When these already tense and painful muscles become even more tense and painful, as they do when we bend down towards our feet, it is very frightening and the body stiffens even more. It stiffens because other muscles tense to protect the painful area by trying to take the extra load, caused by bending down. This second group of muscles which tense, will become painful if they remain tense. With back pain or neck pain, they may be near the original pain, or further away, such as down the leg or in the arm. The result is a spread of the pain. This spread of pain is called REFERRED PAIN.

Many numerous and various muscles can give rise to referred pain. They can be very painful and need treatment. However, when the main muscle problem is treated and cured, the referred pain will naturally settle down.

There is referred pain also, when muscles tense in order to protect an injury, but we are not referring to injuries in this paper.

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