Seven pains to never ignore

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By Beth Sweeney - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - According to webmd.com, there are seven symptoms you should never ignore.

1. The worst headache of your life.

Dr. Scott Uloth at Westside Family Medicine said that pain should put you on alert.

"There are very serious problems that could go along with that," Uloth said. "One would be a brain aneurysm which would be blood in the brain that may be bleeding. I've seen that happen more than once. Also meningitis, which is an infection that requires immediate treatment."

2. Pain in your lower back or between the shoulder blades.

"A bleeding aneurysm of your abdominal aorta which is the main blood vessel that carries blood away from your heart," Uloth said. "That's very important to pay attention to, especially if the pain radiates down your legs. From your shoulder blades, that could be a variety of things. It could be lungs, reflux from your gastro-intestinal tract, it could be gall-bladder, or more seriously it could be coming from your heart."

3. Speaking of the heart, Dr. Lee Wagmeister at the Heart Group in Evansville said slight discomfort in the chest, throat, jaw or shoulder could be the first sign you have heart disease.

"You get the pain when you're out mowing the lawn, weed-eating, walking fast, climbing stairs," Wagmeister said.

And don't wait for a bigger sign than that.

"Everybody hears the story of the elephant on my chest," Wagmeister said. "'Oh my gosh. I didn't have the elephant on my chest.' The truth is they had the warning signs and that's what you really have to pay attention to because, nine times out of 10, you don't get the elephant on the chest until it's the end result, til the blood vessel is closed."

4. Severe abdominal pain.

"That could go along with appendicitis or an ulcer," Uloth said.

5. Moving on down the body to pain in your calf, which Doctor Uloth said could be a blood clot.

"If you're starting to experience calf pain or swelling, that needs to be checked immediately, because that clot could break off and go to your lung, causing a pulmonary embolism, which could potentially be fatal," Uloth said.

6. A burning sensation in your feet or legs.

"This may be a sign of diabetes, which may not be known or could be pathology of the spine," Uloth said.

7. Doctors said vague or medically unexplained pains could be related to mental health, most commonly depression.

Dr. Hank Kaplan: "People may have difficulty with sleep, their appetite may be off, same thing with energy level," Dr. Hank Kaplan said.

Bottom line, doctors said if these aches and pains sound familiar, get medical attention.

"It will help overall the quality of life," Wagmeister said. "That's what it's all about. Life with your family, friends, life with what you like to do."

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