Understanding pain
Pain is a common experience for people injured in a motor vehicle accident, regardless of the type or extent of injuries sustained. There are many factors that influence the pain experience after an injury, which may cause some distress and have an impact on your physical and psychological wellbeing.
Evidence shows that having a basic understanding of how pain and recovery work inside the body, can help you manage your pain experience. Understanding your pain can also help with identifying the things you can do to recover quicker, regardless of the type or extent of the injuries you have sustained.
What is pain?
Pain can be described as a complex experience that serves to protect us and keep body tissues safe while they heal. This acknowledges that people with similar injuries experience pain in a highly personal and subjective way, which can only be fully appreciated by that person.
Pain is an individual experience
The experience of pain is individual and always real, no matter the cause. No two people will have the exact same pain experience, even if they sustained the same injuries or the cause is the same. In fact, even the same person can have different pain experiences to similar injuries and during their recovery.
Despite the pain experience being individual, doctors and scientists may talk about three different types of pain – or contributors to the pain experience. You may experience more than one type but the pain is often classified as the biggest likely contributor, which may change over time.
| Pain Contributor | What is it? |
|---|---|
| Nociceptive pain | When inflammation or tissue damage at the injured body part is likely contributing to the pain experience. |
| Neuropathic pain | When damage to or disease of the nerves at the injured body part is likely contributing to the pain experience. |
| Nociplastic pain | When sensitivity within the pain system is likely amplifying the pain experience despite minimal ongoing tissue or nerve damage at the injured body part. |
The same individual experience is true for the duration of pain. Doctors and scientists may talk about acute or chronic/persistent pain, based on its duration. Acute pain comes on suddenly and lasts for minutes to weeks, but generally less than 12-26 weeks – which is considered normal body tissue healing time.
Pain that lasts longer than normal tissue healing time, no matter the cause, is referred to as chronic or persistent pain.
The below diagram summarises some of the characteristics of acute vs chronic pain.
* Source cited below
Your experience and duration of pain after a motor vehicle accident is different to anyone else’s. It is common to be frustrated and sometimes concerned about your pain when it lasts longer than you expected. Discussing these concerns with your treating healthcare professional(s) can help you understand your pain experience better and identify strategies to help you recover quicker.
Resources
- To learn more about pain and the types of pain, visit the Pain Australia website.
- Watch this video in which Dr Joshua W. Pate talks about Why everyone experiences pain differently.
- To understand more about the individual nature of pain, read the journal article Variability in experimental pain studies: nuisance or opportunity?
* Image amended from “A Review: Comparative Study on Efficiency of Commonly Used Analgesic” by Bodkhe Pruthvi Ravi, Zunjare Sanat Rajendra, Bhosale Rushikesh Shatrugana and Katare Prasad Uddavrao, International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, [2024].
Licensed under CC BY‑SA 4.0
Source: https://www.ijfmr.com/papers/2024/6/33353.pdf
