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Irradiating pain
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Irradiating pain or reflected (Synalgia, Referred Pain) is a pain that a person experiences in any part of the body that does not correspond to the actual place of its origin. For example, an abscess in the area under the diaphragm can cause pain not at all, but in the shoulder region. When a person has heart disease, they can give pain not in the heart, but in the hand or fingers on the left. What are the causes of reflected, or irradiating pain?
[What causes irradiating pain?
It is still not known exactly what compounds in the human body cause the cause of irradiating pain, but there are several theories that quite plausibly explain what can cause such a strange phenomenon. Irradiating pain occurs due to the sensitivity of nerve fibers in areas that have a high level of sensory sensitivity, such as skin and internal organs.
Therefore, during a heart attack, nerves from the damaged heart tissue transmit signals to the vertebral spinal cord T1-T4 processes, on the left side, and the pain is transmitted to the left arm. Since the brain does not perceive such strong signals of pain in the heart, it deciphers them not as pains in the heart, but as pain in the left arm or chest.
Trigger points
Near the areas of the body where a person feels irradiating pain, you can find trigger points. It is worth only pressing on them or poking them with a needle with acupuncture, severe pain can occur. Sometimes they are quite long, sharp. These points can be detected even in relatively healthy people. But most often they are diagnosed in patients, those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, those who suffer from pain in the chest. This pain can also be given to the area of the shoulder blades and to disturb along the entire length of the spine - on both sides of it.
What kinds of irradiating pain?
Pain in the shoulder
It can be caused by violations in the liver, peptic ulcer disease, cholelithiasis, pericarditis, pneumonia, or rupture of the spleen.
Headache
Also known as "freezing of the brain". This pain is caused by hypothermia of the vagus nerve, when the throat is cooled by using something cold, for example, ice cream.
Pain with appendicitis
Sometimes people with acute appendicitis may feel pain in the right shoulder, not in the abdomen.
How is irradiative pain treated?
Irradiating pain is treated in many ways, however, one of the best ways to combat reflected pain is to monitor pain characteristics to provide this information to the doctor. In the event that the area where you feel pain is recognized as normal, an X-ray examination will show the exact cause of the pain. Treatment options depending on the diagnosis may include physiotherapy, medication or surgical intervention.