Effectively Communicating Symptoms With Your Doctor
While it’s normal for everyone to experience minor aches and pains now and then, others may be a cause for concern. When it comes to addressing chronic pain, effectively communicating your symptoms can help your doctors to determine the best course of treatment for your condition.
The experts at Neuropathy Treatment Clinics of Texas are here to share some tips to help you talk about your pain as accurately as possible.
Describing Sensations
When describing the type of pain you are experiencing, it is important to be as descriptive and specific as possible. The best way to do this is to describe the sensations you are experiencing as this can help your doctor determine the root cause of your pain.
Some adjectives to keep in mind when describing your symptoms include:
- Dull
- Aching
- Shooting
- Burning
- Tender
- Pulsing
- Throbbing
- Pinching
- Sharp
- Hot
Describing the Location of Your Pain
The location of your pain can also help your doctors determine the cause of your symptoms and the best way to address it. Although pointing to your pain can be effective, using directional adjectives can help you to be as precise as possible.
Some words that can help you express location include:
- Inside
- Outside
- On
- Below
- Upper
- Lower
- Left
- Right
- In front of
- Behind
Describing Pain Severity
More often than not, your doctor will ask you to describe the level of pain you’re experiencing on a scale of 1 to 10. While this can seem specific enough, this scale is subjective. For example, what may be a 9 to your doctor may feel like a 6 to you.
In order to make sure that your doctor understands your pain levels and what that means to you, try accompanying your number with a descriptive statement. For example, if your pain level is an 8, mention that pain medication and other treatment options are no longer giving you relief.
Neuropathy Treatment in Addison & Tyler
Peripheral neuropathy can cause pain, tingling, and numbness that negatively affect your quality of life. Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on drug therapy to simply manage your pain; advanced technology can help to address the root of the problem. At Neuropathy Treatment Clinics of Texas we provide our patients with drug-free, customized treatment plans that utilize electric cell signaling treatment (ECST to help regenerate damaged nerve tissue.
Don’t continue to put up with your neuropathy symptoms. Call (972) 441-5634 to schedule an appointment with our team of specialists today.
