Causes of Pain

Pain is a response or signal that is sent to your brain to alert you to an actual or potential damage occurring inside the body. Pain tells us that something is not quite right. Pain can be experienced as mild to severe, occasional, pulsating (throbbing) or constant, acute (short-lived) or chronic (long term).

Pain can be felt as a result of many things including:

• Injuries to various parts of the body
• Diseases such as arthritis, cancer and heart attack
• Child birth
• Various surgeries such as amputation
• Infections and trauma
• Inflammatory conditions such as bursitis
• Burns
• Tension and stress

When you feel pain, the first step to take is to determine the cause of the pain. The underlying cause of pain can be determined with various diagnostic procedures such as a physical examination, neurological examination and various imaging tests such as X-rays and MRI scans. Determining the cause of pain is the most important step in pain management and providing effective treatment to alleviate pain.