Speaking To Your Doctor
Fibromyalgia is one of the most puzzling and common Chronic Pain Conditions.
Pain moves from one area of the Body to another or at times seems to be all over.
We all experience different types of pain with the intensity changing constantly and find it difficult to describe our pain to others when we feel we are misunderstood and disbelieved.
One of the hardest people to describe to how our pain feels is our doctor. Many use a pain scale 1 to 10 which has great limitations as each of us experiences pain differently so one person’s 8 may be another person’s 4 and because the pain is always there, we tend to underrate our pain using this scale.
This means we need to rely on words to explain to our doctors about our pain. The better we can describe it the easier it is for your doctor to give you the right help and advice for you to manage the pain. Your doctor needs to know not just how much it hurts but how the pain hurts and how it impacts your daily life.
As we all know we all suffer with different types and level of pain. Here are a few words that may help you explain your type of pain that you can use when speaking with your doctor:
- Dull deep aching pain
- Sharp stabbing pain
- Radiating or shooting pain
- Stinging pain that feels like sunburn or pins and needles
- Strange sensations that feel like crawling, tingling, burning, itching or numbness
- Shocking pain feels like electricity running along the Nerves that then explodes in certain areas
Another idea you may want to think about doing is keeping a Pain Diary. You can track your pain overtime and is a good visual aid for you to share with your doctor.
Something else you may find useful to help you remember how to describe you pain is the American Pain Foundations “LOCATES”. Each letter of LOCATES stands for information you should be tell your doctor:
- Location of the pain and whether it travels around your Body
- Other associated symptoms such as nausea, numbness, or weakness
- Character of the pain, does it throb, is it sharp, dull, or burning
- Aggravating and alleviating factors. What makes the pain better or worse
- Timing of the pain. How long it lasts, does it come and go
- Environment, where you are when the pain occurs
- Severity of the pain, use the 0-10 scale for this
Dealing with Fibro pain is a process. The more specific and detailed you can be when describing your pain, the more likely your doctor will be able to help you manage your pain.
Remember:
Not only does Chronic Pain make us feel helpless sometimes it makes doctors feel helpless too. So why not give them a helping Hand to understand you and your Fibro symptoms.