Tips for Expressing Pain to Your Doctor – Part 4

Tips for Expressing Pain to Your Doctor – Part 4

Communication is the first step to finding relief from any painful condition, but when you’re not sure how to express what is going on, or you’ve got a doctor who isn’t inclined to believe you, the situation can be very difficult. Additionally, pain makes it difficult to be patient and reasonable. However, you need to be exactly both of those things to communicate with most doctors. At the Spine INA, we understand the struggle of communicating pain, and that is why we are taking the time to share some insights on how to express your condition accurately to a medical professional.

In our last blog, we discussed how to handle your desire for an MRI, test, or lab. Today, we want to discuss words that describe pain.

Don’t Go Overboard

• Doctors have heard all sorts of adjectives from people in pain, and unfortunately, many of them are on the dramatic side. People in pain tend to lean toward the dramatic in desperation to be understood, and we can’t blame them! However, it’s good to stay away from nebulous words like “terrible” or “awful” and opt for words like “stabbing,” “dull,” or “throbbing.” A good doctor will be able to work with those terms, and chances are good you will find yourself moving toward relief much faster.

We hope that these two tips can help you in the future. At the end of the day, if you can get a doctor to understand that you truly struggle with pain, and you need his or her help, you should be much better off. We would love to be the team you turn to. We are located in New Jersey, and we always consider it an honor to sit down with people and discuss what is going on in their back. Spines are complex, but we are determined, and when it comes to pain management, we always give our 100 percent.