Expressing Your Pain to a Doctor – Part 1

Expressing Your Pain to a Doctor – Part 1

This content was medically reviewed by Baher S. Yanni, MD, on May 27th, 2016.

Being in chronic pain is difficult for many reasons. One of the hardest is trying to express your pain accurately to doctors without seeming like you’re seeking drugs. What if the doctor doesn’t understand? What if the specialists don’t take you seriously? The problem is, pain is highly subjective. The doctor cannot feel what you feel and depends on what you say.

At the Spine INA, we deal with hundreds of chronic pain cases a month. We are extremely familiar with the condition, because we are on a mission to eradicate it. In the next few blogs, we are going to give you some expert tips for expressing your pain accurately to a medical professional.

Tip 1: Prepare Beforehand

You need to convince your doctor that you are in pain and express just how bad it is. You can’t do that if you wing it. It’s too easy to forget crucial details. We recommend that you take time to think out your symptoms before your appointment. In the best case, you will write them down and make a copies for both you and your doctor.

Tip 2: Don’t Start By Asking for Painkillers

We understand that, sometimes, you are so miserable, it’s all you can do to get to the doctor in hopes they will give you a prescription. Unfortunately, your doctor cannot tell the difference between you and someone who is lying in order to get drugs. If you ask for drugs right away, they will be suspicious of you. Instead, take some deep breaths and follow our guidelines. You’ll be glad you did!

Read our next blog and contact us for world-class pain management in New Jersey