What is referred pain?
Referred pain is pain you feel away from the real source. The body’s wiring sometimes shares signals, so the brain places the pain in the wrong spot.
A stiff neck may ache across the shoulder blade. A hip problem may show up as knee pain, and a back problem can send ache into the buttock or thigh.
Why does it matter for a patient or family?
If you treat only the place that hurts, you may miss the source. A person with knee pain who has a stiff hip can keep stretching the knee and get nowhere.
A physiotherapist checks the joints above and below the sore spot, and moves them to see what reproduces the pain. That is how the source is found.
When is it urgent?
Chest pain, pain spreading into the left arm or jaw, sweating or breathlessness can come from the heart. Go to the emergency department at once; do not wait for physiotherapy.
Sudden severe pain in the abdomen, or pain with fever, also needs a doctor first. Our page on red flags lists other signs.
An everyday example in Ipoh
A grandmother says her knee hurts every time she climbs the steps to the temple. The physiotherapist finds the knee itself moves well, but her hip is stiff and weak, and testing the hip brings on the knee ache.
A hip-strengthening plan eases the stairs, and she realises the knee was only the place where the pain showed up.
Related terms and our pages
- Nerve glide: gentle movement of a nerve that is irritated.
See neck pain, sciatica, hip pain, shoulder pain and carpal tunnel syndrome for common patterns.