There might be a way to quantify physical pain. Watch this video with Robin Miller, MD, as she discusses the results of a study measuring brain waives and how this information could be used to create better pain treatment.
Pain
Pain is your body telling you that you have hurt it. This is a good thing, important when you are injured. It can also help diagnose problems with your body. Sometimes pain continues long after it's necessary. Amputees report phantom pain in the legs or arms they no longer have.
There are different kinds of pain, and describing the type is useful in diagnosis: recurring, constant, steady, knife-like, radiating, sharp, dull. Medicines that dull pain are analgesics. Those that kill all feeling are anesthetics.
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Eric Olsen , Fitness, answered
Second-degree pain, which tends to come on immediately after a workout, is longer lasting than first-degree pain, the normal aches we might feel during a workout. Second-degree pain is more localized, say in an arm or leg -- with more discreet tenderness -- rather than more diffuse, as in the case of first-degree pain. This type of pain is an indication that you are pushing up against some physical limit, that perhaps it's time to just "coast" without increasing the amount of work, simply maintaining until your body becomes accustomed to the new level of effort. Second-degree pain may also be the first hint of muscle strength imbalances or biomechanical problems, aggravated by increased workload, that presage an overuse injury. The key sign at this point is increasing localization of the pain.
Action: You might want to cut back on your training, or at least go into a "holding pattern" without increasing your activity level or changing your routine. Wait a few days to see what becomes of the tenderness. Make sure your shoes aren't excessively worn, and check other equipment for wear or other factors that may be affecting your biomechanics. You may have to begin exploring the possibility of biomechanical problems that need to be addressed. Rest, gentle massage, heat, and over-the-counter analgesics are all appropriate.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answeredYou may think that dull, mild twinge in your leg (sometimes known as a “charley horse”) is caused by sleeping in an awkward position or dehydration, but it can also be the sign of something more serious called deep vein thrombosis or DVT.
DVT is a condition in which a blood clot forms in one or more of the deep veins, usually in the legs. The clot then blocks the flow of blood, causing pain. That pain can become life-threatening when the clot gets loose and travels to your lungs, blocking the flow of oxygen to the body.
How do you know whether to see a doctor? If your leg pain is mild, say a 2 or 3 on a pain scale of 1 (very mild pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable), there's a good chance it is just a cramp. If it starts climbing the scale to an intense pain, say a 5 or 6 or 7 or even higher, squeeze the area. If it hurts more, and if you’ve been traveling by plane recently or have been more sedentary than usual, go to a hospital to ensure it’s not DVT.
This content originally appeared on doctoroz.com -
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answeredWatch this video to learn more from Dr. Mehmet Oz about urinating.
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Dr. Karen L. Gorton, PhD, MS, RN , Emergency Room Nursing, answered on behalf of Honor Society of Nursing (STTI)See All 3 AnswersSeveral things may cause numbing in your feet. One cause could be from diabetes. When diabetes is untreated, unrecognized, or undertreated it can cause damage to your nerves. This condition is known as neuropathy.
Another cause could come from circulatory problems in your feet. If you are wearing shoes that are too tight, the circulation, or blood flow, to your feet can be decreased. If you have unknown, untreated, or undertreated high blood pressure, this too can cause circulation problems, which could lead to numbness in your feet.
If you have any type of decreased flow to or from your feet, numbness in your feet may also arise.
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Dr. Devi E. Nampiaparampil, MD , Pain Medicine, answeredLeg pain has many causes. "Sciatica" is a common type of leg pain that is caused by nerves being irritated in the spine. That type of pain may involve a sharp shooting sensation or numbness and tingling. Other nerves in the leg can cause nerve pain as well.
There are many other causes of leg pain though. The pain could come from the bone if there is a fracture. It could come from the joints such as in arthritis. Or it could come from the muscle, which may happen in people who have thyroid problems. Sometimes, people can have leg pain if there are problems with the circulation, which is the blood flow through the legs. This is more common in smokers, diabetics, and people with high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
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National Academy of Sports Medicine answeredJoint pain years after receiving a surgical intervention may not have anything to do with the original surgery. You may find that it has more to do with degenerative processes as the years have passed. Chronic pain can be caused by osteophytes or degenerative joint disease (DJD) and needs specific diagnosis and recommendations for treatment by a physician. It may be that you can reduce the amount of pain and discomfort through proper flexibility and resistance exercise overseen by a physician and implemented by a certified health and fitness professional. -
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See All 3 AnswersNumbness in the hand and ring and pinkie fingers is known as cubital tunnel syndrome. It occurs because the ulnar nerve is subject to a variety of problems, including friction, ulnar nerve dislocation, and impingement of the ulnar nerve, and all of these problems can cause numbness in these fingers.
(This answer provided for NATA by the Southern Utah University Athletic Training Education Program.) -
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You should see a neurologist for calf pain and numbness in the foot as these symptoms are suggestive of a pinched nerve in the lower back ("pinching" of the S1 nerve root commonly causes such symptoms). A pinched nerve in the lower back is called a lumbar or lumbosacral radiculopathy and if left untreated can result in worsening low back and calf pain, persistent numbness of the foot and muscle weakness which manifests as the inability to stand on your toes.
Calf pain and foot numbness, if occuring in both feet, can be the presenting symptoms of a neuropathy. Your neurologist can help determine the cause and treatment of neuropathy as to prevent worsening and disability. -
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Burning and tingling in the feet are most frequently due to a peripheral neuropathy. This is a length dependent process which affects the parts of the nerves furthest away from the body (i.e. the toes followed by the feet). There are many causes to neuropathy such as diabetes, rheumatologic disease, vitamin deficiencies, blood disorders (i.e. paraproteinemias such as nmltiple myeloma or other monoclonal gammapathies), kidney failure and infectious processes such as syphilis. There are also genetic disorders that cause peripheral neuropathy, the most common being Charcot Marie Tooth disease.
Sometimes nerve roots impingements of the back can mimic a peripheral neuropathy, particularly S1 nerve root impingements.