Underarm Pain Causes

It is very unusual for someone to suddenly wake up in the morning with severe underarm pain and not know the reason behind it. Generally, the pain is chronic and most of the time, the causes are apparent.

But, in many cases the pain can increase gradually and pose a threat to the overall health and well-being of a person. Hence, it is necessary to pay some serious attention to the underarm pain, especially when you do not know the real underlying cause.

Common and easily treatable causes mean that you can easily trace back to the evident reasons of the pain. Some of these common causes are as follows:

If the underarm muscles are stretched excessively for a longer time, it can result in this pain. For example, if you play tennis or basketball for a long time, you may feel the pain in your underarms.

Excessive weight training or hand exercises can result in muscle pull causing armpit pain. One cause could be awkward sleeping posture. Such armpit muscle pain, also known as axillary myalgic pain, is quite easy to treat or many times, it may even subside on its own within few days, provided the armpit muscle is not stretched anymore.

Skin infection in the armpit area can lead to underarm pain. Simple skin problems such as heat rashes or rashes caused by shaving, waxing, etc., can also result in armpit pain. In such cases, the pain is generally accompanied by unusual itching, stinging, and burning of the skin.

Such common skin rashes can be due to using deodorants, antiperspirants, other skin creams and lotions, which cause irritation resulting in infection. Apart from these easily treatable infections, some infections caused by threatening viruses such as, herpes zoster, can be very difficult to treat or prove hazardous in the long run if left unattended.

The root of serious pain lies in deeper skin infections. When the inner layer of the dermis gets infected, severe pain starts which is quite challenging to treat. Given below are some of serious causes that lead to this painful condition:

It refers to an infection of the lymphatic system of the body, which occurs when the lymph nodes or glands get damaged due to viral or bacterial infection. The lymphatic glands are an essential part of the immune system of the body and play a key role in fighting the bacterial infection.

But, due to chronic-bacterial infections, these glands get inflamed which enlarges the nodes while reducing their ability to fight bacteria. This infection can also happen in many parts of the body, including armpits.

The symptoms of such infection include dark red and tender skin over the affected area, and swollen hard or tender lymph nodes. If this infection enters the blood stream, it could have fatal results, and hence it is essential to cure it immediately.

Another rare reasons that can cause lymph glands to swell is any type of cancer, tumor, or some kind of lump in the underarm. Apart from this, some indirect causes are HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, leukemia, shoulder dislocation, allergic reactions, etc.

Thus, these were some of the underarm pain causes. As mentioned earlier, in most of the cases the reason for the pain is not so serious, and you can easily get rid of the pain by treating the underlying cause. But, in case of deep infection and internal injuries, one has to see a doctor immediately and seek proper treatment to recover from the ailment.

Disclaimer: This story is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice.