Back pain Back pain Back pain is pain felt in the back. It is divided into neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area is the most common area for pain, as it supports most of the weight in the upper body. Episodes of back pain may be acute, sub-acute, or chronic depending on the duration. The pain may be characterized as a dull ache, shooting or piercing pain, or a burning sensation. Discomfort can radiate into the arms and hands as well as the
Pain in invertebrates frequently a response to mechanical stimulation during capture by a predator. Autotomy serves either to improve the chances of escape or to reduce further damage occurring to the remainder of the animal such as the spread of a chemical toxin after being stung, but the 'decision' to shed a limb or part of a body and the considerable costs incurred by this suggests a pain response rather than simply a nociceptive reflex. A heated probe (») evokes a complex, corkscrew-like rolling avoidance behaviour in "Drosophila" larvae which occurs in as little as 0.4 seconds; a non-heated probe does not cause