Have you ever had pain that traveled from one part of your body to the other? Perhaps an ache starting in your hip that runs down the side of your thigh? Or a headache that occurs when your neck feels stiff? While it’s commonly assumed that pain referral originates from nerves, the cause is often muscular. Knowing what’s happening and why is the first step to relief.
What is Muscular Referred Pain?
Referred pain simply means a sensation felt in a different part of the body than the cause of the pain. It may originate from muscle tension or “trigger” points, which are palpable knots caused by long-term muscle tension, repetitive motions or even lack of activity. Referred pain presents in a variety of forms. It may be sharp, dull, stabbing, constant or intermittent.
It’s not always possible to determine on your own if pain is direct or referred. Certain muscles refer not only pain but also other symptoms. For example, the neck muscle called the sternocleidomastoid can not only cause pain in the back of the head where the muscle originates, but also a sore throat, tinnitus or blurry vision.
When is Referred Pain Serious or Signaling an Organ Issue?
Often referred pain is due to muscle tension but in some cases it can signal a serious condition. If you have shoulder pain accompanied by difficulty breathing, dizziness or chest pain, it’s important to contact a health care provider immediately to rule out a heart attack or other cardiac condition.
Low back pain, especially when accompanied by fever, can signal a kidney infection. Gall bladder attacks often appear as a sharp pain in the upper right abdomen and can refer to the right shoulder blade. Communicate with your health care provider if you experience this type of symptom cluster. Your provider can ask further questions to determine if immediate care is needed.
Why Does Pain Refer?
The concept of pain referral exists in both Chinese and Western medicine. In Chinese medicine terms, muscle tension is stagnant energy or blood. Any sensation can move along meridians or channels in the body. For example, the large intestine channel starts in the hand, moves up the arms and ends on the face near the mouth. Points on the hand can relieve tooth pain or sinus pressure. This explains why channels can carry symptoms like pain and also provide relief.
In Western medicine terms, a pain stimulus carries a signal to your brain, which alerts your body to pain. This signal can encounter synapses and reflexes that alert other parts of your body to the pain signal. There may be different explanations, but in East and West pain often is not just a local sensation.
How Is Referred Pain Treated?
The key to treating referred pain is determining the source. Frankly, unless you’re a trained health care provider, most people don’t know how muscles and organs refer pain. The reality is certain health care providers are more well versed in the subject than others. The best way to handle traveling pain as a patient involves paying close attention to where you feel the pain most intensely and where it travels in your body. Take notes and be precise with your health care provider. Do certain movements or activities activate the pain? Is it worse after prolonged sitting? Does anything (aside from medications) relieve the sensation?
Keep in mind that not all referred pain needs treatment. Let’s say you decide to write a book over the weekend and barely leave the keyboard for 48 hours. Upon standing you feel an intense pain in the hip area that runs down the back of your leg. This can be a referral pattern of the gluteus minimus muscle, a fan-shaped muscle that spans from the ilium to the femur in the hip joint. In many cases, the pain will dissipate once you move around and bring circulation to the muscle. If the pain persists, the muscle may be spasming or involuntarily contracting.
Even if you’re not certain where your discomfort originates, it’s worth stretching the painful area to see if spasms decrease. Unless your pain results from an injury with swelling, heat is helpful to soothe muscle aches. Chinese herbal liniments also help relax muscle contractions and improve circulation. Please inquire at Heritage Acupuncture about our variety of liniments, or topical herbal liquids for pain relief.
Acupuncture is an excellent way to address referred pain –especially when the acupuncturist specializes in musculoskeletal conditions. In fact, treating referred pain is relatively simple. It’s diagnosing the origin of referred pain that can be tricky. Many acupuncturists focus on muscle motor points to stop spams and related referred pain. Motor points are distinct areas where nerves innervate muscles. Treating a motor point sends a signal to the brain telling the muscle to relax. Your acupuncturist may also add other points to relax muscles in general, especially for your specific target area.
Post-treatment it’s a great idea to stretch the area to solidify results. Some muscles have been spasming for so long they must be retrained to relax. Referred pain may just be a signal that your body needs more TLC. Keeping your muscles relaxed can be a team effort between you and your acupuncturist. The combination of regular treatments, targeted stretching and therapeutic movement will not only keep pain at bay, but also improve circulation, nourish muscle tissue and keep joints in optimal condition.