Pain is an area that can get quite complex. Huge text books have been written and continuing research is being performed in efforts to help figure out the intricacies of it. A simple explanation will be made to give an understanding of what pain is and why it exists.
Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pain serves as a warning /protective mechanism to let us know that something is being irritated and it tells us to evade or stop the causing factor. For example, when you place your hand on a hot stove, there is enough irritation to nerves that respond to the noxious or irritating stimulus that we perceive it in the brain which triggers the reflex to remove our hand from the stove to stop the irritating factor.
Imagine for a moment that your body did not come equipped with the ability to experience pain. If you place your hand on a hot stove, no signal would be created to let your brain know that there is a problem. Your hand would quickly become damaged and you would not even know it.
It is not much different when it comes to back pain. When you sit or stand for too long, for example, and begin to experience back pain because there is enough of an irritating stimulus, special nerves travel to the brain to alert it to let you know you need to move or because certain tissues in the back are being irritated. You then move and re-adjust and the pain subsides because the irritating stimulus is removed.
Pain can be broken down into two types:
- Acute Pain
- Chronic Pain