There is a condition where pain is felt at a place other than where the cause is situated. This is called referred pain. An example is heart pain which may be felt in the jaw, back or arms and not in the chest. Pain from the pancreas may be felt in the back. Occasionally, pain from a kidney stone may be felt in the groin or inner thigh and pain from gallstones may be present in the right shoulder.
An interesting situation which may result in a delay in diagnosis is when pain is felt in the hip, knee or leg due to a herniated back disc and not in the back. Lower spine problems due to a herniated disc may press on nerves in the spinal canal. Sometimes, there may be no or very little pain in the back with the chief pain felt in the hip, knee, leg or foot. Therefore, it is important that this possibility be kept in mind. This type of pain is called sciatic pain where the pain tends to shoot down the leg. The location of the pain may be quite variable depending on the location of the compressed spinal nerve. As noted above, it may be in any location in the leg.