A PAINFUL SIGNAL

To everyone, pain is not something new. Everyone has experienced pain in different ways and in various intensities. While each one knows pain differently, everyone can agree that pain is not welcome in anyone's life.

Pain is an undesirably unpleasant sensation, an unwanted feeling that is associated with a potential tissue damage, or it can be a symptom of an actual tissue damage.

Pain is a signal carried by the nerves to the brain, which induces the body to respond in order to prevent any possible damage to a body tissue or to further any existing damage. If you stepped on a sharp object, your nerves activate a pain stimulus, which causes you to quickly move your foot away from the sharp object. If you did not feel any pain, you would have continued to damage your foot. Pain is an experience that is recorded and properly indexed by the brain. It is an emotional experience that helps us avoid another if we could.

Without the ability to feel pain, such as if the nerve is damaged or the brain cannot interpret the signal, injuries can happen undetected and serious injuries can lead to death. Without the sensation, you could unknowingly cut and lose a leg, poke your eye and go blind, smack your head and cut your skull open, just some examples.

Ironically, in any case, we should be thankful if we could feel pain. Indeed, pain is a reassurance that we are alive and that our central nervous system is functioning properly. Everyone appreciates that guarantee although nobody really likes pain. “Pain is such an uncomfortable feeling that even a tiny amount of it is enough to ruin every enjoyment.”