Pain that sustains after a peripheral nerve injury is called neuropathic pain, also known as neuralgia. After peripheral injuries, microglial cells surround the synapses between pain fibers and neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, releasing chemicals that make the dorsal horn neurons hyper-excitable. This leads to neural signaling of pain in the hypothalamus.

Cases of neuropathic pain can be considered disagreeable examples of neural plasticity since the nervous system (either the spinal cord or the cortex) amplifies its response to the pain signal.

• Phantom Limb Pain

• Migraines