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$Title{What About Pain and Pains?}
$Subject{pain ill defined symptoms symptom pained pains chronic  sharp dull
burning tingling aching consulting consult consultation}
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Copyright (c) 1992,1993   Tribune Media Services, Inc.


What About Pain and Pains?


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QUESTION:  I know I am not the only person this has happened to, for all my
friends have similar stories to tell.  We go to our doctors with a pain that
has become most distressing, only to be told that it is something we have to
learn to live with because we are getting older.  I admit that there are more
such pains these days, but what if the pain was a sign of something serious?
How can we make our doctors listen a bit more attentively to our complaints?
You would be doing a great many people a real service if you could provide us
this answer.

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ANSWER:  Probably the most common complaint heard in a doctor's office
concerns pain of one type or another.  To be sure, there are many aches and
twinges that also form part of a patient's concern, and it is important for
both patient and physician to try and tell these "minor" complaints from
serious pain which may have a more serious cause.
     From my experience, the more precisely the patient can describe the pain,
the surer I am that it is an important complaint that can not be passed over
lightly.  Not that any complaint should ever be dismissed without proper
evaluation, but a new development that is intense enough to bring a patient to
the office always requires careful attention.  You can do a great deal to
focus the doctor's attention on your immediate concern, by providing precise
answers to the questions that are required to properly evaluate the
seriousness of a pain.  When did the pain start, and is it sharp, dull,
burning, tingling or aching?  Does it come and go, and what seems to make it
worse, or perhaps feel better?  Try to grade the pain on a scale of 0 (no pain
at all) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable) and tell the doctor the score for
this pain.  Have you taken any pain medications, and did they take any pain
away?  All this information can help your doctor use this symptom to make a
diagnosis of the ailment that is causing the discomfort.  The best way to
treat a pain is to treat the illness.  Unfortunately there are some chronic
conditions where pain never seem to ease up, but a bit of compassion and
concern on the part of a caring doctor can sometimes even make those pains a
bit easier to bear.

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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician.  Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.