Pain You Should Never Ignore

We're all familiar with physical pain and discomfort. Pain can be defined as a signal throughout your nervous system that indicates something could be wrong in your body. While each person may experience different levels of pain in multiple areas of their body depending on their condition, pain sensations can include a prick, burn, sting, ache or even a tingle.

Even though acute pains can go as quickly as they show up, chronic pain can take much longer to go away or may not leave at all until the cause of the pain is solved. Regardless, it's wise to pay attention to your pain so it can be addressed before your pain causes more health problems.

"People have to make a judgment call for themselves, whether they're going to go to an emergency room or make an appointment with their doctor," says Robert Hockberger, MD, chair of emergency medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Paying close attention to pain can make that call easier to make. It could even save your life."

Of course, you shouldn't worry about every ache and twinge. Dr. Hockberger offers some general rules of thumb to separate run-of-the-mill pain from the kind that could signal a serious medical problem.

"We ask patients to rate their pain from a one to a 10," he said. "People who feel that their pain is a seven or higher - anything worse than a bad toothache - should see a doctor right away."

According to Dr. Hockberger, you should also see a doctor if you have moderate pain that doesn't go away within a few days, or if any treatment that previously relieved pain suddenly stops working.

You'll be way ahead in the guessing game if you familiarize yourself with some serious conditions that cause pain. This list is by no means definitive -- a roster of every painful malady could fill a medical book, and probably has -- but it's a good place to start. If you're alert to these problems, you're likely to get the help you need.

Leg Pain With Swelling

Symptoms

One of your legs suddenly becomes painful and swollen. The pain is especially noticeable when you stand or walk around. The swollen area -- most likely a calf or thigh -- may be red or warm.

What Your Leg Pain Could Be

Leg pain with swelling can be a sign of deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot forming in a vein deep within the leg. These blood clots are dangerous because they can break free and move to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism.

Deep vein thrombosis most often occurs when a person isn't moving enough to keep blood flowing briskly through the legs. The condition is sometimes called "economy class syndrome," because it can strike during a long plane ride. People stuck in hospital beds are also at risk for deep vein thrombosis, as are people ages 60 or older, women taking birth control pills, women who have recently given birth, and anyone who is overweight.

What You Should Do About Your Leg Pain

If you are experiencing leg pain with swelling, make an appointment to see a doctor immediately. Be sure to tell your doctor if you've just finished a long trip or if there is any other reason to suspect a blood clot. Prompt treatment can clear the blood clot before it has a chance to cause trouble.

Sudden Testicular Pain

Symptoms

As unpleasant as it may be, imagine a swift kick to the groin. The pain, possibly along with swelling, will be on one side of the scrotum. This isn't just a dull ache. It's the type of pain that makes it difficult to walk or even talk.

What Your Testicular Pain Could Be

Sudden testicular pain can be a sign of testicular torsion. In this condition, the cord that connects to the testicles becomes twisted, cutting off blood flow. Other possible (but rare) reasons of sudden testicular pain include testicular cancer and epididymitis, an infection of a small organ on the testicle. However, infections of the testicle tend to come on much more gradually and aren't nearly as painful.

What You Should Do About Your Testicular Pain

If you experience sudden testicular pain, get to a doctor immediately. If you do have testicular torsion, it's an emergency, because the testicle will become damaged without adequate blood flow.

Painful Urination

Symptoms

You feel pain or a burning sensation when urinating. You may also have frequent urges to urinate without results.

What Your Painful Urination Could Be

Painful urination may mean you have an annoying but harmless urinary tract infection (UTI), but in very rare cases painful urination could be a sign of something serious, like a sexually transmitted disease or, much more rarely, bladder cancer. (The classic sign of bladder cancer is the painless passing of blood in the urine.) Although UTIs are especially common in women, men are three to four times more likely than women to get bladder cancer.

What You Should Do About Your Painful Urination

If you experience painful urination, schedule an appointment with your doctor or urologist. If it's nothing serious, treatment can quickly relieve the pain. If it is bladder cancer, prompt diagnosis can increase your chances of recovery.

Sudden Chest Pain

Symptoms

You suddenly feel unusual pain, discomfort, or pressure in the center of your chest. The feelings may linger for more than a few minutes, or they may disappear and come back. The pain and discomfort in your chest can spread to one or both arms or to the neck, jaw, stomach, or back. Other possible symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness, or a cold sweat.

What Your Sudden Chest Pain Could Be

Sudden chest pain may be caused by a pulmonary embolism (obstruction of a blood vessel by a clot or other matter), pneumothorax (too much air or gas in the chest cavity), or a bout of angina (chest pain caused by inadequate blood flow). You might also be having a heart attack.

Be aware that most heart attacks start much more slowly than the Hollywood variety - you're more likely to feel a dull or vague pressure in the chest than a sharp pain. Some heart attacks are so subtle that it can be hard to tell then apart from simple indigestion or heartburn, Hockberger says. In many cases, it takes an EKG or other hospital test to tell the difference.

What You Should Do About Your Sudden Chest Pain

If you experience sudden chest pain and think you might be having a heart attack or another medical emergency, don't wait any longer than five minutes to call 911 or get to a hospital. If you are having a heart attack or embolism, waiting too long to get help could be a fatal mistake.

Severe Headache

Symptoms

Picture your worst headache -- even a skull-splitting migraine -- and imagine turning it up several notches. This mega-headache can strike suddenly, "like a thunderclap," Hockberger says. Other possible symptoms include double vision, nausea, vomiting, and a stiff neck.

What Your Severe Headache Could Be

A severe headache could be just a bad migraine, but it could also be a ruptured aneurysm, bleeding in the brain that occurs when a weak spot in a blood vessel suddenly bursts. While migraines can cause similar symptoms, Hockberger notes that most people with migraines have their first episode before they turn 25. Doctors hear alarm bells when a person over 25 has the first killer headache of his or her life.

Every year, about 30,000 people in this country develop ruptured aneurysms. According to a report from Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, half of all ruptured aneurysms cause sudden death, but over 80 percent of patients who can make it to the hospital survive.

Anyone of any age can suffer a ruptured aneurysm, but they are more common in adults than in children. Smokers, people with hypertension, and people who abuse alcohol or illegal drugs are at especially high risk.

What You Should Do About Your Severe Headache

Call 911 or get to an emergency room right away.

A Stiff Neck Accompanied By Fever And/Or A Severe Headache

Symptoms

Many different things can cause sudden pain or stiffness in the neck. But if your neck pain or stiffness is accompanied by either a fever or a severe headache or both (often with sensitivity to light), you could be facing an emergency.

What A Stiff Neck With A Fever Or Severe Headache Could Be

A stiff neck with a fever or severe headache could be a sign of meningitis, an infection of the membrane that surrounds the brain. While meningitis can be caused by either viruses or bacteria, the bacterial kind is far more dangerous and potentially deadly. Bacterial meningitis comes on quickly - you may feel perfectly fine one day and deathly ill the next. The condition can cause vomiting, nausea, and a rash along with behavioral changes such as confusion and sleepiness.

What You Should Do

Call 911 or get to an emergency room right away.

Sudden, Sharp Pain In The Abdomen

Symptoms

You have pain that starts at the center of the abdomen, usually in the area around the belly button. It eventually becomes more severe and shifts to the lower right side of the belly, making it painful to the touch. You may have nausea, vomiting, a low-grade fever (under 100 degrees) diarrhea, constipation, inability to pass gas, swelling in the abdomen and a lack of appetite. Eventually, the abdominal pain may become so sharp or painful that it hurts to move. You may even feel like someone has put a knife or a bullet in your guts -- from the inside.

What A Sharp Pain In The Abdomen Could Be

Sharp pain in the abdomen may a sign of appendicitis - inflammation of the appendix - a common emergency that's easy to dismiss as "just another stomachache." Ignoring the pain is dangerous, because an inflamed appendix could burst without prompt treatment.

Sharp abdominal pain could also be a symptom of an inflamed gallbladder or pancreas. Just like an inflamed appendix, the gallbladder can rupture if it is not treated right away. An inflamed pancreas also needs prompt medical attention.

Finally, if you are female, you may have an inflamed ovarian cyst, a pelvic infection, or, if you're of childbearing age, an ectopic pregnancy.

What You Should Do About A Sharp Pain In Your Abdomen

If you think you may have appendicitis, an inflamed gallbladder, or an ectopic pregnancy, get to a hospital quickly. An ectopic pregnancy can be life-threatening, and if your appendix really is inflamed, it needs to be removed before it causes serious problems. Every year, about 260,000 people in the United States have surgery to remove a troublesome appendix. If you suspect you have a pelvic infection such as pelvic inflammatory disease, seek medical attention quickly - without treatment, this can cause permanent scarring, sterility, and in rare cases, a dangerous abscess.

Severe Back Pain

Symptoms

Back pain usually goes away on its own, with or without a doctor's help. But if the back pain is sudden, agonizing, and unrelated to exercise or improper lifting, or if you feel excruciating, highly focused pain on your spine, you may be in the midst of an emergency.

What Severe Back Pain Could Be

Sudden, severe back pain may signal a kidney stone or an abdominal aneurysm, a bulge in the main artery leading from the heart. Kidney stones blocking the flow of urine tend to cause sharp or cramping pain that starts in the back or side and moves to the groin. Abdominal aneurysms, most common in older people with atherosclerosis, may produce only mild pain as the bulge grows. The pain suddenly becomes excruciating if the aneurysm bursts.

Intense, pinpoint pain may be a sign of an infection beneath the membrane that covers the spinal cord. This condition, called an epidural abscess, strikes about 10,000 people each year. If not treated promptly, it can cause paralysis of the lower part of the body, sometimes in just a few hours. Epidural abscesses often come on the heels of minor infections, such as infections of the sinuses or urinary tract. People with diabetes and IV drug users are most at risk.

What You Should Do About Your Severe Back Pain

Call 911 or get to an emergency room right away.

Nagging Foot Or Shin Pain

Symptoms

Your normally full exercise schedule is slowed down by persistent pain on the top of your foot or the front of your lower leg. The pain builds gradually, gets worse when you put weight on your leg, and fades when you rest. If the pain is on the top of your foot, you might also notice swelling on the sore spot.

What Nagging Foot Or Shin Pain Could Be

Nagging foot or shin pain could be a sign of a stress fracture - a hairline crack in the bone. Stress fractures are common "overuse" injuries, often striking athletes in sports that give the feet a pounding, including track, basketball, and tennis. Adolescents and women with unusual or absent menstrual cycles are especially at risk for stress fractures.

What You Should Do About Your Foot Or Shin Pain

Foot or shin pain isn't a medical emergency, but it's one time when you don't want to play through the pain. Schedule an appointment with your doctor or orthopedist to get a diagnosis. If you have a stress fracture, you'll need to take it easy for a couple of weeks to let your bone heal.

Pain is an imperfect guide to illness. Some conditions are painful but not dangerous, while other very serious conditions may strike with no pain at all. If you do have questions about a pain you have, it's best to consult your doctor.

There can be several reasons for your pain and it's crucial to pay attention to avoid your condition from getting worse over time. While, at times, you may have an ache from exercising without stretching beforehand, other sudden surges of pain that tend to stick around may be worth getting professionally examined. Even though this guide may give some insight into the pain you might feel, the next step is to stay in contact with your primary care provider for consistent checkups and know the location of the nearest emergency room.

HealthDay News contributed information to this article.