When you feel an intense pain somewhere in your body, It may feel like the smart or tough or financially responsible thing to just “wait it out”—don’t give it any attention, maybe take a mild painkiller, just let it run its course. However, those intense pains might actually be your body trying to tell you that there is a very serious problem! Here are a few pains in your body that you should never ignore.
Chest Pain
Chest pain often occurs because there is a problem with the muscles surrounding or the circulation of your heart. If blood isn’t getting to your heart it will stop your body from getting the blood cells it needs. This can even progress into a heart attack, which may feel like a more constricting chest pain accompanied by dizziness, nausea, sweating and breathlessness. Chest pain may also be a signal for a blood clot, which feels like a sharp chest pain. These issues, and more, are considered “medical emergencies” and need to receive treatment immediately—if not, those clots and contractions can lead to serious, even fatal, problems.
Tooth Pain
It is difficult to ignore dental pain—this pain throbs right from your skull and face, and is often sharp and severe. If you feel this kind of sharp throbbing, your tooth may be infected. An infected tooth can become even more serious when the infection reaches the pulp. Cavities left unidentified and/or untreated can burrow deep enough to reach and infect the root of your tooth, which in turn begins to deteriorate the bone deep into your facial bones. This level of deterioration can require medication and surgery to repair, which is both expensive and painful.
Abdominal Pain
Finally, abdominal pain. Your gut is a sensitive organ… it may react poorly to some foods or allergens. However, that severe abdominal pain may be more than just a tummy ache from some lactose! Severe stomach cramping or sharp, stabbing pains may indicate serious conditions like appendicitis, a hernia, problems with your gallbladder, and more. Each of these require prescription medication or even hospital treatments to help; if you ignore this intense pain, your body may release the infection it has trapped into your bloodstream, causing your entire body to be attacked by those damaging cells or sending clots to other organs that will shut them down.
Don’t disregard these pains, especially if they are more painful than usual. Take care of yourself by giving your pain some credit, and checking it out! It may be your chance to catch a more serious medical problem early, before it gets severe enough to require severe treatment.
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