Pain

Question 1

Define pain

Answer 1

An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with or resembling that associated with actual or potential tissue damage

Question 2

Define acute pain

Answer 2

The normal predicted physiological response to an adverse chemical, thermal or mechanical stimulus

Question 3

Define chronic pain

Answer 3

Long standing pain that persists beyond the usual recovery period or occurs along with a health condition such as arthritis

Question 4

Define nociceptive pain

Answer 4

A type of pain caused by damage to body tissue it feels like sharp, aching or throbbing often caused by an external injury

Question 5

Define nociplastic pain

Answer 5

A term used to describe persistent pain that arises from altered nociception despite no clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage

Question 6

Define neuropathic pain

Answer 6

Occurs when a health condition affects the nerves that carry sensations to your brain

Question 7

Define noxious stimuli

Answer 7

Damaging or threatens damage to normal tissues potentially causing pain it exceeds a certain threshold to activate nociceptors

Question 8

Define transduction

Answer 8

The process of painful stimuli being transformed into a signal that can be carried to the central nervous system

Question 9

Define transmission

Answer 9

The relay functions by which the message is carried from the site of injury to the brain regions underlying perception

Question 10

Define perception

Answer 10

Perception of pain occurs when stimulation of nociceptors is intense enough to activate if its not we wont feel pain

Question 11

Define modulation

Answer 11

Process by which the body alters a pain signal as it is transmitted along the pain pathway, it explains why individuals response to the same painful stimulus differs

Question 12

Define nociception

Answer 12

The sensory nervous systems process of encoding noxious stimuli

Question 13

Define a nociceptor

Answer 13

Specialised sensory nerve ending that can detect noxious stimuli usually associated with tissue damage or potential injury

Question 14

Define allodynia

Answer 14

Pain response to a normally non painful stimulus

Question 15

Define primary hyperalgesia

Answer 15

Found in areas of tissue damage

Question 16

Define secondary hyperalgesia

Answer 16

Evident in skin adjacent or distant to the area of damage

Question 17

List the two types of nerves that act as nociceptors

Answer 17

Mechanociceptors - respond only to intense mechanical stimulation such as pinching
Thermalnociceptors - respond to the above stimuli as well as thermal stimuli

Question 18

List the three types of noxious stimuli

Answer 18

Mechanical, chemical or thermal

Question 19

List the biological, sociological and psychological factors involved in our perception of pain

Answer 19

Biological - age, existing medical conditions, medications and genetics
Sociological - cultural beliefs, social support, where injury took place and activities of daily living
Psychological - stress, coping mechanisms, beliefs about pain, mood and expectations

Question 20

List the physiological changes that produce peripheral sensitisation

Answer 20

Increased excitability - repeated stimulation causes release of mediators which increase resting potential causing hyperalgesia
Stimulation of silent neurons - inflammatory mediators causes the stimulation this causes allodynia
Up regulation of gates - sodium ion channel gates are held open, more gates are produced

Question 21

List the changes that produce central sensitisation

Answer 21

Wind up - progressive amplification of pain signals in response to stimuli leading to increased perception of pain over time
Opening NMDA channels - facilitates increased calcium influx contributing to synaptic potential and heightened responsiveness to pain stimuli
Neuroinflammation - release of inflammatory bio markers sensitise nociceptive pathways amplifying pain signals
Dysregulated pain modulation and neurotransmitter release - imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory signalling leading to enhanced pain perception

Question 22

List the physiological changes of neuropathic pain

Answer 22

Hyperalgesia - increased axonal sensitivity to mechanical, thermal and chemical stimuli
Allodynia - the occurrence of pain in response to stimuli that are not typically painful
Spontaneous pain - neuropathic pain can involve spontaneous pain sensations including burning, tingling or shooting which may occur without a trigger
Altered synaptic transmission and central sprouting - refers to abnormal communication between nerve cells and the abnormal growth of nerve fibres contributing to dysfunctional signalling in nervous system and amplification of pain perception