What are the main characteristics of visceral pain? These three are the most common

Visceral pain is usually caused by ischemia or spasm. When visceral pain occurs, people can also detect it in time according to its characteristics. So, what are the main characteristics of visceral pain?

Inaccurate positioning

This is the most important feature of visceral pain. For example, patients with abdominal pain often cannot tell the exact location of the pain because pain receptors are much more sparsely distributed in the viscera than in the body, and the afferent pathways of visceral sensation are more dispersed.

Occurs slowly and lasts longer

That is, the main manifestation is slow pain, which often increases gradually, but sometimes it can quickly turn into severe pain.

High pain threshold

There are fewer visceral sensory fibers, and most of them are thin fibers with a higher pain threshold. Stimulation of normal intensity does not cause subjective sensation. For example, when the internal organs are squeezed, cut or burned during surgery, the patient does not feel pain. However, when the organ activity is strong, visceral sensations can be produced, such as the hunger contraction of the stomach, the filling of the rectum and bladder, etc. These sensory afferent fibers are generally believed to enter the brainstem along with the parasympathetic nerves. In addition, pain can be produced under pathological conditions or extremely strong stimulation. For example, excessive expansion of internal organs, stretching, smooth muscle spasms, ischemia, and accumulation of metabolic products can all stimulate nerve endings and produce visceral pain. It is generally believed that visceral pain fibers often travel with sympathetic nerves into the spinal cord.