Why would you care about what kind of pain you are having?

I mean, pain is pain right? Unpleasant and generally to be avoided? Actually, there are many different types of pain, and each one is a signal from your body to you about what is going on. When viewed as simply another sensation that carries information, pain can be a useful ally. And there are some sensations that are not classified as pain by the general populace that actually fall into the same category. And it's important to know these and be able to accurately identify them when your body speaks to you.

Ok, so what are the major classes of pain?

Most pain falls into these two categories:

• Pain that is injuring me
• Pain that "hurts so good"

There is no confusing these two. Everyone knows one from the other. The second category is often associated with stretching a muscle that is cramping, or having a sore part of you rubbed. There is a pain sensation accompaning the release of the tissue.

Subclassification of most pain, either of the type that is wounding or the type that is healing can be any of these:

• Sharp pain
• Dull pain
• Acidy pain
• Shooting pain, electrical, or just plain wrong feeling pain

Each of these types of pain indicates which tissue is involved, nerve, muscle, connective tissue, etc.