How do I get my doctor to understand my pain?

Here’s advice for the next time you need to talk to your doctor about your pain.

1. Get descriptive: use metaphor and memoir. You can help doctors understand just how debilitating your pain is by being more descriptive.
2. Describe your day.
3. Talk about function, not feeling.
4. Share your treatment history.

What strategies can be implemented to support pain management comfort and dignity?

Key pain management strategies include:

• pain medicines.
• physical therapies (such as heat or cold packs, massage, hydrotherapy and exercise)
• psychological therapies (such as cognitive behavioural therapy, relaxation techniques and meditation)
• mind and body techniques (such as acupuncture)
• community support groups.

How do you deal with drug seeking behavior?

This article describes the steps involved in a systematic approach to identifying drug-seeking patients.

1. Involve your entire team.
2. Recognize suspicious behavior.
3. Obtain a thorough history of present illness.
4. Look for consistency in the exam.
5. Conduct appropriate tests.
6. Prescribe nonpharmacological treatment.
7. Proceed cautiously.

What do you do when pain meds don’t work?

If your pain medication isn’t working, call your health care provider. Remember: Don’t change the dosage without talking to your health care provider. Don’t abruptly stop taking your medication.

What are some common pieces of advice we have shared with chronic pain?

Here are some of the common pieces of advice we have shared with chronic pain patients. 1. COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR PROVIDER It is not uncommon for chronic pain patients to tell us that their provider has stopped or curtailed opioid treatments. Perhaps the provider applied forced tapering of the opioid medication.

Do patients with chronic pain have a better quality of life?

Chronic pain patients reach out to Patients Rising regularly. Invariably they tell us, they once had a better quality of life with their pain, but then (a relatively recent phenomenon) their pain treatments were changed and their quality of life plummetted.

Should medical students be trained in chronic pain management?

Meanwhile, most medical students are woefully lacking in training in chronic pain, usually receiving only a few hours’ worth in their entire education. In fact, veterinarians receive more training on how to treat animals in pain than medical doctors do for their human patients.

How can I communicate changes in my pain treatment with others?

You can communicate the impact changes in your pain treatment have caused by using the following tools made available by the American Chronic Pain Association: Pain diaries like the one made by the American Cancer Society are also very useful.