How to Describe Back Pain to a Doctor? Top Back Pain Doctors Tell All

People with back pain live with an area of the body that’s been hurting for so long, the pain now seems like a “normal” part of their life. When they go for a doctor visit to discuss their medical history, acute low back pain, and neck pain, it can be hard to find the words to describe the feelings that exist all the time. If there was a manual for “how to describe back pain to a doctor”, this would be the time to use it! At Pain Treatment Specialists, a team of interventional pain doctors with Harvard training, we’re here to help write the book on how to describe back pain to a doctor. After all, as a team of nationally-renowned pain doctors, we’ve heard patients lack the ability to accurately explain their chronic back pain because it is an omnipresent pain that is difficult to describe. Not sure how to describe back pain to a doctor? Let our pain experts help.

How to Describe Back Pain to a Doctor Accurately

People with back pain know that they have an area of the body that hurts, but may struggle to come up with an accurate description of their pain. If you’re looking for how to describe back pain to a doctor accurately, here are some tips from the Harvard-trained pain doctors at Pain Treatment Specialists:

1. Keep a Pain Journal: A great tip for how to describe back pain to a doctor is to keep a pain journal that details your activities and pain levels in the weeks before your doctor’s visit. This allows you to reference specific incidents or activities that were difficult recently. Take a look at the following tips to help you develop the language and vocabulary for how to describe back pain to a doctor.
2. Describe the Intensity of Your Pain: If you’ve seen pain charts with smiling or angry faces in your doctor’s office, this is what’s used to describe the intensity of your pain. When you’re sitting or standing, is the pain mildly annoying, or is it enough to bring you to tears? Use this scale to help you describe your pain levels during different activities such as sitting, standing, bending over, walking, or driving.
3. Use Specific Words to Describe Your Pain: If you’re unsure how to describe back pain to a doctor, search for words that describe the feeling of your pain. This can help your pain doctor determine if you’re dealing with issues like a herniated disc or degenerative disc disease, or a muscle strain or sprain. Some questions to help you isolate your words include:

• What does your pain feel like? Words such as “stabbing”, “shooting’, “aching”, or “electric tingling down arm or leg” are useful for how to describe back pain to your doctor.
• Does your pain change over time? If you experience pain only at specific times, such as at night, while sitting, or when waking up, these are important to note. Also, does the pain change when moving from one activity to the next? This is where your pain journal comes in handy.
• What’s the severity of your pain? Think about the smiling and angry face chart when writing in your pain journal. Do some activities only cause mild irritation, while others are excruciating?