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Encyclopedia of Pain pp 941–943Cite as

Hypoesthesia, Assessment

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Synonyms

Hypesthesia; hypoaesthesia

Definition

Hypoesthesia refers to decreased perception of innocuous stimuli, a condition where the body is much less sensitive than normal to stimulation that by its nature and intensity does not produce pain. Special senses are excluded (Merskey and Bogduk 1994). Hypoesthesia refers to diminished perception of a large range of mechanical stimuli such as touch, brush, pressure and vibration and thermally innocuous stimuli of warm and cold. Stimulation and locus are specified. Hypoesthesia is also defined as a raised threshold to nonpainful stimuli and this definition is used as a criterion for hypoesthesia during quantitative sensory testing (QST). There are two phenomena that are the opposite of hypoesthesia, hyperesthesia and allodynia. Hyperesthesia is increased but not painful sensation from innocuous stimulation and allodynia is pain from innocuous stimulation. If stimulation is of nature or intensity to produce tissue damage and the subject...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Misha-Miroslav Backonja

Authors
  1. Misha-Miroslav Backonja
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physiological Institute, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Robert F. Schmidt

  2. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA

    William D. Willis

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Backonja, MM. (2007). Hypoesthesia, Assessment. In: Schmidt, R., Willis, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_1840

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29805-2_1840

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-43957-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-29805-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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