Noxious stimulation induces peripheral afferents responsible for transducing pain (including A-delta and C- nerve fibers, as well as free nerve endings) throughout the nervous system of an organism.
These include reflexive, escape behaviors, to avoid harm to an organism's body.
Because of rare genetic conditions that inhibit the ability to perceive physical pain, such as congenital insensitivity to pain and anhydrosis (CIPA), noxious stimulation does not invariably lead to tissue damage.
[1] Noxious stimuli can either be mechanical (e.g. pinching or other tissue deformation), chemical (e.g. exposure to acid or irritant), or thermal (e.g. high or low temperatures).
There are some types of tissue damage that are not detected by any sensory receptors, and thus cannot cause pain.