Have you ever experienced traveling pain that moves from one part of the body to another? We may have some possibilities of what this may mean for you.
We Can Help
Dr. David Lee, PT, DPT, MS, ATC shares some insight from Dr. Adriaan Louw's "Why You Hurt: Pain Neuroscience lesson called, "Nosy Neighbors". He uses the illustration of when a house alarm goes off in the middle of the night and continues to go off alerting the nearby neighbors. The neighbors will eventually get irritated and start wondering what is going on.
Similarly, the nervous system is the body's alarm system. When you experience any kind of long-standing chronic pain, the body's alarm system is turned on. If you are experiencing long-standing shoulder pain, the nerves that go from the shoulder to the elbow may get irritated. This may eventually cause you to also experience pain in the elbow, even though the elbow is fine.
As physical therapists, we look at motion, strength and function of the body. The pain will eventually go away as we continue to treat the appropriate area(s) affected vs. where you may be recently experiencing pain. If you are having problems with traveling pain, give us a call (301) 235-3031.
Check Out Our Video