Algesi Words: “neogamalgia” to “xiphoidalgia”,
Part 3 of 3.
algesi-, alge-, alges-, algesio-, algo-, alg-, algio-, -algesia,
-algesic, -algetic, -algic, -algia, -algy
(Greek: pain, sense of pain; painful; hurting).
Used actively in medical terminology to denote “a condition of sensitivity to pain” as specified by the combining root.
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neogamalgia:
Painful coitus of newlyweds, especially of the female partner.
nephralgia:
Pain in the kidneys.
neuralgia:
Pain of a severe, throbbing, or stabbing character in the course or distribution of one or more nerves (especially of the head or face); also, neurodynia.
nostalgia, nostalgic:
The pain of longing to return home, to a former time in one’s life, or to familiar people and surroundings; severe home sickness.
notalgia:
Pain in the back without inflammatory symptoms; also, dorsalgia.
nyctalgia:
1. Denoting especially the pains of syphilis that occur at night; also known as, “night pain”.
2. Pain occurring mainly at night or during sleep.
odontalgia:
An aching tooth; toothache.
odontoneuralgia:
Facial neuralgia caused by a carious tooth.
omalgia:
Pain in the shoulder; usually, rheumatism in the shoulder.
omarthralgia:
Pain in the shoulder joint.
ombrosalgia:
Pain felt during rainy weather.
onychalgia:
Pain in the finger and/or toe nails.
oophoralgia:
Pain in the ovaries.
ophthalmalgia:
Pain in the eye or eyes; also, oculodynia.
orchialgia:
Pain in the testis; also, orchiodynia, orchioneuralgia, and testalgia.
orchioneuralgia:
Pain in the testis; also, orchialgia.
ostealgia, ostalgia, ostalgy:
Pain in a bone or in the bones; also, osteodynia.
otalgia:
An earache; neuralgic pain in the ear.
otoneuralgia:
Earache of neuralgic origin, not caused by inflammation.
ovarialgia, ovaralgia:
Pain in an ovary; also, oophoralgia.
pantalgia:
Pain involving the entire body.
paralgesia:
Any disorder or abnormality of the sense of pain.
paralgia:
Abnormal or unusual pain.
paranalgesia:
Analgesia of the lower half of the body.
patellalgia:
A painful condition involving the patella (a bone at the front of the knee).
pectoralgia:
Pain in the chest.
pedalgia:
Pain in the foot or feet.
pedialgia:
Neuralgic pain in the foot or neuralgia in the sole of the foot.
pedionalgia:
Pain in the sole of the foot or feet.
perialgia, perialgy, perialgic:
Excessive pain.
phallalgia, phallalgic:
Pain in the penis. Also phallodynia.
pharyngalgia, pharyngalgy, pharyngalgic:
Pain in the pharynx (throat).
phlebalgia:
Pain originating in a vein.
photalgia:
Light-induced pain, especially of the eyes; also,
photodynia.
phrenalgia:
1. An acute mental distress; psychalgia, melancholia.
2. Pain in the diaphragm.
plantalgia:
A painful condition of the sole of the foot.
pleuralgia, pleuralgic:
Pain in the pleura (membrane of the lungs and thoracic cavity) or in the side. Also, pleurodynia.
pneumonalgia:
Pain in the lungs.
podalgia, pedionalgia, pedioneuralgia:
Pain in the foot; also, pododynia, tarsalgia. Such foot pains may be a result of gout or rheumtism, among other causes.
polymyalgia:
Pain in several muscle groups simultaneously.
polyneuralgia:
Neuralgia of several nerves simultaneously.
proctalgia:
Pain at the anus, or in the rectum; also, proctodynia, rectalgia.
prosopalgia, prosopalgic, prosoponeuralgia:
Trigeminal neuralgia (cranial nerve).
prostatalgia:
Pain in the area of the prostrate gland.
psychalgia:
1. Distress attending a mental effort, noted especially in melancholia; also, algopsychalia, mind pain; and phrenalgia, psychalgalia, soul pain.
2. Discomfort or pain, usually in the head, which accompanies mental activity (obsessions, hallucinations, etc.), and is recognized by the patient as being emotional in origin. Psychalgia is also used to refer to any psychogenic pain disorder.
psychroalgia, psychralgie:
1. A painful subjective sensation of cold.
2. A morbid state characterized by painful subjective sensations of cold.
pternalgia:
Pain in the heel.
ptoalgia:
Pain caused by or resulting from some emotional origin.
pulpalgia:
Pain arising from dental pulp.
pygalgia:
Pain in the buttocks.
rachialgia:
Pain in the vertebral column or spine.
radiculalgia:
Neuralgia due to irritation of the sensory root of a spinal nerve.
rheumatalgia:
Rheumatic pain.
rhinalgia:
Pain in the nose; also, rhinodynia.
sacralgia:
Pain in the sacrum (triangular bone just below the lumbar vertebrae).
scapulalgia:
Pain in the scapular region (the flat, triangular bone in the back of the shoulder; shoulder blade).
scelalgia, skelalgia, scelalgy:
Pain in the leg; neuralgia in the leg.
somatalgia:
1. Pain in the body or bodily pain or suffering.
2. Pain due to organic causes, as opposed to psychogenic pain or pain due to psychical causes.
spondylalgia:
Pain in a vertebra of the spine.
sphincteralgia:
Pain in a sphincter muscle, as of the anus. A sphincter is to a ringlike band of muscle fibers that constricts a passage or closes a natural orifice.
splenalgia:
Neuralgic pain in the spleen.
spondylalgia:
Pain in the spine.
sternalgia:
1. Pain in the sternum (bones in the front part of the chest).
2. Angina pectoris.
stethalgia:
Pain in the chest.
stomachalgia:
Stomach ache.
stomatalgia:
Pain in the mouth; also, stomatodynia.
subcostalgia:
Pain in the subcostal region (beneath a rib).
synalgia, synalgic:
1. Pain experienced in one place as the result of a lesion in another part of the body.
2. Sympathetic pain in one part of the body caused by injury in another part.
synesthesialgia:
A condition in which a stimulus produces pain on the affected side but no sensation, not even a pleasant one, on the normal side of the body.
talalgia:
Pain in the ankle.
tarsalgia:
Pain in the tarsus or in the instep of the foot, or the ankle and the foot.
telalgia:
Referred pain: pain from deep structures perceived as arising from a surface area remote from its actual origin.
tenalgia:
Pain referred to a tendon; also, tenodynia, tenontodynia.
testalgia:
Pain in the testes.
thermalgesia:
High sensibility to heat; pain caused by a slight degree of heat; also, thermoalgesia.
thermalgia:
Burning pain; also, causalgia.
thermanalgesia:
Loss of temperature sense or of the ability to distinguish between heat and cold; insensibility to heat or to temperature changes.
thermoalgesia:
Pain caused by a slight degree of heat.
thermoanalgesia:
Insensibility to heat or to temperature changes.
thermohypalgesia:
1. Diminished pain to heat stimuli including high temeratures.
2. A decreased feeling of pain when exposed to heat.
thermohyperalgesia:
An excessive sensitivity to the slightest degree of heat; also, thermalgesia.
thoracalgia:
Pain in the chest.
tibialgia:
Pain in the shin.
topalgia:
1. Pain localized in one spot; a symptom occurring in neuroses whereby localized pain, without evident organic basis, is experienced.
2. Localized pain occurring in neurotic subjects.
trachealgia:
Pain in the trachea.
trichalgia:
Pain produced when hair is touched; also, trichodynia.
ulalgia:
Pain in the gums (gingiva) or in the mucous membrane, with the supporting fibrous tissue, that overlies the crowns of normal teeth and holds the teeth in place. Also, gingivalgia.
ureteralgia:
Pain in the ureter (the tube that conveys the urine from the kidney to the bladder).
urethralgia:
Pain in the urethra (the canal that conveys urine from the bladder to the exterior of the body); also, urethrodynia.
visceralgia:
Pain in the viscera or in any bodily organ. The viscera is any large interior organ in any one of the three great cavities of the body, especially in the abdomen.
xiphoidalgia:
Pain of a neuralgic character, in the region of the xiphoid cartilage (the cartilage at the lower end of the sternum); also, xiphodynia.
The greatest of all perplexities in theology has been to reconcile the infinite goodness of God with his omnipotence. Nothing puts a greater strain upon the faith of the common man than the existence of utterly irrational suffering in the universe.
—Walter Lippmann
As a fever indicates that the body is fighting infection, pain has its purpose in reporting injury or internal problems. Unfortunately, pain is not a reliable indicator, and it is of limited help to a physician in forming an accurate diagnosis.
The perception of a pain’s very source may be incorrect. The tooth that one points out as the one that hurts may not be the one that’s abscessed. That pain in a person’s arm may not be caused by a strain or injury to that area but could be the result of a problem in his/her heart or other organ. These are examples of a phenomenon known as referred pain.
—Neil McAleer in The Body Almanac;
Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1985; page 92.
A standard test of pain response involves applying heat to the skin, and most of us perceive pain when the skin reaches an average critical temperature of 113 degrees F (45 degrees C), and everyone, with the exception of people with serious sensory dysfunction, perceives pain before his or her skin reaches a temperature of 116.6 degrees F (47 degrees C).
Even though there are three to four times fewer heat receptors than cold receptors in the human skin, freezing cold and burning hot sensation are both experienced exactly the same. Indeed, at 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) both the cold and heat pain nerve endings are stimulated, and after a point, there is no reason to make fine distinctions—all the brain has to know is that it is very painful!
—Neil McAleer in The Body Almanac;
Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1985; page 60.
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