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Common Pain Types

A glossary of pain terms grouped by duration, source, and mechanism.

Common Pain Types

Use this glossary to explain common pain-related terms that patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals may use when discussing symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

Pain may be grouped by how long it lasts, where it comes from, or how it feels. A person’s pain may fit more than one category, and a qualified healthcare professional should evaluate the cause and recommend appropriate care.

Duration and timing

  • Acute pain: Short-lasting pain that often begins suddenly after an injury, illness, or surgery and usually improves as the body heals.
  • Chronic pain: Ongoing pain that continues beyond the expected healing period, often lasting longer than three to six months.
  • Breakthrough pain: A sudden, temporary spike in pain that occurs despite regular pain-control treatment, often in someone who already has ongoing pain.

Source and body system

  • Nociceptive pain: Pain caused by actual or threatened damage to non-neural body tissue. A cut, burn, bruise, or other injury can activate pain receptors called nociceptors.
  • Somatic pain: A type of nociceptive pain that comes from the skin, muscles, bones, joints, or connective tissue. It is often easier to locate and may feel sharp, aching, or tender.
  • Visceral pain: Pain that comes from internal organs, such as the stomach, intestines, or heart. It is often deep, diffuse, aching, or described as pressure or tightness.
  • Neuropathic pain: Pain caused by a lesion or disease affecting the somatosensory nervous system. It may feel burning, shooting, electric, tingling, or numb.
  • Inflammatory pain: Pain associated with inflammation, which can make pain receptors more sensitive. It may occur with conditions such as arthritis or other inflammatory diseases and may include swelling, warmth, or soreness.

Special categories

  • Phantom pain: Pain perceived in a limb or other body part that has been amputated or is no longer present.
  • Nociplastic pain: Pain that arises from altered pain processing without clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage or a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. Fibromyalgia is one condition commonly associated with nociplastic pain.
  • Psychogenic pain: A term sometimes used when psychological or emotional factors, such as stress, anxiety, or depression, influence or intensify physical pain. Pain is real, and this term should be used carefully because it is not an official diagnostic term in many current clinical settings.
  • Referred pain: Pain felt in a different location from the source of the problem. For example, a heart problem may cause pain in the shoulder, arm, or another area rather than only in the chest.

Important note

This glossary is for general education and language support. It is not a diagnostic tool or a substitute for medical advice. Pain can involve more than one mechanism, and only a qualified healthcare professional can determine the likely cause and appropriate treatment. Seek urgent medical care for sudden or severe pain or pain accompanied by other concerning symptoms.

Sources