There are many types of pain in the body, but they all can be classified as acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term). Although the acute pain of a broken leg or a cut is fairly simple to diagnose, health care professionals and scientists know that chronic pain is very complex. Below are some of the major types and sources of pain where they appear in different parts of the body.
Photo: Thinkstock
Traumatic: Pain from injuries, including sprains and sports injuries and pain following surgery
Skin: Burns, rashes, and inflammation
Heart/Blood Vessels: Heart attack, angina, leg pain from clogged arteries
Stomach/Digestive: Gallstones, intestinal obstruction, diverticulitis, ulcers, severe indigestion, severe gas pain, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis
Urinary/Reproductive: Kidney stones, pelvic pain, vulvodynia, menstrual cramps
Disease-Related Pain: Various cancers, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), tuberculosis, HIV-AIDs, and others
Head/Neck: Migraine, headaches, jaw pain (TMJ), earache, toothache, sore throat, sinus pain, facial numbness
Muscles and Bones: Arthritis, back pain, bone pain from spread of cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome
Neurologic: "Phantom limb" pain after amputation, nerve pain from diabetes