I went to see the nurse practitioner at our local clinic about my neck pain. She didn’t really ask me about anything else. Should I have mentioned my shoulder, back, and elbow pain, too? I thought about it afterwards and wondered.

It’s easy for both the patient and the practitioner to get focused on one site of pain. But, in fact, studies show that most patients have multiple sites of pain and symptoms. This information can be very important when evaluating a patient’s condition.

A single site of localized pain can be a very different medical problem than one of widespread involvement. Joint pain or musculoskeletal pain and symptoms from more than one area suggests a systemic problem.

Instead of assuming there’s been a local injury from overuse or trauma, the clinician who knows there are other areas of pain is more likely to investigate arthritis, fibromyalgia, or other systemic origins of symptoms.

It wouldn’t hurt to make a phone call and let your nurse practitioner know you have other information about your case that might be helpful.