How is pain classified?

Pain can be classified in many ways.³

Based on duration: Pain is often described as acute or chronic.¹

Acute pain is pain that has been present for less than 3 months and is usually associated with actual or threatened tissue damage^1,4
Chronic pain is pain that persists or recurs for more than 3 months^1,5,6

Based on mechanisms: these include, nociceptive, neuropathic and nociplastic pain mechanisms.

Nociceptive pain is a normal response to tissue damage resulting from trauma, non-healing injury or inflammatory processes.^2,7
Neuropathic pain is caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system and occurs as a result of abnormal neural activity^3,8
Nociplastic pain arises from altered nociception despite no clear evidence of actual or threatened tissue damage, disease of or lesions within the somatosensory system causing the pain^8,9

Based on intensity: pain can also be described by a patient’s rating of their pain. Common rating scales include verbal rating scales (e.g. mild, moderate, severe) as well as numerical intensity scores (e.g. 0–10).³ It is important to consider the biological, psychological and social factors that may contribute to patient’s pain as these may impact their perception of their pain.¹⁰

Based on key pain condition: pain can also be classified by a specific condition or syndrome (see below).

To learn more about the classification and pathophysiology of pain, and how to comprehensively assess pain and manage chronic pain, visit the 'Pain basics' section of CHANGE PAIN.

External Link

Pain Management – Managing pain responsibly