Definition
Hyperalgesia is an increased response to a stimulus capable of causing painful sensations.
Hyperalgesia may occur in a variety of pathological situations involving inflammation or tissue damage.
This symptom can manifest itself in limited skin areas or assume a generalized form, following a lowering of the pain perception threshold or an increased intensity of painful stimuli. Even tissues not directly affected by tissue damage can become hypersensitive through a process of secondary hyperalgesia.
Hyperalgesia can be observed during physical traumas, skin diseases or lesions at any level of the central nervous system or peripheral nerves (such as neuritis and thalamic syndromes). Causes include post-herpetic neuralgia (herpes zoster), compression of spinal roots, diabetic neuropathy and post-operative pain syndromes (eg phantom limb pain).
Hyperalgesia can also be induced by prolonged administration of opioids in the treatment of chronic pain.
The heightened perception of pain stimuli can also occur in the presence of anxiety, mental disorders and psycho-affective situations (grief, violence, intense and prolonged stress) that alter the ability to process pain.
Sometimes, hyperalgesia can manifest itself as an isolated symptom.
Possible Causes * of Hyperalgesia
- Anxiety
- Spastic colitis
- Fire of saint Anthony
- Meningitis
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Polio
- radiculopathy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Fibromyalgia syndrome
- Tetanus
