What is radiating pain? At the root of the phenomenon is the formation of uncomfortable sensations, which can be localized in various parts of the body that are removed from the place of real development of the pathological focus. For example, radiating pains in the abdomen during infringement of the intestine can be given to the back. The same thing often happens when a stone passes through the urinary tract.
The principle of the formation of radiating pain
Any pain develops as a result of transmitting a signal about the development of the pathological process to the receptors that are in the internal organs and skin integuments. This happens due to the release of special chemicals from damaged or destroyed cells. The latter, getting into the bloodstream, move towards the nerve synapses located along the entire length of the spinal cord.
Further impulses are redirected to the brain. If at the same time special C-fibers of the autonomic nervous system are excited, irradiating pain develops, in which the unpleasant sensations are perceived by the person in a place remote from the true source of the problem.
Trigger points
On the human body there are so-called trigger points. It is in these areas that radiating pain is formed. You can detect them by pressing or exposure to pricking during acupuncture. These points are active in absolutely healthy people. However, they become most sensitive in people who suffer from diseases of the abdominal organs, cardiovascular system. With such ailments, a radiating pain under the scapula, as well as along the entire length of the spine, can form.
The most common types of radiating pain
With the development of a radiating pain syndrome, the following trigger points are most often activated:
- In the shoulder region - in the presence of liver pathologies, ulcerative colitis, cholelithiasis, rupture of the spleen, pneumonia.
- In the area of the head - such radiating pain can be caused by hypothermia of the throat, for example, as a result of eating cold food. Often, headaches develop after a long stay in a strong icy wind.
- In the upper extremities - with cardiovascular diseases.
- In the area of the spine - people with acute appendicitis sometimes feel severe discomfort not in the abdominal cavity, but in the lower back. Irradiating lower back pain can also be felt in diseases of the stomach.
Diagnostic Features
How do doctors find out that it is a radiating pain that bothers a person? First of all, specialists resort to palpation, in other words, pressing on the main trigger points on the body. If necessary, the patient is referred to a neurologist who resorts to special tests and tests aimed at determining the real source of pain.
The final conclusion about the presence of radiating pain is made according to the analysis of the composition of urine and blood. If there is a suspicion of a displacement of discomfort as a result of the development of pathologies of organs and systems, such studies may be prescribed to patients:
- ECG;
- chest x-ray;
- cardiac echocardiography;
- Ultrasound of the pelvic organs and peritoneum;
- passing a thorough examination by a surgeon, neurologist, cardiologist, other narrowly targeted doctors.
Eliminating Radiating Pain
It is usually difficult to establish the objective reason for the displacement of discomfort from the focus of the development of the disease to other parts of the body, since radiating pain can occur as a result of the formation of a wide variety of pathologies. Therefore, before resorting to specific actions aimed at facilitating the well-being of the patient, an accurate diagnosis is required. That is why, with suspicions of radiating pain, specialists resort to such a wide range of diagnostic procedures, which we have already discussed above.
In general, to relieve pain, doctors can prescribe the following groups of drugs to patients:
- general-purpose painkillers;
- agents whose effect is aimed at the expansion of blood vessels;
- muscle relaxants, which lead to the release of tension from the heart muscle and adjacent tissues;
- medicines that activate metabolic processes.
Finally
As you can see, radiating pain is diagnosed and eliminated by a variety of methods. To help the doctor remove the discomfort, the patient needs to monitor how the syndrome is formed, what exactly it manifests itself in. All this information is communicated to the specialist. If the results of the preliminary examination confirm the absence of pathology at the site of pain, the exact cause is determined by the use of instrumental diagnostic methods.