On a Scale of 1 to 10…

One of the most difficult things in dealing with medical care, diagnosis, and/or chronic conditions is describing to another human what you are feeling in your body. It’s not like there is a handbook on it for the layman to memorize. Only you know how it feels, and honestly most of us never ponder what the exact sensations are. We just know it is odd, off, or we want it to stop.

“On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain?” I hate the pain scale question with a passion. On a scale from 1 to 10, my pain rates a “I took the time to book this appointment and see you to make it stop.” That should be enough. I have a fairly high tolerance for pain. And I seem to have different ideas on what things are more painful. Childbirth contractions? Not fun, but not horrible. Spinal tap? Surprisingly easier than I was led to believe. Badly done root canal? Oh mamma, that sucked! But each person’s scale is wildly different from anyone else’s.

Then there is describing what the pain or odd sensation in your body is like. Is it a throbbing pain, a sharp, stabbing sensation? Is it constant or does it come and go? Maybe I can say the hip pain above my right cheek is like being hit with a cattle prod when my walking gait is a certain way. Has the medical staff I’m talking to ever been jabbed with a cattle prod by a jokester family member? Do they even know what a cattle prod is?

When a sudden lack of balance causes you issues, are you experiencing vertigo? When your head is spinning, does it feel like the world around you is spinning? Or do you feel like your head is spinning in a stationary world? Wait, what? I really didn’t stop to analyze it. I just knew my brain was convinced that it was losing the fight with gravity…

It’s been my experience that when I do try to explain pain or odd sensations in my body – what the HELL is that popping sensation I feel in my back when I do any sort of bicycle motions with my legs – I get blank or confused stares. I do tend to see and describe the world around me in odd ways compared to others so that may be part of the problem…

Physical therapists are better than other medical professionals. I may still be met with confusion sometimes, but they at least are interested in trying to figure it out with me. And they have a greater understanding of how the muscles, tendons, bones (hell, the entire body) is connected and affects other parts of the body. Why does my skin below the knee feel like pantyhose getting caught on something when I stand up? Oh, it has something to do with weak glutes and hip strength? That makes sense.

PTs, Speech Therapists, and Occupational Therapists are the most underrated medical professionals out there in the system. Doctors who refer us to them should be conferring with them about our progress or conditions. They are the ones who see us regularly and can observe the things we can’t describe or can’t recreate in a 20 minute appointment in the doctor’s office.

In any case, most physical therapists can help you decipher what kind of pain or sensation you are feeling and what might be causing it. Or at the very least help you stop to analyze the situation with a whole new set of parameters. Oh, by the way – my head was spinning in a stationary world, not the other way around. I never really stopped to view it this way. What does it mean? Not yet sure! But most likely it’s more fear based than physical, in which case I will continue to try to push through and continue to move!

Do yourself a favor before your next doctor visit and try to define and describe your pain before you get there. It’ll save you from those post situational “A-Ha!” moments well after the visit has ended.