Most people think that living with aches and pains is “normal.” But it turns out that the natural state of the human body in health, not disease. However, it’s hard to take this view when so many people living Western lifestyles and sick and in pain all the time. Having aching joints and back seems normal because it’s so common.
Here we’re going to look at some common aches and pains and what they might be telling you about your overall health.
Joint pain
If you have pain in your joints, the first thing that may spring to mind is arthritis. However, there are a lot of conditions that are associated with painful joints. This includes sprains, strains, gout, bursitis, osteoarthritis, and many more. The best thing to do is find health experts that get to know you and treat you, rather than just treating your symptoms. Click here to find out more about this and the different sorts of treatments that are available.
Aching, Tender Calf
An aching calf might not seem like that much of an issue. But it turns out that it could be potentially life-threatening. Aching calves are usually the result of something called deep vein thrombosis. It’s where the veins to the calf are blocked, preventing blood from returning to the heart. Not surprisingly, the Mayo Clinic says that this is a serious condition. There’s a risk that the clot will become dislodged and return closer to the heart where it could cause even more damage, including a heart attack or a stroke.
As such, if you notice that your calf is swollen and tender, seek immediate emergency medical attention.
It used to be thought that the reason that so many people had sore backs was that we had only recently evolved to stand upright. But new research suggests that the reason your local chiropractor is so busy has more to do with lifestyle. When blood can’t get to certain areas of the body, those areas the body become starved of nutrients. This can cause the tissue to slowly die off, resulting in pain. Now many researchers think that this is what is happening in many cases of back pain. For reasons we shall discuss in a moment, blood gets cut off from the vertebrae in the spine, starving them of nutrients and preventing them from functioning normally. This then leads to pain that causes people to seek medical attention.
Medical researchers believe that atherosclerosis is the reason why blood can’t reach the vertebrae. Small blood vessels running close to the vertebrae get blocked off by thick plaques, and this is what ultimately starves the back of nutrients.
Kidney Infections
Kidney infections affect millions of people every year. They’re caused by bacteria that your body can find hard to shift. Over time, symptoms worsen, and you can end up feeling pretty miserable very quickly. Kidneys that are covered in pus can protrude out of the back and be felt by hand.
If you’ve got a suspected kidney infection, go and see the doctor as soon as possible for antibiotics.
Aneurysm
People who suffer from aneurysms say that they’re like the worst migraine that they have ever had in their lives, but without nausea. The pain usually lasts around 60 seconds and arrives suddenly, almost entirely without warning.
Because aneurysms are the result of burst blood vessels in the brain, they are potentially very serious and may require immediate medical attention. According to the Mayo Clinic, aneurysms can affect women as well as men, although they are most common in men of retirement age.