Does your doctor know where you hurt? Here are some tips which will help you communicate more effectively with your physician about pain control.Types of Pain:
Short-term (accidents and surgery)
Long-term (cancer)
Chronic (back pain)
Short-term (accidents and surgery)
Long-term (cancer)
Chronic (back pain)
Ways to treat pain
Medication
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Tens Unit
Medication
Feedback
Tens Unit
How to talk about your pain so your doctor will understand:
- Be specific about where you feel your pain
- Describe the feeling: sharp, dull, burning, throbbing, steady, intermittent
- How severe is it on scale of 1-10
- How often do you experience it
- How does it restrict your life
- What you have done to relieve the pain
- Is there anything which makes the pain appear or worsen
Know your PRN or medicines that you can request if the need arises. Don’t allow your pain to get out of control because you think you can handle it. It then takes more medicine and more time to bring severe pain back under control.