6 body pains you should never ignore
IT is quite common to dismiss a nagging body pain and hope that with time it will go away, and while some people are certain of the source of their pain, which may simply be soreness in the muscles, arms or back from exercising or other activity, there are others who will go for months, years even, without finding the source.
Dr Tanesha Davis, general internist at St Ann’s Bay Hospital, says body pains should not be ignored because it may be difficult to differentiate a simple benign occurrence as opposed to something more sinister. She shared with All Woman six body pains that should never be ignored, regardless of their magnitude.
1.The thunderclap headaches
There are a plethora of medical conditions associated with the type of headaches that feel as though you have been slapped in the head. However, the most common findings linked to these types of headaches are brain haemorrhage (a bleed in the brain) and brain tumours. These headaches are worth investigating considering that these conditions, if left untreated, can be life-threatening.
2. The searing chest pain
If you have noticed a squeezing or pressing feeling in your chest synonymous with someone sitting on it, no matter how infrequently it happens or how soon you forget about it, it’s time for you to visit your doctor. These types of pains, especially when accompanied by a racing heart, profuse sweating, a feeling of impending doom, light-headedness, nausea or vomiting, are warning signs which warrant a medical investigation. These signs are common indicators of an impending heart attack, and should therefore be treated immediately.
3. Abdominal pain
Abdominal pains are some of those that will get you moved from the bottom to the top of the list in an emergency room. Abdominal pains, particularly those severe pains accompanied by vomiting, fever and a rigid feeling/look to the abdomen, may be a signal of a perforation or rupture. Additionally, symptoms such as an inability to pass stool for days and vomiting copious amounts of substance could mean that you have some form of obstruction/blockage along the gastrointestinal tract.
4. Muscle soreness
Muscle soreness often comes with a level of discomfort or pain that is tolerable, but when these pains start demanding your attention, then you may need to sit and listen to them. Generalised muscle pains and aches are the hallmark of most viral, particularly flu-like illnesses, and usually resolves within a week to 10 days. However, if muscle aches and pains prolong for more than seven days, especially without the flu following, you should seek medical attention.
5. Lower back pain
Almost everyone has suffered from soreness or pain in their lower back at some point. It is one of the most common body pains that patients present with to their doctors. The lower back provides many signals to doctors about the state of your spinal cord. Usually, if these lower back pains are associated with difficulty urinating, moving the legs and cramping or numbness in the feet, this may be a red flag, hinting that an element of the spinal cord has been affected. To prevent paralysis (temporary or permanent), you are encouraged to seek medical attention once you are certain it is not associated with an activity you may have done during the day.
6. Joint pains
You may not have been getting the exercise you need, or you may decide that these joint pains that you are experiencing are a natural curse that comes with age. But a random diagnosis should not be attached to joint pains, especially those that you have been experiencing in excess of six weeks. Joint pains which are usually worse in the mornings, and are followed by symptoms such as joint stiffness and an inability to do motor tasks, may signal an inflammatory-type joint disease like rheumatoid arthritis. If medical attention isn’t sought you may suffer irreversible damage to the joints.
