What is referred pain?
Referred pain is when you get pain in one area but the real problem is somewhere else on the body. There are classic symptoms for a pinched nerve or a herniated disc, but there are other subtle symptoms we can get. An example would be if you are gardening one day and pull a lot of grass clumps from the soil with your right hand. You felt fine doing it but in the evening, your whole arm aches from shoulder to fingertips. It’s a different feeling than having a fatigued muscle; it throbs. What happened was the shoulder got over worked and swelled just enough to tighten around a nerve that runs down the arm. If you have a hot bath, persuade someone to work on your shoulder and then do a little stretching, it will probably work itself out quickly. This referred pain can happen anywhere causing various muscle aches and headaches.
Referred pain is a type of pain that is experienced by a person in a region of their body that does not contain the source of that pain. For example, its common knowledge that a person having a heart attack will often experience pain in the left arm or shoulder. The source of the pain is actually the heart muscle, but the pain is “referred” or projected to the left arm or shoulder. In general, about 3/4 of all trigger points produce referred pain that is felt in an adjacent region of the body. The other 1/4 of trigger points produce pain that is felt on or directly around the trigger point.
When pain comes from an internal or visceral organ and this pain is prolonged and intense, the pain can be felt in more superficial structures, sometimes far from the origin of the pain. Examples are pain in the shoulder occurring when the diaphragm is irritated or sciatica. Pain in the left arm often accompanies the pain of a heart attack.
Referred pain is a phenomenon in which a pathology in one area of the body causes pain in another location. The classic example of referred pain is the pain in the left arm and neck associated with a heart attack or angina episode. In this case, the pain is actually occurring in the heart, but the patient experiences the pain in another location. While referred pain has been documented and studied extensively, researchers are not entirely sure about what causes it. When referred pain occurs, it can be somewhat frustrating for both patient and doctor. The patient comes to the doctor to treat shoulder pain, for example, and the doctor cannot find anything wrong with the shoulder which would cause pain. The doctor may say that nothing can be done, which is upsetting for the patient, because he or she is experiencing real pain despite the lack of any obvious cause. Some types of referred pain, such as the arm and neck pain from heart attacks, are well known, and if a patient comes to a doc
