How to talk to your doctor about pain management

Everyone experiences pain, but it can be hard to describe. Here are some tools to help you recognize the type of pain you're experiencing and explain it well so you get the right care and support at the right time. 

Overview

At some point, everyone has been asked this important question: How would you describe your pain? Or: How would you rate your pain? They're simple questions that feel really loaded. While your answer will not decide the entire course of your care, it's certainly a helpful tool that doctors use to understand what's going on and figure out how they can help. That's why we want to help make this conversation easier. Understanding pain and being able to describe it in detail will help you both. 

Understanding pain

First things first: what kind of pain do you have? There are two main types of pain.

Types

Acute pain explained

Pain is one of the most common reasons people see a doctor. Acute pain is your body’s alarm system sending a message that something is wrong.

Acute pain can be mild and last just a moment, or it might be severe and last for days or weeks. Acute pain can be caused by an injury, infection or disease. This pain can be sharp, shooting, stabbing, throbbing or stinging. It usually goes away when the cause of the pain is fixed. Acute pain that doesn’t get better can become chronic pain.

It is important not to ignore acute pain since this is your body telling you to slow down and take care of what is causing the pain. Ignoring the pain may lead to a person doing too much, too soon and before their body is healed.

Remember: Pain is considered a normal part of the healing process.

Pain is an unpleasant feeling. It can be an emotional experience. Pain can be due to some kind of medical condition like an illness or injury. How you feel and react to pain depends on what is causing the pain and several other personal factors, such as:

  • Your genetic makeup and how sensitive your body is to pain 
  • Eating habits, exercise, getting enough rest and sleep 
  • History of health problems 
  • Stress and anxiety 
  • Past experiences with pain 
  • Biological, psychological and other social factors like religion or stress over money 

Chronic pain explained

Chronic pain can occur daily and continue for months or even years. It's usually described as pain lasting three months or more. Chronic pain can be mild to severe and may be constant or come and go. This pain could be dull, throbbing, burning or aching.

People experience pain differently. An injury or illness that may be extremely painful for one person may be only slightly painful for another.

Understanding your pain and your individual experience is important. Work with your doctor to develop a pain management plan that will meet your needs.

Pain Management

Talk with your doctor about pain

Have you had an injury or are you preparing for surgery? Recovery will be different for everyone, but some pain can be expected. Find out about your pain management options by talking to your doctor.

Your pain should be controlled enough so you can walk to the bathroom, sit in a chair and cough. You shouldn’t be so medicated that you can’t remember things. Here are some tips to help you talk to your doctor about how you are feeling. 

Questions you can ask

How long will I be in pain after my injury or surgery? 
What options are available for treating my pain? 
Could any of these treatment options cause a bad reaction with other medications I take? 

If you and your doctor decide that an opioid pain medication is the best treatment option, ask the following questions

  • What are the risks and side effects of taking opioid medications? 
  • Are there over-the-counter medicine (like Advil®) I can take as an alternative? 
  • How many days should I take the opioid medication? 
  • If I feel better can I stop taking the medication? 
  • I am pregnant. Should I take pain medication? 

Pain levels, lengths and triggers

Be specific. Let the doctor know it’s not just your “back” when it’s your “lower back and sometimes down your legs.” If your pain moves around, tell your doctor all areas that can be painful and the areas that hurt most often. 

Download and print a body chart to circle your pain areas

Most of the time, people experience one or two pain “feelings.” Sometimes a range of sensations are experienced. The most common pain types are:

  • Sharp stabbing pain
  • Extreme heat or burning sensation
  • Extreme cold
  • Sensitivity to contact / touching
  • Numbness, tingling, pins and needle

Give the doctor more detail than saying you're “always” in pain, or “sometimes” in pain. Try something like:

"I always feel some aching pain in this spot, but it’s worse in the early mornings and it lasts about an hour."

Think about your pain and answer these questions:

  • Do you feel worse when you first wake up and are stiff, or does the pain seem to worsen as the day wears on? 
  • Do you notice a sharp pain when getting dressed in the morning that goes away after 10 minutes? 
  • Does the pain last for a few hours or does it feel better after you take a nap? 
  • Does your pain keep you from doing normal activities or things you want to do? 

  • Think about the pain in relation to the timing of medications: Does the pain get worse or better right after you take certain medications, or does it not seem to be related to medications at all? 
  • Does your pain get worse when you are doing certain activities such as going up and down stairs, grocery shopping, vacuuming, etc.? 
  • Is the pain brought on when clothes touch your body or when someone hugs you? Or does it just appear out of nowhere? 
  • Is the pain worsened by stress – like after you opened bills? 
  • Do you see a connection with being around different people and the pain feeling better or worse?
  • Think about other times when your pain seems to be better or worse. 

Everyone feels pain differently so it’s important to explain to your doctor how the pain feels to you. Sometimes a pain scale, like the one below, can help you explain the intensity of your pain.

Hopefully these prompts will help you think about your pain before talking to a doctor, and ultimately make it easier to describe your pain and get help. Your doctor will talk to you about your options for treating pain. 

This information was created as a public health collaborative between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Health Partners, UCARE, Hennepin Health, Medica and South Country Health Alliance. Originally published in December 2019 at stratishealth.org.