How you describe pain depends to a large extent on your experiences of injury early on in life. If you ask two different people to describe what is technically the same problem, you will likely get two different answers. Pain is therefore subjective. It also differs between the sexes - females have more nerve endings, and thus experience pain more acutely than males.

If you experience pain in one area, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the cause of the problem is in the same location. Pain can be referred from one site to another. For example, pain felt in the cardiac region may not only give pain in that area, but also down the left arm to the tip of the little finger and also through the back. Gall bladder and liver problems may be felt as pain in the top of your right shoulder, around your neck, or at the base of your right shoulder blade.

There are 29 pairs of nerves which come out between each of the vertebrae, from the top of your neck to the base of your spine. These nerves pass through a relatively small hole and continue their course to the muscles, ligaments and joints they supply. The holes, or foramina, through which the nerves pass are quite narrow and may become blocked for a variety of reasons (habitual bad posture, injury, old age, etc.). If this happens then the nerves can become compressed, which in turn affects the muscles around the neck and the arm.

Besides the above, it is also necessary to consider the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls functions such as breathing and digestion. It operates whether we are awake or asleep. Like the other nervous system of the body, the ANS runs along the spine and can therefore be affected by spinal problems. If a problem occurs at any level of the spine, it may simultaneously affect an organ which is supplied by the ANS. It is not unusual for people to be cured of a back problem to find that their digestive functions have improved as well.

Even though pain may not originate from the site where it is felt, the nerve endings in that area can still be inflamed and painful to the touch. This is because the whole of the nerve is aggravated. So although a person may feel pain in their foot, and assume that because it is painful to touch that is where the problem lies, this is not necessarily the case.

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