Topics:
pain

It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.

– Yogi Berra

The definition of pain has changed – literally. In 1979, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) published this definition for pain: “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.”1 Recognizing that pain can be a symptom or a disease itself, the IASP refined the pain classification model to include chronic primary pain.2 In 2020, the IASP further revised the definition of pain as follows: “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.”1 Input from IASP members and the public that factored into this new definition of pain highlighted several important themes. The definition of pain should be simple and practical, emphasize the personal nature of the pain experience, and...

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