Thursday, February 3, 2011

Different types of fibro pain

All about types of PAIN <--bad 4 letter word!
There are different types of pain we experience with fibro.  Doctors have described three types of pain we get with fibro, but I think most of us have more than three types of pain.  The first type of pain I want to talk about is allodynia. Allodynia is pain due to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain.  The stimulus can be mechanical or thermal.  What does all that mean, you ask yourself?  First let me give you an example.  When my fibro is really bothering me the chill from having the air conditioner on in the car is painful, as is light touch.  When the chill from the A/C bothers me that is a thermal stimulus.  When someone touches my arm lightly and it is very painful for me, then that is a mechanical stimulus.

The second type of pain the doctor's associate with fibro is hyperalgesia.  Hyperalgesia is sometimes mistaken to be the same thing as allodynia, but it is not.  Hyperalgesia is an increased sensitivity to pain.  It can be caused by damage to nociceptors or peripheral nerves.  There is also such a thing as opiate-induced hyperalgesia caused from long-term use of opiates.  In that case the opiates create higher levels of pain, rather than decrease the pain levels.

The final type of pain they recognize we get is painful paresthesia.  There are many causes of this type of pain, from lupus, to Lyme disease, to rabies to carpal tunnel syndrome.  Painful paresthesia is odd nerve sensations that feel like burning, tingling, numbness, or limbs "falling asleep," which I've had a horrible problem with lately.

These are just the three main types of pain that doctors consider fibromyalgia to be made up of.  I think there are a lot more than three types of pain.  What do you think?  What other types of pain do you experience with your fibromyaglia?

1 comment:

  1. This isn't exactly what i am looking for, but sure going to help me in the related stuff..
    Thanks a lot for the information.

    Looking for Pain doctors in Los angeles

    ReplyDelete

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