Pain is a phenomenon that can signal both everyday dangers and illnesses. What often torments a pain patient is experiencing pain too much and too often, as it detaches itself from a mere warning situation and has become a symptom of illness. The different qualities of pain as well as its acute or chronic occurrence are indications of different underlying diseases.

Pain is a common complaint that can have a variety of psychological as well as physical causes. Besides complex psychiatric diseases, neurological and orthopaedic diseases are also triggers - in many cases combinations of them.

• Acute pain: decreases again as healing progresses (e.g. postoperative pain).
• Chronic pain: By definition, lasting longer than six months. In addition to the physical cause of pain, psychosocial factors play an increasingly important role nowadays.

Both pain diagnosis and pain therapy are complicated by the fact that pain is perceived subjectively and pain intensity can only be defined by the patient individually.