Allodynia, meaning "other pain", is a painful (noxious) response to a usually non-painful (innocuous) stimulus and can be either static or mechanical. Allodynia differs from referred pain, but can occur in areas other than the one stimulated. It is dysesthetic. Allodynia is different from hyperalgesia, an extreme reaction to a stimulus which is normally painful.
New research discussed the hypothesis that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may result from gravity.
Researchers from the Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine announced today in the journal Neuron that they've uncovered additional complexities behind mechanical allodynia--the sensation of pain from innocuous stimuli, such as light touch.
Researchers at McGill University have discovered that a protein found in the membrane of our sensory neurons are involved in our capacity to feel mechanical pain, laying the foundation for the development of powerful new analgesic drugs.
Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) is the largest venomous snake in North America, reaching 8 feet and weighing up to 10 pounds. In the past, medical experts believe that the toxin in rattlesnake venom, crotoxin, is a promising compound for the treatment of chronic pain.
A recent study published in the journal Cephalalgia, the official journal of the International Headache Society, builds on the sensorial characteristics of migraine patients.
A neuroimaging study recently published in the journal Cephalalgia, the official journal of the International Headache Society, shared more evidence of structural changes in the brain of migraine patients.
A meta-analysis published in the journal Cephalalgia, the official journal of the International Headache Society, highlights the predictors of chronic migraine.
A protein called RGS4 (Regulator of G protein signaling 4) plays a prominent role in the maintenance of long-term pain states and may serve as a promising new target for the treatment of chronic pain conditions, according to research conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in print October 16, in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Researchers from Japan's Osaka University have made an important leap in our understanding of how chronic pain conditions develop.
Researchers have discovered a new sensory organ located underneath the skin. The discovery could lead to the development of new, more effective pain killers.
In the wake of cannabis legalization, a team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center and McGill University have delivered encouraging news for chronic pain sufferers by pinpointing the effective dose of marijuana plant extract cannabidiol for safe pain relief without the typical "high" or euphoria produced by the THC.
Candida albicans infection (candidiasis) can cause skin, genital, or oral pain. Many studies have attempted to understand the source of pain in candidiasis; none have provided a clear explanation, until now.
Columbia University researchers have identified the nerve cells that initiate a fly's escape response: that complex series of movements in which an animal senses, and quickly maneuvers away from, something harmful such as high heat.
A pioneering international study, carried out by the University of Granada, Harvard University, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Florida, Laval University and the Jackson Laboratory has conducted an in-depth analysis of the molecular differences between the most common symptoms associated with neuropathic pain.
Using PET scans of the brain, University of Michigan researchers showed that dopamine falls and fluctuates at different times during a migraine headache.
Drinking highly caffeinated alcoholic beverages triggers changes in the adolescent brain similar to taking cocaine, and the consequences last into adulthood as an altered ability to deal with rewarding substances, according to a Purdue University study.
Botulinum toxin A injections have a sustained beneficial effect in patients with neuropathic pain, shows a randomised trial.
Chronic pain affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is a major cause of disability, causing more disability than cancer and heart disease. Canadian researchers, including Michael Salter at SickKids are shedding light on the molecular dynamics of chronic pain. They have uncovered a critical role for a class of cells present in the brain and spinal cord, called microglia, in pain.
Pain typically has a clear cause-but not always. When a person touches something hot or bumps into a sharp object, it's no surprise that it hurts. But for people with certain chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain, a gentle caress can result in agony.
Some people experience cold not only as feeling cold, but actually as a painful sensation. This applies even to fairly mild temperatures - anything below 20°C.