Pain

Pain is a complex sensory experience and, as such, is determined by scientific facts of anatomy and physiology. The stimulation of pain receptors, the shifts in ions and electrical potentials in the nerve pathways, and the changes in activity in the brain can all be described and recorded scientifically with instruments. Nevertheless, every pain has a subjective experiential perspective, which seems to be the very specificity of pain: it feels a certain way to be in pain. Thus, while the sensation of pain may be an individual and private phenomenon, the experience of pain and our thinking and speaking about it are heavily influenced by cultural and social concepts. In the medical field, pain is often stripped of any significance beyond its signaling function.