A 62-year-old male has fallen while trimming tree branches sustaining tissue injury. He describes his condition as an aching, throbbing back. This is characteristic of what type of pain?

A) Neuropathic pain
B) Nociceptive pain
C) Chronic pain
D) Mixed pain syndrome

Nociceptive pain refers to the normal functioning of physiological systems that leads to the perception of noxious stimuli (tissue injury) as being painful. Patients describe this type of pain as aching, cramping, or throbbing. Neuropathic pain is pathologic and results from abnormal processing of sensory input by the nervous system as a result of damage to the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves. Patients describe this type of pain as burning, sharp, and shooting. Chronic pain is constant and unrelenting such as pain associated with cancer. Mixed pain syndrome is not easily recognized, is unique with multiple underlying and poorly understood mechanisms like fibromyalgia and low back pain.