How to Get What You Want from the Doctor – Stoicism is for Wimps

Interesting article that both the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the Department of Veterans Affairs have requested that pain be a fifth vital sign along with pulse, temperature, breathing rate, and blood pressure.

This seems to have come by way of doctors not wanting to address pain.  They don’t like to think that they did anything to make someone in pain.  No one is talking again and the lack of attention to the pain could land you in a bigger mess.  We are encouraged to just shut up.

Don’t let the medical staff bully you into bearing the pain.  You need to talk with your doctor and since he/she doesn’t want to talk with you, you have to devise ways to say things that the doctor can respond to.  For example, treat the situation with an attitude of knowing, of course, that the doctor has your best interests at heart but you have a low threshold for pain and you need to know that will be addressed.  There is always that issue for the doctor that you might just want recreational prescription drugs

What you can do:

Tell the doctor where it hurts and when it began

Describe the pain with words like burning, aching, nerve-like

Number the pain from 1-10

Describe what alleviates the pain

Explain how the pain affects your life

Explain what has worked in the past.

If the doctor is not addressing your pain issue, you might ask for a referral to a pain specialist.

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