It's safe to say most of us are not big fans of pain. Nevertheless, it is one of the body's most important communication tools. Imagine, for instance, what would happen if you felt nothing when you put your hand on a hot stove. Pain is one way the body tells you something's wrong and needs attention.
However, pain -- whether it comes from a bee sting, a broken bone, or a long-term illness -- is also an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. It has multiple causes, and people respond to it in multiple and individual ways. The pain that you push your way through might be incapacitating to someone else.
Even though the experience of pain varies from one person to the next, it is possible to categorize the different types of pain.