Nociplastic pain

Nociplastic pain, formerly known as central sensitisation, is chronic pain that persists without evidence of tissue injury and is sustained by aberrant or heightened pain-signal processing in the central nervous system. It may occur alongside other types of pain or on its own, may be generalised or multifocal, and can be out of proportion to any associated physical cause. The concept and term were formally added to the taxonomy of the International Association for the Study of Pain after a task force recommendation in 2017. It typically arises in chronic pain conditions, with fibromyalgia the archetypal example, and exercise, psychotherapy and medical therapies are commonly prescribed. It has also been hypothesized to play a role in the persistence of medically unexplained symptoms.