Referred Pain
July 13th 2006 06:07
Referred Pain
Referred pain is a painful sensation that is felt in an area of the body that is not actually the source of the pain. Usually, this referred pain is felt in the skin or other superficial (closer to the surface of the body) areas when deeper structures like internal organs are damaged or inflamed.
This phenomenon occurs because the neurons (nerve cells) of the superficial area and the neurons of the internal area converge onto the same neurons in the spinal cord. Since the brain cannot distinguish between the two areas, it refers the pain to the most superficial structure, i.e. the skin.
For example, in a heart attack patients will report a pain radiating from the left shoulder down the arm. There’s also the ‘brain freeze’ felt when eating something cold like ice-cream. Or, if a pain is felt in the navel area, its source will be located around the colon.
Reference: • Seeley, Stephens and Tate, 2005, 5th edition, McGraw Hill, ‘Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology’
Referred pain is a painful sensation that is felt in an area of the body that is not actually the source of the pain. Usually, this referred pain is felt in the skin or other superficial (closer to the surface of the body) areas when deeper structures like internal organs are damaged or inflamed.
This phenomenon occurs because the neurons (nerve cells) of the superficial area and the neurons of the internal area converge onto the same neurons in the spinal cord. Since the brain cannot distinguish between the two areas, it refers the pain to the most superficial structure, i.e. the skin.
For example, in a heart attack patients will report a pain radiating from the left shoulder down the arm. There’s also the ‘brain freeze’ felt when eating something cold like ice-cream. Or, if a pain is felt in the navel area, its source will be located around the colon.
Reference: • Seeley, Stephens and Tate, 2005, 5th edition, McGraw Hill, ‘Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology’
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