10/09/2025
🧠 Pain isn’t one-size-fits-all.
As therapists, distinguishing between pain types is important for assessment and treatment planning.
• Nociceptive pain → Driven by actual or threatened tissue damage. Often mechanical or inflammatory in nature, with predictable aggravating/relieving factors (think- sprains, cuts, inflammation).
• Neuropathic pain → Originates from injury or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. Characterized by burning, shooting, or electric-like qualities (like sciatica, diabetic neuropathy).
• Nociplastic pain → Results from altered central pain processing, without clear tissue or nerve damage. Often widespread, disproportionate, and associated with hypersensitivity (like fibromyalgia).
📌 Identifying the mechanism helps us tailor interventions — whether addressing tissue, modulating the nervous system, or supporting central processing.