Referred pain

Referred pain is an interesting phenomenon that we see from time to time with patients who visit us in our clinic for a Prenuvo scan. It is a phenomenon that is rarely known by patients and many doctors, and this sometimes leads to important medical issues being left undiagnosed for longer than they should be.

So what is referred pain? Referred pain is pain that is perceived at a site that is different from the source of the pain. The most common referred pain is that of angina, a pain caused by a lack of blood flow in the heart and often perceived as neck pain. Cancerous tumors often cause pain by pressing on nerves that pass the tumor, sometimes resulting in pain perceived in another part of the body.

Below are some of the most common cases of referred pain that we have noticed.

• Pain in the left side of the neck, which can often be caused by medical conditions in the lungs
• Pain in the right side of the neck, sometimes caused by serious conditions, including cancer, in the liver and gallbladder
• Radiating back pain can sometimes be caused by problems in the pancreas
• Pain on the outsides of the thighs often caused by kidney issues, often kidney stones or cysts
• Pain radiating down the inner thighs is often rooted in medical conditions in the bladder
• Stabbing pain in the abdomen, which can often be caused by tumors or cysts in the ovaries
• Recognizing the cause of referred pain is crucial to spotting many life-threatening illnesses. This is particularly so for persistent pain for which you don’t have a good explanation for what caused it.

At Prenuvo we believe it is extremely important to know what is going on inside your body - particularly because many serious cancers and medical conditions often cause no early symptoms or sometimes cause confusing symptoms that can be easily missed.