As the definition on the Index page shows, it's not so simple.
Then there are the different characteristics of pain, and the different underlying mechanisms and causes. Even something as simple as your body detecting something which may harm you (like fire) is not the same as what you experience as pain (from being burned....).
All answers, definitions, and explanations provided on these pages are by the site administrator, James Mooney MD (doctor of medicine). Other sources, such as the International Association for the Study of Pain may have more technical, inclusive & specific definitions.
The Navigation bar to the left can direct you to specific definitions..
You're right.
I didn't try to give a textbook definition. If you're a physician, you should be familiar with these terms or have those textbooks.
These definitions are less formal, and oriented toward the layperson. What's the point in trying to provide a definition if someone can't understand it?
Again, you're right. Many patients can have similar syndromes without having identical symptoms.
Perhaps the best known of these is the 'silent' heart attack. Most people are familiar with the chest/arm/neck discomfort related to heart attacks. However, some patients will feel nothing in spite of having a major heart attack.
Also, cultural and personal differences lead people to experience and describe things differently.
It makes for a wonderfully diverse world, but it makes medical research more difficult.....
