Kandice Day,
Share Sometimes it's hard to know when to see a pain doctor. You feel pain in your back, maybe in
your joints, and you talk to your family physician about it, get a bunch of suggestions and perhaps
some pain killers, and go back to your life. The problem with this behavior is that by the time
you're I enough pain to see your physician, the problem has moved to the surface while the source
is probably hidden deep within.
A pain doctor's premiere concern is to ease your pain, but in order to do that he or she must know
where the pain stems from, and in many cases that is the most difficult process. According to
Spine-Health.com, the body ‘locates' pain near the surface quite well but has trouble indicating
the source when the pain is deep. Pain from deep injuries, diseases or infections of organs, such
as the heart, stomach, lungs and back may seem to come from somewhere else nearby or may radiate
into multiple places. Intense pain may be more localizing but not always.
To start this year out on the right foot, we wanted to present some tips on things to avoid when
you think you might be dealing with a chronic pain condition. Here are the top three mistakes that
people tend to make before they realize their pain situation might actually be a chronic
condition.
1. Ignoring the pain. This is the worst thing that any patient can do. Unfortunately, pain is
necessary. It's a natural response, letting us know that something is wrong; something needs our
attention. Pain motivates us to withdraw from potentially damaging situations and protects us from
worse bodily harm. If we chose not to listen to what our body is telling us, we are setting
ourselves up for more pain in the near future.
2. Self-Medication. Although we all do it at some time in our lives with Advil for a headache or
Ibuprofen for muscle aches and pains, self-medicating to reduce a persisting pain is a huge mistake
that many patients make before they visit a pain doctor. If you have been consistently taking over
the counter pain medications for back pain, joint pain, or chronic headaches, consult a pain doctor
immediately. If you are in need of sleeping aides just to get some rest at night through the pain,
the situation may be far worse than you realize.
3. Fear of the Unknown. Every patient that walks through the doors of The Pain Center of Arizona
for the first time is fearful of what the tests might be like, and what the diagnosis will be. It's
natural to be scared, and it doesn't become a mistake until you avoid treatment at all costs. Pain
doctors are the most compassionate and experienced specialists in the industry of medicine, and are
empathetic to the fears, questions, and worries of every patient.
If you notice that you are exhibiting any of these behaviors, it might be time to take a deep
breath, pick up the phone and give an Arizona pain doctor a call. Prolonging the inevitable will
only complicate your diagnosis.
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