Men's Health: Cure Pain Through Exercise

May 4 -- There's a medical phenomenon doctors call "referred pain" that you can do something about with exercise.

The pain is pain is "referred" — or passed down the line — from another muscle or tendon.

"With referred pain, the area where the symptoms appear may not be the area that's injured or dysfunctional," says David Upton, an exercise physiologist in Fort Worth, Texas.

Here are seven common types of referred pains, and exercises and stretches that can fix them.

If these tips don't help within two weeks, however, see a doctor.

Upper Arm Ache

THE PAIN: The back of one (or both) of your upper arms frequently aches

FIX IT BY: Strengthening your rotator-cuff muscles.

Men with weak or injured rotator-cuff muscles — a common problem among inactive guys and those who exercise with sloppy form — often develop this pain as a result.

If your rotator-cuff muscles are weak, the more powerful deltoid (shoulder) muscles bear the brunt of stabilizing your upper arms, so your upper arms fatigue and ache.

THE EXERCISE: To train your problematic arm, grab a large can of soup (or a 3-pound dumbbell) and lie on the floor on your side, supporting your head on your other arm.

Keeping your elbow flush against your side, bend the sore arm at a 90-degree angle and, without straightening your elbow, rotate the upper arm outward to lift the soup can toward the ceiling. Lower the can to the starting position and repeat.

This external rotation strengthens your rotators — the infraspinatus and teres minor.

Do 15 repetitions per arm, every day.

Foot and Rear Aches

THE PAIN: Numbness in the top of your foot, and, literally, a pain in the butt.

FIX IT BY: Stretching your hip muscles.

These dual pains are a classic sign of piriformis syndrome, in which the piriformis muscle in the hip (which stabilizes your pelvis) is overdeveloped, usually from running.

This overstrong muscle starts straining the sciatic nerve (in your butt), which controls the majority of movement in your legs, says Dr. Jonathan Chang, an orthopedic surgeon and assistant clinical professor at the University of Southern California. The pain radiates to your foot.