How to Explain Your Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain

If you have experienced chronic pain before, then you understand how frustrating it can become. When you suffer from chronic pain, it affects your life on many different levels. You can’t function as you usually used to because the pain affects every detail of your life. Your work productivity reduces because of the breaks you take during work hours. You also have low energy in handling relationships and keeping up with the responsibilities that come with maintaining a stable and healthy relationship. If the pain persists, then you need to see a doctor for help with managing the pain as it may not go away. However, pain management helps to keep the pain under control and help you conduct other activities while living with it. When you visit a doctor, how well you receive a diagnosis and recommendation for pain treatment will depend on how well you can explain your pain. It helps the doctor understand your pain and make the right diagnosis, thus increasing the chances of getting proper treatment. If you experience a pain-related EMC in Greenacres, take note of the following information to aid in finding the best ways to treat your issues and recover properly.

Have a Diary

Keep a diary where you record the patterns of your pain. You can log the time that you experience the pain and the level of pain at each particular time. It helps to understand the consistency of the pain and the areas of your life it impacts. If it occurs during working hours, then the doctor understands where your life is affected the most. You may find yourself visiting a doctor when the pain is at its low, but the diary explains how the pain spasms occur. Medical technology has developed an application that helps you record your pain, which you can use as an alternative to a physical diary.

Explain the Impact of the Pain

Finding the right words to express your pain may be hard, but you can learn a few words and then use them to show how the pain impacts the different areas of your life. You may show how the pain has affected your ability to perform at work, such as shorter working hours or using more sick leave. You can also show how it affects your relationship, such as having problems with your boss and your inability to have a healthy sexual life with your partner. The pain may cause you to involuntary ‘soil’ yourself, which affects your self-esteem and reduces your quality of life. The doctor becomes more attentive when they notice the effects of pain on your daily life.

Bring a Friend

You may have a hard time keeping up with a diary and may not even have the words to articulate your pain experience. Taking a friend who has observed the impact of the illnesses on your life helps to show how much pain you suffer. When you explain yourself, and the friend confirms the same from another angle, it shows the doctor the severity of your pain and demands their attention to help you heal. It also helps to pinpoint your pain scale that requires some level of experience to understand. The pain scale helps doctors to classify the type of pain you suffer and recommend the proper healing treatments.