7 Pains You Should Not Ignore

Byline- Dr. T Deepa Porkodi

Intro- Pains are the bodys way of telling you that something is wrong with it. Never take any pain

lightly; some pains can be life-threatening.

When the body cries out in pain, most of the times you know what is bringing that pain and you do what

will help relieve the pain. For example, a serious workout may cause sore aching muscles for which you

will rest a day or too or take a painkiller to relieve the pain.

What does one do in case one doesnt know why a body part is paining? One needs to sit up and take

notice! The pain could be anything from a heart attack to an aneurysm and could cost you your life!

1. Pain in the head- Headaches are the most frequent pains that we suffer from. Headache could

be due to a migraine, due to staying too long in the sun, due to a cold or simply due to working

too long without a break. But in case you have a headache and are not able to pinpoint to an

obvious cause, rush to the emergency room. Headaches with no apparent cause may be due

to a brain hemorrhage, a tumor in the brain or an aneurysm in the brain arteries! Get yourself

checked as soon as possible if you keep getting headaches for no apparent reason.

2. Pain in the jaw- This could be due to a caries ridden tooth. But most often it is due to an

impending heart attack. The classical left sided chest pain radiating to the left little finger is not

always seen in all cases of heart attacks. Referred pains to the jaw and the back are seen very

frequently. Often times, people tend to take the pain in the jaw lightly and brush it off to a tooth

problem. This may be potentially life-threatening as you never know the severity of the attack!

3. Tingling, numbness and burning of the feet- Diabetes mellitus is a silent killer. Peripheral

neuropathy is often the first complication of diabetes. Tingling numbness and burning in the

feet may be attributed to wearing tight shoes and to keeping your feet suffocated in socks all

day long. Dipping your feet in a tub of cold water will give you a good nights sleep. But do not

let it go at that. Get your blood sugar levels checked before it is too late!

4. Pain in the calves- Do you get nightly pain in your calves that get better with putting your

feet up and gentle massage? This is due to long standing hours at my workplace you may

say. True, it is due to that. But it is not something to be left unattended. Calf pains are due to

deep vein thrombosis that occurs when the stagnated blood in the veins starts to form clots.

The danger here is that the clot could break off and travel to your lungs causing pulmonary

thromboembolism that is fatal! Take a break regularly and put up your feet frequently. Let the

blood flow and not stagnate!

5. Pain in the back- Most commonly back pain is caused due to arthritis and improper sitting

postures. But if you suffer from high blood pressure and are an alcoholic and smoker too, do not

take your back pain lightly. It could be due to an heart attack or an aortic dissection!

6. Pain in the abdomen- You may attribute this pain to gases, over eating or indigestion. While

these may be occasional causes, persistent pains need to be checked. It could be anything from

a gall stone, to gastric ulcers, to a swollen liver or maybe even pancreatic cancer!

7. Vague, medically unexplainable pains- When you have a recurrent headache or a stomachache

or a backache and you come out with a perfectly healthy report after visiting all the specialists,

it is perhaps time to seek the help of a psychiatrist of a counselor. Your pains could actually be

a symptom of depression. Psychosomatic pains are on the rise. The stresses we face in our lives

everyday get pushed to our subconscious and eventually are pushed up bodily in the form of

unexplainable aches and pains!

Keywords- diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy, chest pain, caries, jaw pain, heart attack, aortic

aneurysm, gall stone, pancreatic cancer, migraine, brain hemorrhage, psychosomatic diseases,

depression, backache, arthritis, calves pain, deep vein thrombosis