algesi-, alge-, alges-, algesio-, algi-, 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.

thermalgia, thermoalgia, causalgia (s) (noun); thermalgias; thermoalgias; causalgias (pl)
A condition marked by sensations of intense burning pain: Thermalgia is a feeling of an extreme fiery pain which is sometimes experienced following nerve injuries.

Thermalgia is a persistent severe burning of the skin, usually following a direct or an indirect trauma to a sensory nerve, accompanied by cutaneus (skin) changes.

thermanalgesia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Loss of temperature sense or of the ability to distinguish between heat and cold; insensibility to heat or to temperature changes: Doug read a story about a strange person suffering from thermanalgesia and feeling neither cold nor hot temperatures.

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.
thermoalgesia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain caused by a slight degree of heat: Heat pain, or thermoalgesia, can be caused by muscle spasms, perhaps originating by a person's body being overheated and needing electrolytes, in which it is important to stop the activity, rest in a cool and shady spot, and drink something nice, but nothing alcoholic!

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 it 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.
thermoanalgesia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Insensibility to heat or to temperature changes: In medical school, Lynn learned that thermoanalgesia applied to the absence of pain when a hot stimulus was applied to a person.
thermohypalgesia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Diminished pain to heat stimuli including high temperatures: Thermohypalgesia can be described as a decreased feeling of suffering when exposed to heat.
thermohyperalgesia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Excessive thermalgesia (pain caused by a slight degree of heat): Thermohyperalgesia is what Mrs. Thompson experienced when Dr. Black applied a moderate amount of heat to the diseased spot on her arm.

Thermohyperalgesia is a condition of agony induced by hot or cold stimuli at thresholds lower than normal.

thoracalgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain in the chest: There are various causes for thoracalgia including a problem with the heart, an infection in the lungs, strain in the muscles, or an injury to a rib.
throe (s) (noun), throes (pl)
1. A violent spasm or pang; paroxysm: The throes of childbirth lasted for many hours during the night.
2. A sharp attack of emotion: Meg was in the throes of sorrow due to the loss of her favorite aunt.
3. Any violent convulsion or struggle: A throe can be a condition of an agonizing struggle or trouble.

A country can be in the throes of an economic collapse.

Janet was told about the throes, or the agony of the death or her sister.
4. Etymology: from Middle English throwe, perhaps an alteration of thrawe, from Old English thrawu, genitive of thrah, "pain, affliction".

Although this word, throe, is NOT related directly to this algesi- family, it is applicable in meaning.

tibialgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain in the shin: canelite; estresse; tibial medial: Tibialgia occurs when the muscles of the leg between the knee and the ankle are inflamed for some reason.
topalgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain fixed in one spot on a person's body; Topalgia is a symptom occurring in neuroses whereby localized pain, without an evident organic basis, is experienced.
trachealgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain in the trachea: Judy learned that trachealgia occurred because of an infection caused by a virus or by bacteria, but sometimes because of chlorine gas or dense smoke, among other reasons.
trichalgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain produced when hair on the head is touched or moved; trichodynia: The condition of trichalgia can occur as a result of dermatitis scalp and hair follicle infections or psoriasis causing much tenderness and irritations on the skin on top of an individual's head.
ulalgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain in the gums (gingiva) or in the mucous membrane; gingivalgia: Dr. Tooth explained to Jill that her aching and suffering in the tissues surrounding the roots of the teeth and covering the jawbone was termed ulalgiawit and could be treated. .
ureteralgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Agony in the ureter (the tube that conveys the urine from the kidney to the bladder): Dr. Stone told Jeff that he had a case of ureteralgia in which a kidney stone lodged itself in the urinary tract, which had about the same width as a vein.
urethralgia (s) (noun) (no pl)
Pain in the urethra (the canal that conveys urine from the bladder to the exterior of the body): Urethralgia can occur through a sexually transmitted infection, local irritation from the use of soaps, or from a urinary tract infection, among other causes-

You may take self-scoring quizzes over some of the words in this unit by going to Algesi Quiz to check your word knowledge of these words.