CLIENT: It hurts when I do this!
MASSAGE THERAPIST: Then don’t do it!
| A-D | E-I | M-N | P-V |

Acute pain - a sign and symptom happens quickly, last a short amount of time and then disappear.  

Algology - the science and study of pain phenomena.

Allodynia - pain due to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain.

Analgesia - the absence of pain in response to stimulation that would normally be painful.

Analgesic - an agent that relieves pain without causing a loss of consciousness. A common example is aspirin.

Arthralgia - pain in a joint, usually due to arthritis or arthropathy.  

Biomechanical Dysfunction - an imbalance of the musculoskeletal system resulting in faulty movement patterns.

Breakthrough Pain - a brief flare-up of severe pain that occurs even while the patient is regularly taking pain medication.

Central Pain - pain associated with a lesion of the central nervous system.

Chronic Pain - long lasting or recurring frequently over a long period of time.

Compression and Tension Neuropathies - include pain often described as sharp, stabbing, or electrical in nature.

Cramp - an abrupt and painful contraction, spontaneously Resolvent after a few minutes, treatment lies in stretching, heat treatments, and massage.

Crepitis - the coffee grinder cracking. Often persons who have these noises in the joint will have advanced degenerative changes in the joint, but not pain.

Crunchies or Adhesions - are connective tissue that would not normally be present in the body, but the body produces them under stress. These "crunchies" or adhesions are usually associated with pain, restricted blood flow, and muscle spasms or tight muscles.

Deafferentation Pain - Pain due to loss of sensory input into the central nervous system, as occurs with avulsion of the brachial plexus or other types of lesions of peripheral nerves or due to pathology of the central nervous system.

Dermatomic Pain - pain in an area of the skin.

Dermatomic and Spondylogenic Dysfunctions - are a nerve pinched where it leaves the spine, or anywhere along its route, the area that nerve serves will feel pain.

Double (or multiple) Crush Phenomenon - This was originally described because a large number of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome also appeared to have brachial plexus neuropathies.