Talking Pain to a Doctor

How to Talk about Pain to a Doctor On a scale of 0 to 10 what is your pain? Patients who are asked to describe the level of their pain to a doctor using a numerical scale or smiley faces. Pain scales are used from diagnosis to recovery and often help guide treatment. While the pain scale helps evaluate the level of pain a patient feels, it’s not the whole story. Here are a few ways of talking to your doctor about pain, to help assess the best treatment options for you. Be Creative Descriptive words can often be helpful…
Read More

The Physical Exam

by: Dr. Michael A. Castillo I have a medical pet peeve lately, physicians relying on MRIs and EMG to make diagnoses, without performing a physical exam. Medicine is an honor to have a career in because you get to touch people physically and emotionally. It comes with a great deal of responsibility. I am getting more referrals where a patient hasn’t been physically examined. The patient tells me what is wrong in the history because the MRI says so. The proper order is History, Physical Examination, and then Tests (MRI, X-rays, Nerve Tests, et al) to create a diagnosis. A…
Read More