If you are considering seeking professional assistance in managing your back pain, you\u2019re taking the first step in helping your body find relief. However, it\u2019s not always easy to explain to the doctor exactly what\u2019s going on with your pain. This can be problematic, because if you can\u2019t accurately describe what you\u2019re dealing with, your doctor may have a difficult time making a proper diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To help with this process, we\u2019ve come up with a couple of tips to help you best explain to your doctor what you\u2019re experiencing. Keep these tips in mind the next time you visit a doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes patients hold back when they are talking to their doctor because they are embarrassed about some of the symptoms or problems associated with the condition. However, these may be serious issues that need to be brought to your doctor\u2019s attention. For example, if your back pain is causing you to lose control of your bladder, or its causing sexual dysfunction, your doctor needs to know about these issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be descriptive about your back pain. Don\u2019t just say that your back hurts, tell your doctor that your lumbar spine hurts when you runner, or your cervical spine hurts when you turn your head to the right. Tell your doctor the specific location of pain, and what type of actions make pain worse or better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both patients and doctors can benefit from the patient\u2019s use of a symptoms journal. As the name implies, a symptom journal is a way for patients to track their symptoms as they are experiencing them. By writing them down, you\u2019ll have a clear and concise reference guide for how your back was feeling on certain days. This also provides a better indication of our true levels of pain, because studies have shown that we don\u2019t always remember our past pain levels correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to sharing the details about your back problems, it\u2019s always better to overshare instead of undershare. Let your doctor determine which bits of information are relevant and useful. Undersharing can lead to guessing or an incorrect diagnosis, so share anything that you think might be relevant about your spine pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve probably all told a white lie or two to our doctors in the past, whether it\u2019s about our diets, our alcohol intake or our use of tobacco. The problem is that your doctor is asking for this information to get a clear picture of everything that\u2019s going on in your life, not because they want to judge you on your life choices. Lying about certain things or telling half-truths only end up hurting you in the long run, so be open and honest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you are considering seeking professional assistance in managing your back pain, you\u2019re taking the first step in helping your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}