Pain perception

I was very interested in the way we perceive pain. There are three types of pain. There is nociceptive pain with signals impending damage to skin. This would be in response to heat, cold, chemicals, and severe pressure. There is inflammatory pain which is caused by damage to tissues and joints or by tumor cells. There is also neuropathic pain which is caused by damage to the central nervous system such as brain damage caused by a stroke or repetitive movements which cause conditions like carpel tunnel syndrome. I thought it was also interesting that pain can be affected by other factors. Pain can be affected by a person's mental state, can occur when there is no stimulation to the skin, and by a person's attention. An example of this would be when you go to give blood and the person tells you to look away or removes your attention from the needle, you are less likely to feel pain, or experience less pain.

~Holly Heffley