Mar 6, 2024 10:15:58 AM | Chronic Pain What is Pain?

A stubbed toe, a small but mighty papercut – most people can relate to the pain felt by those seemingly insignificant, but often memorable events. Pain can be small or large; it can also come and go or it may last for a while. Pain is part of being human, but what exactly is pain and why do people feel it? 

Defining Pain

Pain can come from inside or outside of the body. If you’ve ever had a muscle cramp during a workout, you might know a bit about what pain feels like coming from inside the body. Whereas accidentally touching a hot plate is an experience that creates pain from outside of the body. 

The brain and body work together to recognize pain. Signals run along the nerves from the body to the brain. The brain interprets those signals and recognizes damage to the body or a potential threat that would cause bodily harm. In short, pain means something is wrong and you need to take action. 

Experiencing pain is perfectly normal. In fact, this system is designed to help avoid further injury. Pain is often meant to serve or protect you, especially when it’s a new experience. You may find yourself avoiding what caused the pain in the first place, which can be useful in the beginning of a healing process. For example, if you banged your knee into the coffee table, you might end up walking more carefully around your living room for a while. 

Pain is subjective – every individual experiences pain differently. Sometimes, it can be hard to know how to describe it or even pinpoint the right words to use for it. 

However, keep in mind that the amount of pain felt does not always equal the amount of injury taking place, which can be a confusing part of experiencing pain. And while pain can be helpful in the beginning, if it sticks around for a longer period of time, pain can sometimes create more problems down the road. 

Recognizing Pain

The symptoms of pain don’t always include a sensation of sharpness. There are many words a person can use to describe pain. Some words that are often used include:

• Dull
• Aching
• Sharp
• Shooting
• Burning

Other descriptive words can revolve around how intense the pain is, its location, the type of pain, or how often it is felt. There are other categories that pain description falls into, but those listed above are often some of the words that may be used surrounding someone’s pain. 

Your own life experiences, beliefs, and the situation in which your pain began can all contribute to your pain. For some people, the sensation of a muscle burn during a workout can feel good while for others it can feel more unpleasant. Even the words you use to describe what you’re feeling can change from person to person, so how does pain really get measured? 

Measuring Pain

Beyond asking a person questions about their pain that allows them to describe it, health professionals might use tools like the Numeric Pain Rating Scale or the FACES Pain Scale. 

The Numeric Pain Rating Scale may be familiar to you if you’ve ever gone to see your physician or physical therapist due to pain. They may have asked you to rate your pain on a scale from zero to ten. The number “zero” represents no pain at all and “ten” represents the worst possible pain. They might have asked about how painful the last day has been or on average how much you feel pain since it began. 

Originally created for children, the Face Pain Scale is a more visual measurement that health professionals can use to get an idea of someone’s pain. It is similar to the Numeric Rating Scale in that it also asks the person to say how intense their pain is. Instead of giving a number, the person instead rates their pain level to a face they see on a range from “no pain” to “worst possible pain”. 

These tests and measures give insight about someone’s pain intensity. They require the person to rate it – this is because pain is not something that can be easily observed or measured by someone who’s not experiencing it. 

Pain is Complex

There’s no way around it.  Pain is complex. It is an intensely individual experience – one person’s pain does not necessarily equal another’s. 

What’s more… the amount of pain a person feels does not always equal the amount of injury. 

Especially for those experiencing new pain, fear is a common reaction and can lead to behavior changes that make pain worse. That’s why it’s important that those experiencing pain speak with a healthcare professional who can help assess what’s going on and resources a person can access to help them navigate their pain without avoiding daily activities.

Contact us to learn more about how to partner with Fern Health to provide resources to your employees experiencing chronic or persistent pain.