10 aches and pains that women should never ignore

We tend to dismiss chest pain as indigestion or stress. While that could be the case, severe chest pain can also indicate cardiac conditions such as Coronary Microvascular Disease (CMD), which affects the heart’s smallest coronary artery blood vessels that play a vital role in regulating blood supply to the heart.

As per health experts, women, especially those around the menopausal stage, are more likely to get CMD than men, with angina, or chest pain, being the main symptom. Women also report discomfort in the belly, neck, chest, jaw, throat or back, along with sweating, dizziness or shortness of breath.

A highly common condition, headaches may be caused by stress, eye strain, weather conditions, improper eating habits or flu. However, headaches, especially if they are severe, could also be due to certain conditions which may be serious.

While migraines are more common in women than men and are often not life-threatening, you need to be careful if it is accompanied by an aura, or a condition that causes ringing in your ears, dizziness, blurry vision or sensitivity to light. Women who get migraines, along with an aura, are at a higher risk of getting a stroke, as per a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Also see the doctor if your headache comes immediately after an activity such as jogging, aerobics, weightlifting or after having sex.

While the less serious causes of abdominal pain could be menstrual cramps, food poisoning or irritable bowel syndrome, it could also be an indication of potentially serious conditions such as stomach ulcers, appendicitis, kidney stones or even cancer.

For women, sudden pain in the lower right or left abdomen could be the sign of a ruptured ovarian cyst. While some ruptured cysts are harmless and cause very mild symptoms, they could be potentially life-threatening if you are pregnant and in danger of an ectopic pregnancy.

If you are experiencing sudden severe pain in your lower right stomach, it could be a sign of appendicitis. Such pain usually starts around the belly button and is often accompanied by vomiting, constipation and diarrhoea.
A stabbing, knife-like pain in your lower stomach could be a sign of kidney stones.

Persistent stomach pain with diarrhoea and weight loss could be the sign of Crohn’s disease, involving inflammation in your digestive system. While there is no cure for the disease, it can be managed with antibiotics, diet adjustments and anti-inflammatory drugs.

These arise due to a number of conditions such as muscle strain, nerve conditions or Achilles tendonitis, caused by overuse or strain.

The danger signs you need to look out for are throbbing on your calf, along with redness, swelling and warmth – these could indicate deep vein thrombosis, or a blood clot, a life-threatening condition.

Severe pain that doesn’t improve even with medication, numbness and a bulge in the area, could also be signs of Compartment syndrome, a serious condition where pressure build-up increases within the lower leg, which compresses against nerves, arteries and veins.

While you could have jaw pain because of chewing too much gum, eating food that is difficult to chew or grinding your teeth, it could also be an indication of a heart attack.

With women, the pain is often located in the lower-left side of the jaw. If the pain is accompanied by dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, extreme fatigue or upper back pressure, get medical assistance immediately.

There are numerous reasons for bone pain – an injury, deficiency in a Vitamin or mineral such as Calcium, Vitamin D, or a more serious condition. A diet lacking in Vitamin D or Calcium can lead to osteoporosis, a common bone disease, which especially affects senior women as bone density reduces with age. This is also because estrogen, the female hormone that protects the bones, decreases as women reach menopause, thus increasing the risk of osteoporosis.

Severe bone pain that persists could also be the symptom of more life-threatening conditions such as leukaemia - cancer that starts in the bone marrow, secondary bone cancer, or osteomyelitis (bone infection), a rare but serious condition.

The bottom line is that persistent bone pain should be checked and treated.

Hormone fluctuations during pregnancy or menstruation are usually the main reasons why you get breast pain. This is because of the increase in estrogen and progesterone levels before the start of the menstrual cycle, causing the breasts to swell and become tender.

Breast pain can also happen if you get an injury by hitting somewhere or because you have been wearing an ill-fitting bra.

However, you must be aware that breast cancer could, rarely, be a sign of breast cancer, as well. Hence, you should consult a doctor if the breast pain is persistent or accompanied by a lump – painful or not.

While your average heel pain could be due to uncomfortable shoes or wearing high heels throughout the day, it could be an emergency if it becomes increasingly painful, does not respond to traditional treatment such as icing, rest, stretching, foot massage or heat fermentation, or if you have numbness on your heel or feet, redness or swelling in your feet.

You could be at risk of a condition called heel spur. While not life-threatening, heel spur happens when a calcium deposit grows between the heel and the arch of the foot. Over time, this can cause discomfort while walking or severe pain, which may require surgery.

Also known as dyspareunia, pain during intercourse could be a result of vaginal dryness, vaginal infection, muscles spasm, or a problem with the cervix, such as an infection.

It could also be an indication of ovarian cancer or of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), which is caused by sexually transmitted bacteria spreading from the vagina to the uterus.

While most people automatically equate tooth pain with cavities, there could be many other reasons as well. If you start feeling a stabbing pain in your tooth and gums, it could be an indication of either cavity or infection, which, if left untreated could cause gum disease or tooth loss.

But, did you know that tooth pain could even be an indication of a cardiac problem. Some women also report tooth pain as a pre-heart attack symptom. This could be due to the location of the vagus nerve, that runs from your brain to various parts of your body, through the jaw.

You need to be extra cautious if you have a history of cardiac problems, or if your tooth ache is accompanied with lightheadedness or sweating.