Does 'pain' need redefining?

The widely accepted definition of pain written by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) is clinically useful, but is based on the perspective of the “observer”. A fuller understanding of the pain experience and of the clinical care of people experiencing pain is achievable through greater attention to the personal experience of pain, the social “intersubjective space” in which pain occurs, and the limitations of language. A revised redefinition of pain is offered.