Threshold Of Pain

Threshold of Pain

What is Threshold of Pain?

In brief, threshold of pain is the maximum point in which an individual starts to feel pain. The intensity of the cause of pain, stimulus, for example heat or pressure, is called the threshold intensity.

We must also note that the concept of pain is an entirely subjective matter, meaning that a constant stimulus to two individuals can result in two different reactions.

Threshold of Pain: In Hearing (Sound):

To supplement the idea that the threshold of pain, and pain in general, is a purely subjective matter, we can take a look at the concept of sound and the threshold of pain with sound.

In sound, the pressure in which a particular sound becomes painful to the listener is called the pain threshold of sound.

It only takes a minimal change in frequencies to evoke the pain level of sound, however, there are major differences between age groups.

What contributes to this difference, for example, is the highly effective protective mechanism the ear provides during young age. However, this efficiency decreases with age, and constant exposure to high volumes of sound can lead to hearing impairments.

The highest tolerable pressure caused by sound differs from person to person, but on average, it ranges between 120dB SPL to 138 dB SPL (Table). At this point, the average individual may report an uncomfortable sensation in his or her ear, such as a “tickle”, or a sharp “pricking” in the inner ear. At this point, we can evaluate the upper limit of the threshold of sound, and from it calculate the threshold of pain.

Reference:

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshold_of_pain
     http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Acoustics/Threshold_of_Hearing/Pain
     Collage Physics, S.W 8th edition.