Page 1 of 1 [ 2 posts ] 

PaulHubert
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

User avatar

Joined: 28 Mar 2014
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 77
Location: Charlotte

26 Sep 2015, 3:28 pm

I tend to get a misinterpretation, or lack of certainty of degrees of pain that differs from what, say, a physical therapist intends to communicate; and this has resulted in prolonged physical therapy with little to no results. Is there some sort of formal testing to test one's own judgment of pain, or ability to monitor its increments to ensure that what a physical therapist means and what I perceive aren't significantly different?



nerdygirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,645
Location: In the land of abstractions and ideas.

26 Sep 2015, 4:06 pm

I'm not sure you're asking the right questions here.

The first, and most important question, is "What is causing the pain?" PT will do no good for anyone if it is not addressing the underlying problem. Some problems can only be solved by surgery, even though PT is prescribed first in hopes that it will take care of the problem instead of something as invasive (and expensive) as surgery.

I had a disc problem in my back that required surgery, but I went to months of PT that did not help and may have even made it worse. Someone else I know had a torn meniscus that only surgery would help. He went to PT for a couple of months, to no avail.

If your pain is not decreasing, PT is not working.

Now, if PT is helping the pain steadily and significantly, then you need to figure out how to tell the therapist about it. No one can tell you how much pain you are in (or are "supposed" to be in.) They may be able to tell you things like "your pain should be significantly decreased by now" or "you should no longer be in pain by now", but they can't tell you that you are NOT at a level of pain that you have. The chart with the smiley (or not so smiley) faces is very helpful. Your PT should have that chart so you can identify which face matches your level of pain. This can communicate to the PT how much something is bothering *you.*

Pain indicates a problem. But consider how much a trivial pain bothers you, and use that to go up or down a number on the chart if you need to. For example, I have a high threshold of pain. This has been confirmed to me many times by other people who have seen things happen to me. (For example, today I got stung by a bee and didn't even flinch, and several people around me were shocked by that.) My husband says that when I am using the chart, I need to add 1-2 numbers to what I *think* I'm feeling.

But, if you are one of those people who cries for days over a paper cut, you know that you are hypersensitive to pain. So, subtract 1-2 numbers on the chart because you know you overreact compared to other people.

How do you react to stubbing a toe? If you yell loudly and swear and have to sit down for several minutes to nurse your foot, you are probably hypersensitive. If you are like me, who takes a quick, deep breath and then hobbles around for a minute or two while "walking it off", you are probably hypo-sensitive. If you're somewhere in the middle, you are probably average.

If you don't know whether or not you over- or under-react to pain, I'd ask the people who know you, especially if they have seen you in situations where you may have been hurt (it doesn't have to be a serious injury.)