Pain has a purpose. You know that when you put your hand on a hotplate and it begins to sizzle. That pain is an alert to danger and a call to action. What follows is an immediate reaction as you pull your hand away. Swallowing a couple of paracetamol masks the pain reflex for most of us, but you can't ignore some pains.

The worst headache ever

If you get sudden head pain, as well as stiffness in the neck and shoulder pain, mucked-up vision, increasing drowsiness and speech, you may be bleeding from a cerebral aneurism.
Call for an ambulance immediately. An aneurism is an abnormal swelling in a weak spot in the wall of a blood vessel. The pressures of the blood flowing through the artery make the weak spot bulge and become thin and fragile. This causes it to break and bleed, which can be fatal.

Chest pain

If you have chest pain or discomfort in the chest, throat, jaw, shoulder, arm or abdomen, don't ignore it. One-third of heart attack victims will experience one of these symptoms. The remainder will suffer shortness of breath, dizziness or feel weak and cold.

If a symptom lasts longer than 10 minutes, and if feeling sick or sweaty isn't relieved by rest, call an ambulance. A heart attack may be coming.

'It's estimated more than 50 per cent of deaths from heart attack occur out of hospital,' explains Heart Foundation spokeswoman Dr Nancy Huang. 'And 25 per cent of those die within the first hour of their first symptoms.' The message is clear - every minute counts.

'We have the potential to halve the death rate if the effective medications and procedures can be administered during the first two to three hours after the onset of symptoms,' Dr Huang says.

Severe abdominal pain

Pain in the lower abdomen is often caused by an inflamed appendix. In teenage and younger women, these pains can also be caused by a ruptured ovarian cyst, especially if it happens
in the middle of a menstrual cycle.

There's an old saying, too: 'Fat, female, fertile and 40.' It indicates the group most likely to suffer gall bladder problems.

Calf pain

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is when the blood clots in the veins of the leg. It often occurs in older people with varicose veins, but can equally strike during pregnancy or long-distance travel.
Sometimes part of the clot can fall and travel to the lung, blocking blood flowing from the heart. This is called a pulmonary embolus and can be fatal. If the calf pain persists, or gets worse if you stand on your toes, urgently see a doctor.

Vague or unexplained pain

Pain can be a symptom of depression. Most of the symptoms are psychological, such as feeling down all the time or failing to sleep, but somatic symptoms - real pain which is unexplained - is common.

The more depressed people are, the more they complain of pain - but an experienced doctor will see past the physical symptoms and recognise depression as the cause. Once the depression is treated, the somatic symptoms often go as well.

'Burning' feet or legs

More than three million Australians have Type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, which can eventually lead to diabetes. A symptom of a burning, painful sensation is often the flag that leads a doctor
to diagnose diabetes. This is caused by nerve changes due to high sugar levels in the blood.

Usually painkillers don't work well, but proper management of the diabetes and the anti-epilepsy medication Pregabalin may reduce symptoms.

For more health advicefrom Dr John, check out the latest issue of New Idea - on sale now!