/17512433.2016.1183481Ji R-R, Nackley A, Huh Y, Terrando N, Maixner W. Neuroinflammation and CentralSensitization in Chronic and Widespread Pain.Anesthesiology. 2018;129(2):343-366. doi:10.1097/aln.0000000000002130.
Gerwin RD.Myofascial and Visceral Pain Syndromes: Visceral-Somatic Pain Representations.Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain. 2002;10(1-2):165-175. doi:10.1300/j094v10n01_13.
Thai V, Fainsinger RL.Pain.Palliative Care. 2011:95-114. doi:10.1016/b978-1-4377-1619-1.00007-x.
McEntire DM, Kirkpatrick DR, Dueck NP, et al.Pain transduction: A pharmacologic perspective.Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2016;9(8):1069-80. doi:10.1080/17512433.2016.1183481
Ji R-R, Nackley A, Huh Y, Terrando N, Maixner W. Neuroinflammation and CentralSensitization in Chronic and Widespread Pain.Anesthesiology. 2018;129(2):343-366. doi:10.1097/aln.0000000000002130.
Baliki MN, Apkarian AV. Nociception, pain, negative moods and behavior selection.Neuron. 2015 Aug 5;87(3):474-91.Markman J, Narasimhan SK.(2014). Merck Manual Professional Version. Overview of Pain.Dubin AE, Patapoutian A.Nociceptors: The Sensors of the Pain Pathway.J Clin Invest.2010 Nov 1;120(11):3760-72.Wandner LD, Scipio CD, Hirsh AT, Torres CA, Robinson ME.The Perception of Pain in Others: How Gender, Race, and Age Influence Pain Expectations.J Pain. 2012 Mar;13(3):220-27.
Baliki MN, Apkarian AV. Nociception, pain, negative moods and behavior selection.Neuron. 2015 Aug 5;87(3):474-91.
Markman J, Narasimhan SK.(2014). Merck Manual Professional Version. Overview of Pain.
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