Wife wearing shades gets sudden pains (7)
I believe the answer is:
twinges
'sudden pains' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'wife wearing shades' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'wearing' is an insertion indicator.
'shades' becomes 'tinges' (tinge is a kind of shade).
'w' placed within 'tinges' is 'TWINGES'.
'gets' is the link.
(Other definitions for twinges that I've seen before include "Sudden pains" , "Small stabs of pain" , "having some discomfort" , "Small or mild darts of pain" , "Sharp stabs of pain" .)