What is Pain: Definition and 100 Discussions

Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage." In medical diagnosis, pain is regarded as a symptom of an underlying condition.
Pain motivates the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future. Most pain resolves once the noxious stimulus is removed and the body has healed, but it may persist despite removal of the stimulus and apparent healing of the body. Sometimes pain arises in the absence of any detectable stimulus, damage or disease.Pain is the most common reason for physician consultation in most developed countries. It is a major symptom in many medical conditions, and can interfere with a person's quality of life and general functioning. Simple pain medications are useful in 20% to 70% of cases. Psychological factors such as social support, hypnotic suggestion, cognitive behavioral therapy, excitement, or distraction can affect pain's intensity or unpleasantness. In some debates regarding physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, pain has been used as an argument to permit people who are terminally ill to end their lives.

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  1. G

    A Exploring the Perception of Pain: Skeletal Models & Physics

    I am not cooking up a torture device or a weapon. In fact, I have been spending time with skeletal models. I just want to be able to create the ability to perceive pain. Even if I were to try to work this out myself and get some kind of answer that relates to physics, how would I know for sure...
  2. A

    How can vinegar attenuate the pain of a bee sting? (acid base reaction)

    Hello, I have been working on this subject but I am not sure how to deal with it. I am looking to prove how can vinegar attenuate the pain of a bee sting. I have chosen a specific vinegar that is of 6° and 50 ml and Know the molecular weight of acetic acid is 60g/mol. The bee sting contains...
  3. anorlunda

    Old Unwanted Internet Accounts are a Pain

    My password manager (Lastpass) just reminded me that I have more than 100 accounts that are "old", meaning that I have not used them for a year or more. For example, in the years that I lived on a boat, I bought from BoatUS almost every week, and I received substantial cash back rewards as an...
  4. kolleamm

    What happens in the brain when we feel pleasure or pain?

    From what I understand dopamine is released when we feel pleasure but how exactly does it interact with the brain? Does it spread to only a small space or a much bigger one? I wonder the same for pain too.
  5. curiousman

    Medical How to measure pain objectively?

    Hi! Are There other Objective Measures for Pain? Although we haven't yet come up with a cure for pain, we have long effective treatments such as opioids or acupuncture. However, when it comes to being able to evaluate pain based on solely subjective complaint from a patients, without...
  6. wolram

    Medical Knowingly taking placebo pills eases pain, study finds

    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161014214919.htm How can taking a placebo pill cure back ache, do some people imagine they have back ache so the (cure) works. Date: October 14, 2016 Source: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Summary: A new study is the first to demonstrate...
  7. caters

    Writing: Input Wanted Can extreme pain cause paralysis?

    I have been editing my Kepler Bb story and after Robin gets a nasty stomach bug that causes projectile vomiting and thus abdominal muscle soreness he has this pain all over his body. The stomach bug lasts for 5 days and it is an unknown pathogen(Possibly a super version of salmonella since he...
  8. Flyx

    Understanding Pain Threshold: Measuring Pain and its Units

    What is pain threshold? Can pain be measured? If so, how? What are the units? Thx :-p
  9. mktsgm

    Medical Why Does Pain Occur During a Coronary Artery Block?

    Hi, I have a doubt. Why pain occurs in a coronary artery block. I can understand, heart cannot work efficiently if blood sent to is less. It may lack oxygen and other nutrients. It can even fail to perform or even be dead. But why there should be a pain? What is the role of pain and how...
  10. wolram

    Cyclists are a pain in the rear

    I do not know about around you way but around my neck of the woods cyclists on bendy country lanes are a danger to traffic, numerous times i have been in a car and saw cyclists traveling three abreast blocking one whole lane, if one comes across them on a bend there is nothing one can do but...
  11. Zephyr007

    Viruses: A pain in the head and my laptop.

    Hi, My laptop is a Lenovo G450 and I use Windows 7. After I downloaded a Mp3, viruses just joined in my laptop. I saw unwanted ads in Google. I removed SeallePlus and DownSavve in the extensions but it keeps coming back. I use Symantec Endpoint System but it takes long to have a full scan...
  12. J

    What Damage can happen to a 110 pound man jumping from 80ft

    What will happen to a 110 pound man jumping from 80 feet into water feet first? I have done the math he hits the water at around 50 mph. How will this damage his body?
  13. LouisTo

    Need help please -- Severe Occupational Pain: Design a "floating" arm

    Hello folks. My name is Louis and I am the owner of a nail salon. I've suffered from pretty severe neck and shoulder pain for at least a year or two now, to the point of tingling and numbness radiating down my arm and leg when I crack my neck to try and relieve the tension. This is a huge...
  14. F

    Why some opiates mixed with Acetaminophen for pain relief?

    Whether it's Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Codeine or any other opiate derived pain relievers are almost always combined with Acetaminophen (Tylenol). Why would they do this considering that Tylenol is actually more harmful for you. Are opiates even a proper analgesic? They seem to be more like...
  15. B

    What is the semantic error in my code

    Note that the code I am using is Python. Currently, I am attempting to numerically solve the equations of state that give rise to the Chandrasekar limit for a white dwarf star. My code works for a simple harmonic oscillator given the correct equations of motion, but does not compute the correct...
  16. D

    Medical How long does it take for the brain to recognize pain?

    For instance, on fatal impact. Would you feel the impact before losing consciousness? I know myelin sheathed nerves will transmit over 100 metres a second.. The questions therefor are: A) How fast does unconsciousness occur? B) What speed does the brain recognize pain from nerve signals?
  17. C

    Medical Instant Relief from Chronic Pain

    Hello. I am creating this thread for getting some suggestion on quick relief from chronic pain. Please give some suggestion on therapy or treatment or some device which give me knowledge on quick or instant relief from chronic pain. Thank you.
  18. Spinnor

    Medical Pain in heart radiates to jaw implies pain in jaw radiates to heart?

    Almost two weeks ago I had a lower rear molar numbed to oblivion, ground down, and caped with a temporary crown. Afterwards that tooth would from time to time get not painful but annoying. A pair of Advil would make things better. During this discomfort I noticed discomfort in my chest area as...
  19. Q

    Wrist Pain from Writing Constantly

    I'm taking several physics/math courses this term, and I have no choice but to be writing constantly while taking notes and doing problem sets. My handwriting is very messy unless I grip my (mechanical) pencil tightly, and that ends up causing my wrist to start hurting (which has been a slight...
  20. gfd43tg

    Pain tolerance with mind vs body

    Hello I was thinking, in the world in general, there are many people who would actually prefer to do hard labor over mind stimulating work. Even in my own studying I often get pain in the head and frustration. It doesn't take (relatively) too much thinking to get me to get up and take a five...
  21. P

    Measure Pain: Is There an Equation?

    I was just wondering if there's a way to measure pain. I figured it'd be and equation like current. Like voltage would be the amount of pain, ohm would be a persons resistance to pain, and current would be the pain they actually felt.
  22. Greg Bernhardt

    TMR for pain management. Anyone use?

    My wife has had a bad hamstring for soccer for over nearly a year. She even took a few months off with no help. Anyway, one of her soccer teammates is a nurse who works at a pain management center. She recommended my wife come in and try this TMR treatment. Apparently it just electrocutes your...
  23. F

    Help Needed Urgently - Master Thesis Causing Pain

    Hello, I have been working on my master thesis topic and have been struggling to find a solution to a particular problem. I was hoping someone here could at least shed some light and point me in the right direction. My thesis topic is simulating natural gas networks and my task is to find an...
  24. B

    How do pain relieving pills like advil relieve pain?

    On the part of the label where it lists the active ingredients in Advil, it says "Ibuprofen". And it says that ibuprofen is a "non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug." This makes me think that ibuprofen reduces pain by reducing/preventing inflammation (swelling) somehow. I can see how that...
  25. K

    Does a person that can tolerate more pain have more chance of survival

    Does a person that can tolerate more pain have more chance of survival? Let's say that there are two exact same people but one can tolerate more pain than another, if the two are expose to the same physical damage, will the one with higher pain tolerance have more chance of survival? Thanks.
  26. V

    Why do collisions cause more pain than forced movement?

    So this question I have is so obvious that it's probably not even worth talking about from a scientific point of view but I just can't keep it out of my head. The moderators are welcome to delete this if they think it's too silly. Suppose there is a person tied to the windshield of a car. When...
  27. K

    Do Insects Feel Pain? -The Facts

    Are insects capable of feeling pain?
  28. Borek

    Medical Uncovering the Mystery of Cancer-Related Pain

    What triggers the cancer related pain? I did some reading about pain (mostly wikipedia) and nociceptors and I understand they react to several types of stimuli. Apparently mechanic and thermal stimuli are out of the question, that leaves us with some kind of chemical stimuli - but what it is...
  29. J

    Ear pain while flight landing/takeoff

    Why do we get ear pain while flight landing or take off? The common answer I get is due to the pressure change. Are we saying we have not yet developed a technology to quickly adjust the pressure?
  30. W

    Is There a Solution for Finding the Optimal Spring Design?

    I have an application involving a spring and in order to get the proper behavior, I need to solve the problem below. I've been at it for weeks and haven't been able to solve it - which tells me its time to appeal to my mathematical betters. Given a spring that exerts 36.6lbs of force(N) while...
  31. B

    Medical Pain Medication for Chronic Pain

    Hello, Note: The purpose of the following question is not to ask for medical advice but to relay the experience of those of us who live with chronic pain. I already have plenty of medical advice from the appropriate pain specialists and specialized doctors. What I’m looking for is information...
  32. L

    Exploring the Pain of Board Breaking: A Newton's Third Law Analysis

    Hi all, I have a general question about board breaking. This is not homework. Can anyone explain why it hurts more not breaking the board, compared to breaking the board. I know that there are already threads about this topic. However, I am confused about the different explanations: 1...
  33. N

    Fourier Transforms is Inflicting Pain

    So I'm doing an internship this summer and one of the things I have to be acquainted with is Fourier Transforms. My adviser gave me a simple example with that of sin(x). He said that what the Fourier Transform does is transform a time domain signal into one of a frequency signal. Essentially...
  34. F

    Pain from Horn Sound.

    Pain from Horn Sound. (Solved Already) Homework Statement At a distance of 15 km, a 110 Hz horn, assumed to be a point source, is barely audible. At what distance would it begin to cause pain? Homework Equations 1.)I(4 pi R^2) = I2 (4 pi R2^2) 2.)P= I(4 pi R^2); power at the point source...
  35. Z

    Medical Pillow choice - neck pain and headaches

    Hi there, I need some advice as to improve my sleep quality. I have not been able to sleep very well and usually wake up with a stiff neck and headache sometimes in the morning. My neck is relatively long and I don't feel that my uncomfortable pillow is doing what it should. Can you...
  36. N

    Medical Back Pain from Studying? What Am I Doing Wrong?

    Is anybody else here getting back pain from studying? I don't really know what I'm doing wrong.
  37. FlexGunship

    Is Homeopathic Dog Pain Medicine Effective or Just a Placebo?

    (Source: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FOX4QI/?tag=pfamazon01-20) I saw this on TV a few years ago (back when I had cable). It's a homeopathic dog pain spray. Yes, that's right. It's a homeopathic spray for your dog. That means, that AT BEST, it provides comfort to the dog's owner by allowing...
  38. Evo

    Medical Multiple Surgeries and Negligence: Have You Experienced Similar Medical Ordeals?

    Well, I have been having many serious pains, all starting with a supposedly simple 3 in one stomach operation 3 years ago. Ever since, I have been worse, excrutiating stomach pain and distension, inability to swallow solids without choking and vomiting, and severe chest pain. On my...
  39. B

    Medical A book about overcoming pain by increasing pain

    Hello all. I'm looking for a book possibly written by an MD but most likely written by a Ph.D. I believe published sometime between 1998-2006. The author's thesis was/is training the brain to overcome pain (by increasing the pain). Sometime in the time period given above there was either a...
  40. B

    Can pressure while snorkeling cause tooth pain from an air pocket in a filling?

    When I dive below 10 – 15ft while snorkeling one tooth begins hurting with an intense pain. My dentist says it is an air pocket within the filling of that tooth that is expanding and applying pressure to the nerve. I question whether an air pocket can expand in these conditions as he says it...
  41. T

    How to train yourself to enjoy the pain?

    Hi, I've seen several posts/comments here about how wracking your brain on a new concept - especially in mathematics/physics - is painful, but at the same time enjoyable. When I encounter something that is painfully difficult (especially when it's math-related), I feel like throwing the book...
  42. J

    Neurons would need energy to generate those pain 'signals'

    Hi A human body is a chemical machine. Every process, such as walking, sleeping, thinking, etc., consumes energy but rate of energy consumption varies from one activity to another. I have been told that when some body part such as forehead, hand, is experiencing, a lot of energy is consumed...
  43. J

    Physical pain as compared to psychological pain

    How do you compare physical pain with psychological pain? Which one is more intense and damaging? I think it's psychological. It's hard for others to comprehend unless they have been through it. But when someone sees blood they can imagine the pain. But when soul is wounded, it internal...
  44. J

    Is it true that suffering and pain connect humans more strongly?

    When we are happy, we are more concerned with feeding our own desires and mostly forget others. They say in religionless society empathy gradually dies away. I don't subscribe to this notion. Human nature is selfish by its very nature but that selfishness can be confined, if not completely...
  45. N

    Why does ultrasound cause pain?

    hi, at this site: http://www.amazing1.com/ultra.htm they have a device called a "phasor pain field generator" does it really cause pain and nausea etc? why does it cause any long term effects? why is there no scientific proof about this anywhere? :grumpy: lol jk...
  46. Evo

    News High court: Does father's pain trump free speech?

    I am on the side of the family. There is no reason, IMO, for these people to be doing this to this family. Perhaps this should be considered when a person or group plans to engage in the harrassment of private individuals. I don't see why the First Amendment needs to allow for harrasment and...
  47. S

    Medical What can I do to fix tooth pain?

    My insurance is all but worthless and my wisdom tooth are coming in. Needless to say, I can't afford to have it removed, so what can I do to get rid of the pain? I can't even close my jaw at this point. :( Any decent home remedies? I'm contemplating buying some pliers and just pulling the...
  48. B

    Opium of the People: advocation of pain?

    Karl Marx is renowned for calling religion "the opium of the people." Supposedly, he believed that by causing working class people to accept their suffering, they would be less likely to engage in revolution. Was Marx actually advocating that people sensitize themselves and others to economic...
  49. M

    Medical Pain from X-Ray? Dr. Gregory Greenman Answers

    Dear Dr. Greenman, I have a question wherefor I do not find the way how to post it on the forum. It is related to radioactivity;: I had to lett taken a X-ray from my longs. When the machine made a grumpy noise, the picture got taken, but at that instant suddenly the whole side of my...
  50. H

    Medical Ear Infection & Chronic Pain: What to Do?

    I have an ear infection and it is chronic. I went to my doctor and he prescribed some drops. I have put these in at the morning and lunch. Now, at night, my ear has swollen canal has swollen shut and the pain is intense and I can't hear, what should I do.
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