Pain Terminology

Like other fields in the health sciences, pain has evolved its own terminology to insure consistency and facilitate communication among researchers and clinicians. This listing includes terms published by the IASP Subcommittee on Taxonomy and others put forward by the late Professor John J. Bonica in his 1990 book The Management of Pain (2nd ed). The purpose of this listing is to sustain a convenient resource of pain terminology that updates and evolves as work in the field progresses.

The list is incomplete. Conspicuous in their absence are such fundamental behavioral terms as operant and respondent pain, for example. Dozens of pain syndromes could appear in this list as could many basic terms from laboratory pain research such as writhing response. I am open to including additional definitions if you wish to submit them.

DISCLAIMER: The listing of these terms below does not imply that the University of Utah and/or the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center endorse(s) these definitions. The terminology is basically my own, and I simply share it with readers who may have difficulty with pain terms.

Algology
Allodynia
Analgesia
Anesthesia
Anesthetic
Anesthesia Dolorosa
Angina
Arthralgia
Causalgia
Central Pain
Deafferentation Pain
Dermatome
Dysesthesia
Hyperesthesia
Hyperalgesia
Hyperpathia
Hypoalgesia
Hypoesthesia
Neuralgia
Neuritis
Neuopathic Pain
Neuropathy
Nociceptor
Noxious Stimulus
Pain
Pain Threshold
Pain Tolerance Level
Paresthesia
Radiculalgia
Radiculopathy
Radiculitis
Somatosensory
Suffering
Trigger Point

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