Communicating About Your Pain

by Carla Jolley, ARNP, MN, AOCN

Pain management is a very important part of your health care. Whether your pain is "acute" pain that occurs with surgery, injury, or some illnesses, or is "chronic" pain that occurs with cancer, arthritis, chronic illnesses, or injuries, it is important to have it treated. Pain is a completely subjective experience. The person experiencing it is the only one that can tell if it exists, how it feels, and how it affects their ability to do the day-to-day things that are important in their life.

Whidbey General Hospital is committed to addressing your right to have your pain appropriately assessed and managed. Your reports of pain will receive a quick and caring response. To help your health care providers develop a pain management plan that meets your needs, you must be able to tell us about your pain. See Pain Rating Scale.

Other Helpful Information
In addition to the Pain Rating Scale, there are other things about your pain that are helpful to tell us.

1. Where is the pain located?
Point on your body or on the diagram. Does it travel anywhere, like down a leg or arm? Across your back?

2. How long does the pain last?
Does it hurt only while you are moving or is it constant? Does it come back before your next dose of pain medication?

3. What kind of pain is it?
Do any of these words fit for your pain? Dull, aching, nagging, stabbing, burning, squeezing, cutting, tingling, shooting, pressing, flickering, itching, sharp, tingling, pricking, crushing, pinching, pulsing, gnawing, boring, cramping?

4. What seems to make it better or relieves your pain?  
i.e., different position, heating pad, ice.

5. What seems to make it worse?
i.e., laying on your side, bending over, twisting.

More Important Questions
It is also important for us to understand how your pain is affecting what you can do. Are you sleeping at night? Are you able to bathe, work, or be as active as you like? Does it bother your appetite? Sometimes there are symptoms that can be side effects of pain medicine. These can also cause discomfort that we need to know about. Specifically it is important to report if you are having any nausea or vomiting, constipation, or excessive drowsiness.

Lastly, it is very important to know, from your perspective, how effective you think your pain medicine is working for you. Sometimes the pain may be changing and your medicine needs to be adjusted. Good communication about your pain assists in making decisions about changing your pain medication as needed. Good pain management allows you to do the most you possibly can with your current health status. It helps you to feel more rested, and feel more in control of your life.

For more information about managing your pain, please come to our Health Education Class, Putting the Puzzle Together: The Pain Management Pieces.