Pain Langauge

Language and the context of who is using it can influence how we feel about our body and conditions we may have and have a huge impact on our outlook and futures.

Has someone described your body to have:
“Wear and tear”
“Bone on bone”
“Degenerative changes”
“Bulging/slipped dics”
“A chronic problem”
 
The describing words used above can be scary, anxiety provoking and unhelpful, which can have damaging and negative consequences. These words can create hopelessness for a good prognosis, reluctance to receive appropriate treatment and cause secondary suffering (new/more issues) that can occur when people are fearful of moving due to not wanting to “make things worse”.
 
These words should be used to replace the ones above as they have the same meaning:
“Normal age-related changes”
“Symptoms may be persist”
“Repairable harm”

Scans do not show sources of pain, levels of pain or tell us the whole history/journey of the person.  This can be hard for someone to understand and accept as usually pain has been an issue for some time before someone seeks health advice. An American 2015 study (see table below) demonstrates what was found on imaging of the spine for a group of people of all ages who were symptom and pain free.

Come to Chevron Island Physio for a thorough assessment and explanation around what the source of your symptoms and/or the influences contributing to your pain experience as we cannot just rely on a scan to tell us what is causing our symptoms.  Reassurance, good insight/understanding and hope is the perfect recipe for conquering our pain experience.
 
We hope to see you in the clinic very soon.

Best Wishes.

Written by Alison Jeffery - Physiotherapist, Women’s Health Specialist &
Pilates Instructor.

To see our Physiotherapists or book in for a Pilates consult, book an appointment with us online today or call our team on 07 55 04 7000.