Pain can be due to a wide variety of diseases, disorders and conditions that range from a mild injury to a debilitating disease. Pain can be categorized as acute, chronic, referred, cancer, neuropathic, and visceral. Acute pain is experienced rapidly in response to disease or injury. Acute pain serves to alert the body that something is wrong and that action should be taken, such as pulling your arm away from a flame. Acute pain often resolves within a short time once the underlying condition is treated.