Peripheral Pain Mechanisms and Nociceptor Sensitization Michael S. Gold Pain has been categorized by duration (acute vs. chronic), location (superficial or deep; cutaneous, bone/joint, muscle, or viscera), and cause or…
Substrates of Spinal Cord Nociceptive Processing Jennifer J. Deberry Alan Randich Timothy J. Ness The spinal cord and brainstem nuclei are home to second-order neurons, the first step of central…
Intellectual Milestones in Our Understanding and Treatment of Pain G. F. Gebhart In order to treat something we first must learn to recognize it. —Sir William Osler1 Through the ages,…
Pain Terms and Taxonomies of Pain Dennis C. Turk Akiko Okifuji The inherent subjectivity of pain presents a fundamental impediment to increased understanding of its mechanisms and control. The language…
Regenerative medicine (RM) encompasses an emerging field of medicine with the goal of replacing, engineering, or regenerating human cells, tissues, or organs lost or injured due to age, disease, or…
Introduction Treatment of pain, acute, subacute, or chronic, often involves a continuum of treatment options. Initially, conservative options such as physical therapy, medications, and alternative/complimentary treatments should be considered. If…
Introduction In previous decades, pain research has been relatively stagnant and with limited funding. In 2011, only 1% of the $30 billion National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget was devoted…
Introduction/General Considerations Opium and its derivatives have been described and used for analgesia for thousands of years, making it one of the oldest medicinal plants. In 3500 BC, the opium…
The goals of rehabilitation in patients suffering from acute or chronic pain can be quite variable. However, the foundation of successful rehabilitation always focuses on functional and analgesic optimization. Patients…
Understanding Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Chronic Pain: Current Treatments and Future Directions It is crucial for providers, researchers, and consumers to understand chronic pain through a comprehensive model that…
