Pain Science in Practice (Part 8): Nociceptive, Neuropathic, and Nociplastic Pain
Abstract
Synopsis: Identifying pain descriptors provides a way to tailor pain management based on presumed underlying mechanisms. The aim is to use mechanistic pain descriptors (nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic pain) to guide clinical practice into an era of personalized medicine for people with pain. Clinicians should understand the concept of descriptors to improve their understanding of a mechanism-based management of chronic pain. Nonetheless, all treatment of individuals suffering from chronic pain should be holistic (ie, person-centered). Nociplastic pain already serves as an evidence-based explanation that can help make sense of pain without any known pathology, but is not ready to be considered as a target for treatment in itself, based on the current level of evidence. To summarize, treatment outcomes may improve when treatments are matched to patients according to mechanistic descriptors. Current research initiatives are working on bring this closer to the clinic. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2025;55(9):555-560. Epub 29 July 2025. doi:10.2519/jospt.2025.13335
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Distinguishing between neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain remains challenging, and with the change in definition, there has been an increased demand for greater scrutiny in the diagnosis.
“Distinguishing between neuropathic and non‐neuropathic pain remains challenging, and with the change in definition, there has been an increased demand for greater scrutiny in the diagnosis (Hoegh and Hodges 2025).”
From The Prevalence of Neuropathic Pain in Multiple Sclerosis—A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis Using the <scp>NeuPSIG</scp> Algorithm (2026) · cites this paper as Hoegh and Hodges 2025
Descriptor-based approaches have been proposed as tools for optimal prescription of analgesic treatments, as treatments for neuropathic pain differ from those for other pain phenotypes.
“While further research is still needed, descriptor‐based approaches have been proposed as tools for optimal prescription of analgesic treatments, as treatments for neuropathic pain differ from those for other pain phenotypes (Hoegh and Hodges 2025).”
From The Prevalence of Neuropathic Pain in Multiple Sclerosis—A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis Using the <scp>NeuPSIG</scp> Algorithm (2026) · cites this paper as Hoegh and Hodges 2025
Cites
The IASP classification of chronic pain for ICD-11: chronic primary pain
Nicholas, M., Vlaeyen, J. W. S., Rief, W., Barke, A., Aziz, Q., Benoliel, R., Cohen, M., Evers, S., Giamberardino, M. A., Goebel, A., et al. (2019) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001390 · Cited by 1,424 · see citing works
Neuropathic pain: an updated grading system for research and clinical practice
Finnerup, N. B., Haroutounian, S., Kamerman, P., Baron, R., Bennett, D. L. H., Bouhassira, D., Cruccu, G., Freeman, R., Hansson, P., Nurmikko, T., et al. (2016) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000492 · Cited by 1,332 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Jungersen, R. C., Baccaro, V. K., Hvid, L. G., Dalgas, U., & Hoegh, M. (2026) · European Journal of Pain · doi:10.1002/ejp.70375 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Hoegh, M., & Hodges, P.
- Affiliations
- Aalborg University (DK)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Venue
- Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy
- Published
- 2025-09
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 555-560
- ISSN
- 0190-6011 (ISSN-L)
- 1938-1344
- OpenAlex
- W4412709697
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 1
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
- Keywords
- nociceptive pain, neuropathic pain, nociplastic pain, pain descriptors, chronic pain, personalized pain management, person-centred care, pain mechanisms
- MeSH terms
- Nociplastic Pain, Humans, Neuralgia, Pain Measurement, Precision Medicine, Nociceptive Pain, Chronic Pain, Pain Management
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
