Pain can be hidden, yet it impacts your movement, daily activities, and overall well-being. While you might know where it hurts, knowing why requires more than describing symptoms. A pain management clinic can help you relieve pain by assessing and diagnosing its root cause and tailoring treatment. Here is how doctors assess pain:
Start With an Explanation
Your initial visit to a pain clinic begins with a detailed discussion of your pain experience and a physical examination. The doctor asks you to describe the location, duration, and nature of your pain. They determine whether it is sharp, dull, burning, or throbbing. Doctors may inquire about what activities trigger your pain, how it interferes with your daily activities, and what treatments you have already tried.
This conversation helps to create a baseline image of your condition. Your history helps with pain assessment. Information about past injuries, surgeries, chronic diseases, and family medical history provides context to your current pain, and gives doctors clues.
Watch How You Move
After hearing your history, physicians evaluate how your body responds to movement. For observation, you may be asked to walk, bend, stretch, or lift your arms. These actions show how pain is affecting your strength and mobility. Even the way you stand or walk can offer clues.
This observation enables the doctor to observe physical limitations caused by your pain. It gives the doctor an idea of how pain interferes with activities of daily living, or where it may stem from. A restricted range of motion or noticeable tension can signify joint or nerve issues.
Use Visual Pain Scales
Use a pain scale to signify the intensity, simplifying communication with your specialist. You may also be requested to complete questionnaires for the explanation of pain interfering with function, mood, and sleep. Pain rating tools allow apain management clinic to determine progress over a period of time. The pain scales also allow you to report setbacks or symptom increases so that your clinician may adjust your treatment.
Perform Targeted Exams
Directed physical examinations are conducted to identify specific causes of pain. These can include palpation of areas that are painful, joint stability tests, and nerve function testing. These tests distinguish between different types of pain, such as nociceptive or neuropathic. Specific identification is useful for pain intervention.
Clinicians also perform tests to assess sensory responses, like checking for numbness or heightened sensitivity. These findings can indicate nerve involvement or other underlying issues. By correlating these physical signs with your reported symptoms, the clinician gains a comprehensive understanding of your condition.
Request Imaging Support
If required, imaging studies such as X-rays, MRIs, or CT scans are employed to visualize the inner structures. The imaging studies reveal abnormalities like herniated discs, fractures, or degenerative changes that are causing discomfort. Imaging provides objective data that corroborates the clinical impression. It helps establish diagnoses and rule out other degenerative changes. In a pain clinic, imaging results are blended with your history and physical examination results.
Visit a Pain Management Clinic
At a pain management clinic, your care begins with a detailed conversation about your symptoms and history. You receive personalized assessments that may include movement testing, pain scales, and imaging when needed. Reach out to a pain management clinic near you to begin a plan built around your needs.