Understanding of Various Types of Pain

In clinical massage practice, patients often report experiencing pain in a certain area that either “throbs,” “aches intermittently,” or “pulls intermittently.” Pain is merely a signs of imbalance that appears in various wellness. Many wellness in clinical practice often commence with pain. Pain can be categorized into the following two types: one is pain at rest, and the other is pain during movement. Furthermore, due to varying pathogenic factors, the manifestations of pain also differ. For example:

For newly onset pain that is incessant, severe, and resists pressure, incessant pain is classified as excess pain. It is mostly caused by external pathogenic factors, Qi Stagnation and blood stasis, cold congealing the meridians, accumulation of parasites or food, or trauma and injury.

Chronic wellness causing pain, with a lingering and mild nature, which can be helps with occasional at times. Pain that is helps with occasional by pressure indicates deficiency pain, often resulting from the deficiency of qi and blood due to old age or chronic wellness and physical weakness.

Pain accompanied by distension is called distending pain, which is a characteristic of pain caused by Qi Stagnation.

Pain described as pricking like a needle is called pricking pain, which is a characteristic of pain caused by blood stasis.

Pain with a sensation of coldness is called cold pain, which is a characteristic of pain caused by cold pathogens.

Pain with a sensation of heat is called burning pain, which is caused by burns from fire or hot objects, or sunburn from intense sunlight.

Pain accompanied by a heavy and numb sensation is termed as “heavy-numb pain,” which is a characteristic manifestation of wellness caused by damp pathogens.

Pain accompanied by a sensation of soreness and weakness is termed as ‘sour pain’, which is mostly caused by strain; soreness and weakness with pain in the waist and knees mostly indicate Kidney deficiency.

Pain that spreads from one area to another is called referred pain, which is caused by the mutual pulling due to obstruction of the meridians and belongs to meridian system pathology. Pain that affects other areas from one site is called radiating pain, which is a spreading pain caused by compression of the nerve root and belongs to nervous system pathology.

Pain that moves from place to place is called wandering pain, which is mostly caused by sprain, qi deviation, or exposure to wind pathogen.

Pain that occurs at a fixed location without shifting is termed fixed pain, which is a characteristic of pain caused by wind-cold-dampness arthralgia or blood stasis.

Severe pain that is as intense as being twisted by a knife is called excruciating pain, which is mostly caused by worm accumulation, mass obstructing the flow of qi, or cold congealing the meridians.

A dull pain that is隐隐 (faintly perceptible), occurring intermittently, is termed as yǐn tòng (dull pain). It is mostly caused by malnutrition, inadequate nourishment of the body, or the internal generation of yin cold.

Pain with a sensation of emptiness is termed as empty pain. It is caused by deficiency of qi and blood, essence and marrow, resulting in inadequate nourishment of the meridians, internal organs, and other tissues, or it may manifest as pain after the removal of pus from sores and ulcers.

Pain with a tearing sensation is called lacerating pain, which is a manifestation of pain caused by lacerating injuries to soft tissues such as muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Pain with a throbbing sensation is called throbbing suppurative pain, which is a characteristic of pain when inflammation leads to suppuration but the abscess has not ruptured.

Pain presenting in a spasmodic state is called spasmodic pain, which is a relatively severe manifestation of pain caused by meridian obstruction.

When there is no pain upon manual pressure but the pain worsens suddenly after releasing the pressure, it is called rebound tenderness. This is a characteristic pain feature for examining conditions such as appendicitis.

When struck with force, if the pain becomes more pronounced, it is referred to as vibratory pain, suggesting the possibility of tuberculosis.