Acupuncture - Oriental practice of inserting needles into the skin at points (Meridians) of the body to help relieve pain and treat illness. Acute Pain - Sharp or intense short-term pain. Typically follows injury or surgery. Addiction - Psychological or emotional need for a drug. Associated with cravings and inappropriate efforts to obtain the drug. Algology - The science and study of pain phenomena. Allodynia - The sensation of pain triggered by a stimulus to the skin that is normally not painful (e.g., lightly touching a sunburn). Analgesia - Absence or decreased pain response to stimulation that would normally be painful. Analgesic - Medicine used to relieve pain. Anesthesia - Absence or partial loss of sensation. Anesthetic - An agent (or agents) that reversibly produce anesthesia. Anti-inflammatory - A medicine that reduces inflammation. Arthropathy - Disorder or disease of a joint. Athralgia - Pain in or affecting a joint. Causalgia - Intense pain and sensitivity usually following injury to a peripheral nerve. Central Pain - Pain associated with a lesion or dysfunction of the central nervous system. Chronic Pain - The opposite of acute pain. Persistent, long-term pain. Deafferentation Pain - Pain due to the loss of normal sensory input into the central nervous system. Dermatome - An area of skin supplied by fibers of a single nerve root. Dysesthesia - An abnormal, unpleasant sensation. Epidural - An injection into the outer layer of the spinal canal (the epidural space). Hyperalgesia - Increased sensitivity to pain. Hyperesthesia - Abnormal, acute sensitivity to sensory stimulation of the skin. Hypoalgesia - Diminished sensitivity to sensory stimulation of the skin. Narcotic - Usually refers to opioids--pain-relieving drugs that are derivatives of opium. Nerve Block - An injection of medication directly into or around a nerve or group of nerves to provide regional pain relief. Neuralgia - Pain in the distribution of a nerve or nerves and caused by nerve damage or dysfunction. Neuritis - Inflammation of a nerve or nerves. Neuropathic - Pain originating from the malfunctioning of the nervous system. Neuropathy - Disturbance of function or pathologic change in one or more nerves. Nociceptive Pain - Response to a painful stimulus. Nociceptor - A sensory nerve receptor that responds to pain. Noxious Stimulus - A stimulus that is harmful or potentially harmful to body tissue, and triggers a painful or unpleasant sensation. Opioid or Opiate - A pain-killing drug chemically related to opium. Pain - An unpleasant feeling that may be associated with disease or trauma. Pain Threshold - The most minimal stimulation that a person recognizes as painful—this varies from individual to individual. Pain Tolerance Level - The greatest amount of pain a person can tolerate. Paresthesia - An abnormal sensation such as tingling or ‘pins and needles’ that may be uncomfortable, but not truly painful. Radiculitis - Inflammation of a nerve root in the spinal canal. Radiculopathy - Pain and neurologic deficit caused by injury to a nerve root. Referred Pain - Pain felt in a body part that is distant from the pain origin. The origin and the body part may share a common nerve pathway. Rhizotomy - Surgical incision of nerve root(s) within the spinal canal. Somatosensory - Sensory signals from the body—usually referring to signals from the limbs rather than internal organs. Trigger Point - An area in muscle or connective tissue that is hypersensitive to touch or pressure. |