Definition
Allodynia is a nociceptive reaction and/or pain due to a stimulus that does not normally evoke pain („allo“ – „other“; „dynia“ – pain), like mild touch or moderate cold. The definition of allodynia by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) is: “Pain induced by stimuli that are not normally painful” If this definition is taken literally, it means that any drop in pain threshold is allodynia, whereas increases in pain to suprathreshold stimuli are hyperalgesia. Allodynia is based on sensitized central neurons with increased excitability to A-beta fiber input, and is critically dependent on the ongoing activity of nociceptive afferent units, particularly mechano-insensitive C-fibers. It is one of the most distressing symptoms of neuropathic pain.
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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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(2007). Allodynia. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_152
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_152
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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