How we manage pain will depend upon whether it is acute or chronic.

Acute pain is often described as nociceptive. This is associated with tissue damage or trauma. The term ‘nociceptors’ applies to the nerve fibres along which the impulses travel. These are the nerve fibres along which the impulses are transmitted into the nervous system. So when an injury occurs, the impulses travel into the nervous system via the nociceptors. These fibres are not pain fibres, they are injury fibres. It is only when the impulse reaches the brain is the sensation interpreted as pain.