October 04, 2016
While always unpleasant, some pains aren’t anything to be concerned about, but others can be an underlying sign of something serious. So how do you know exactly when you should go see your doctor? If you’re experiencing any of the following pains and the accompanying symptoms, then it’s definitely a good idea to seek out professional medical attention.
Neck pains sound common, and they are — you slept funny and have a stiff neck in the morning, or you had your head bent at a strange angle while at work, and are sore upon arriving home. This is completely normal, and nothing to be concerned about.
When is neck pain something you should be concerned about? If the pain is accompanied by numbness in your limbs, weakness, or tingling, you may have damaged your spine. Perhaps you had a recent serious injury that may have caused the onset of these symptoms. This is concerning enough to give your doctor a call.
Another serious sign is if your neck pain is accompanied by chest pain. This could possibly be a warning of a heart attack, with other symptoms such as nausea and shortness of breath.
Headaches can be a real pain — literally. They can lower your productivity, especially at work, and make you want to crawl into bed and never come out again. We’ve all been there!
Even though headaches are common and usually go away on their own, they can sometimes mean there’s an underlying health problem. If your headache is accompanied by fever and neck pain, this could mean something serious — meningitis. This requires medical attention and can be deadly, so be sure to get in contact with your doctor if you experience fever and neck pains along with headaches.
Any headaches that make you so nauseous that you vomit are also something to be concerned about, because headaches accompanied by vomiting, along with impaired speech and walking abilities, could possibly be a warning of a hemorrhagic stroke.
You don’t have to worry about every stomach pain that comes along — they’re common and don’t always mean there’s something critically wrong with you. We all overindulge in food, resulting in stomach aches, or experience other culprits such as constipation, the pesky stomach virus, and gas.
When are stomach pains something to be concerned about? If they’re accompanied by pain in your shoulders, chest, or neck, then it’s possible that there’s something more serious at play — such as a heart attack. If your pain lasts for a long period of time, is accompanied by a fever, and if you experience pain when urinating as well, you might be showing signs of multiple infections, including a urinary tract infection and meningitis.
If you lift something heavier than your back can take, you’re likely to experience back pain. However, when back pain is accompanied by fever, it could mean that there is something more serious going on, such as an infection. Get medical help if you have back pains and an unexplainable fever — your doctor will be able to get to the bottom of exactly what is causing the fever and if any medications, such as antibiotics, need to be prescribed.
If you’re experiencing any numbness in your limbs along with back pain, then this could be a sign of nerve damage, and if your weight decreases without any changes to your daily life, then there’s the possible chance of hormonal disorders.
Not every little pain should have you running to the doctor’s office, because most pains are common and nothing to be concerned about. However, if you’re concerned about something, especially something unusual, give your doctor a call as soon as possible. When it comes to your health, you should never mess around — it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
