Pain Explained …

Pain is a subjective experience of sensory, emotional, or physiological effect on one’s body. We can never fully appreciate or understand someone’s pain other than our own, as pain itself is very individualized.

Approximately ¼ of Americans experience chronic pain with ¼ of those experiencing debilitating pain affecting day to day life and ability to work. Pain is considered an output for which we perceive a threat, the brain maps the threat, and then the output is conveyed. An example is placing a hand on the hot stove burner, we process how hot that is, then withdraw our hand, and hopefully map into our brain not to do that again.

Descriptions of pain are important for physical therapist to understand and process how you feel and what is going on with your body. We listen to key words including “numbness, tingling, sharp, shooting, stabbing, dull, achy, deep, radiating, and cramping” to name a few in diagnosing with what we believe to be musculoskeletal or neurological discomfort. This allows us to appropriately address the pain with proper modalities, manual techniques, and exercises.

We, as physical therapists, work with alleviating pain for individuals on a daily basis. We listen to what pain is being experienced, assess the likely culprit for the pain, and develop a plan to alleviate pain symptoms.

Contact All In PT to set up an evaluation if you or someone you know has been experiencing pain.