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Concept
Allodynia
Summary
Allodynia is a condition in which pain is caused by a stimulus that does not normally elicit pain. For example, bad sunburn can cause temporary allodynia, and touching sunburned skin, or running cold or warm water over it, can be very painful. It is different from hyperalgesia, an exaggerated response from a normally painful stimulus. The term is from Ancient Greek άλλος állos "other" and οδύνη odúnē "pain".
There are different kinds or types of allodynia:
Mechanical allodynia (also known as tactile allodynia)
Static mechanical allodynia – pain in response when touched
Dynamic mechanical allodynia – pain in response to stroking lightly
Thermal (hot or cold) allodynia – pain from normally mild skin temperatures in the affected area
Movement allodynia – pain triggered by normal movement of joints or muscles
Allodynia is a clinical feature of many painful conditions, such as neuropathies, complex regional pain syndrome, postherpetic neuralgia, fibromyalgia, and migraine. Allodynia may also be caused by some populations of stem cells used to treat nerve damage including spinal cord injury.
The cell types involved in nociception and mechanical sensation are the cells responsible for allodynia. In healthy individuals, nociceptors sense information about cell stress or damage and temperature at the skin and transmit it to the spinal cord. The cell bodies of these neurons lie in dorsal root ganglia, important structures located on both sides of the spinal cord. The axons then pass through the dorsal horn to make connections with secondary neurons. The secondary neurons cross over to the other (contralateral) side of the spinal cord and reach nuclei of the thalamus. From there, the information is carried through one or more neurons to the somatosensory cortex of the brain. Mechanoreceptors follow the same general pathway. However, they do not cross over at the level of the spinal cord, but at the lower medulla instead. In addition, they are grouped in tracts that are spatially distinct from the nociceptive tracts.
Official source
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