When you are in pain and go to the doctor, it is Iikely you will be given the pain scale and asked to rank your pain from zero to ten. The pain scale has its place, and it’s great for children, but it’s not the best way to measure pain because it only tells you what I am feeling at that specific moment. People with chronic pain have higher pain tolerances, and it is not unusual for someone with chronic pain to have pain higher numbers than the pain scale will allow. It can be difficult for doctors to understand pain that is invisible and that they have never experienced by a number alone. Doctors need to be able to have some understanding of how much pain their patients are experiencing so they can try to help. A higher number on the pain scale will tell your doctor that your pain is high, but it is not super helpful because it doesn’t give you a lot of other information that you need to know to be able to have some idea of how much someone is suffering. Doctors sometimes rely too much on the pain scale and aren’t asking any other questions that would give you more information about someone’s pain than any number ever will. What do I wish doctors would start asking chronic pain patients? In this post, I am sharing a few things that doctors need to start asking chronic pain patient to be able to better help them.
How has your pain affected your quality of life?- Knowing a number on the pain scale will give doctors a general idea of how severe my pain is at the specific moment, but it does not tell you how it has negatively impacted my quality of life. I would love to see more doctors asking chronic pain patients, “How has your pain impacted your life?” Chronic pain takes so much joy out of your life, and chronic pain patients are often dismissed by doctors because they carry it well and don’t look like they are in pain. Sometimes I think doctors have a hard time understanding their patients’ pain because they aren’t asking the right questions and aren’t taking the time to understand how it negatively impacts someone’s life. What lifestyle changes has someone had to make because of chronic pain? Knowing a number on the pain scale will give you a general idea of what my pain is at the moment, but it won’t tell you what it is most of the time. You will be a better doctor when you find out how someone’s pain has impacted their life and may find out they can’t get out of bed most days.
What have you tried?-If a chronic pain patient is going to the doctor for pain relief, it is likely that they have multiple over-the-counter remedies and are coming to you because nothing has worked and need your expertise. You can assume that most people with chronic pain have tried the obvious over-the-counter remedies such as Tylenol, and it touch their pain. Doctor appointments are short, and it is important to ask patients what they have tried so we don’t waste time talking about remedies I know don’t work. Have you tried making changes to your diet and exercise program? If so, what helped and what made your symptoms worse? You want to make sure you are asking in a non-judgmental way because you want to support your patients, not shame the remedies they have tried. Knowing what remedies someone has tried is so important for doctors to know because it will give them some idea of what types of things work so they can give you better treatment options.
What activities has your pain stopped you from doing?– Chronic pain takes so much from you, and sometimes you have to give up activities that you used to love that are no longer enjoyable. I would love to see more doctors asking chronic pain patients what activities their pain has stopped them from doing because knowing that important information will give you a general idea of how severe someone’s pain is. The ultimate goal is to give chronic pain patients some of their life back, and you can’t do that without knowing what activities they had to give up because of pain. I wish more doctors would ask patients what activities they used to do that they no longer can because knowing what activities someone has had to give up will tell you a lot about their quality of life. Are you able to leave your home and hang out with friends, or are you stuck in bed all the time? You can’t help someone improve their pain without knowing what activities your pain has stopped you from doing.
How is your mental health?- People with chronic pain are more likely to struggle with depression and commit suicide than someone without chronic pain because living in constant pain is depressing. Mental illness is common amongst people with chronic pain, and a lot of the time people get depressed because their pain was not taken seriously by doctors. People in pain are more likely to commit suicide than someone without chronic pain, which is why it’s so important to ask about their mental health and treat mental health concerns before it becomes serious. You can tell a lot about how much joy chronic pain has taken away from you by asking about their mental health because people with high levels of pain tend to struggle with depression more than those with less pain. Knowing someone’s mental health status is so important and can save lives because you never know who is at their breaking point by looking them.
What is your baseline for pain?– If you were to ask me what level my pain was right now, I could give you a number which would tell you what it is at this specific moment. It does not tell you what my pain was yesterday or even an hour ago, which is why it’s so important to ask chronic pain patients what their baseline for pain is. Knowing what someone’s baseline for pain is so important because it will tell you how much much pain someone is experiencing most of the time. You can’t understand someone’s pain without knowing what it is most of the time because even though I was having a good day at the time I went to the doctor, it doesn’t mean I was having a a good day leading up to my appointment.
Doctors often rely heavily on the pain scale when treating pain, and I have nothing against the pain scale because it works great for children and anyone who experiences occasional pain. The problem with the pain scale is that it’s not set up for someone without chronic pain who is used to high pain levels. The pain scale does not give you a whole lot of other information that would help doctors make a better diagnosis that would help their patients. It can be very difficult for doctors to understand chronic pain because most doctors only treat chronic pain, but they don’t have it themselves, which is why we need to be asking the right questions. The pain scale can be helpful for some people, but we have to stop being so dependent on it, because everyone has different pain tolerances and we can’t all use the same system. Some doctors may ask some of these questions but not enough of them do and we need to change that to better support people in pain. What questions do you wish doctors would ask chronic pain patients? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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