Pain is Only Part of the Story

You may have heard the terms symptom and diagnosis thrown around at your doctor’s office or while searching the internet.

Pain is only part of the story.

These terms have distinct differences but there are providers that skip steps and give you a symptom as your diagnosis. This is a problem for several reasons but before we go any further, let’s define the two.

-Symptom: a physical or mental feature which is regarded as indicating a condition or disease, particularly such a feature that is apparent to the patient.

Symptoms are the descriptors

Patients typically present with different symptoms that help describe their pain experience. These descriptions are subjective and unique to each patients’ own lived experience but, nonetheless, can help us narrow down what might be causing them. The tricky part is that different conditions can present with the same symptoms making it even more pertinent for a provider to get to the bottom of your problem. Symptoms include sensations of pain, burning, tingling, tightness, weakness, “misalignment”, etc. 

-Diagnosis: the art or act of identifying a disease from its signs and symptoms.

Diagnosis is the condition

Until you see your doctor or healthcare provider, the best knowledge you have of what’s wrong is based on what you feel or experience. What you’re feeling are the symptoms caused by your condition or diagnosis. Determining your diagnosis requires a thorough history and examination. For your diagnosis to be complete, it must include the affected tissue and the pathology affecting it. Your diagnosis should look something like this: Lumbar disc (tissue) degeneration (pathology).

Why does this matter?

When you go to a physical therapist, they’re likely going to assess you for any tight or weak muscles and begin a stretching/strengthening regimen. When you go to the chiropractor, you can expect a series of adjustments to multiple joint “subluxations” in your body even in regions nowhere near your symptoms. When you see your general practitioner, they have limited training in musculoskeletal care so you can expect pain meds or a referral back to a physical therapist for more stretching and strengthening. You may even run into a provider that doesn’t believe a diagnosis adds anything to the explanation of your symptoms. Simply being in pain is enough to warrant whatever treatment they want to try today.

It’s important for you, as a patient, to know that your problem is understood and there’s an effective course of treatment or care. 

If providers are starting all these treatments before they explain what the actual problem is and what’s driving your symptoms, they’re likely guessing. It’s a lot like playing darts with a blindfold on. Give it a lob and hope you hit something. This results in wasted time, money, more frustration, and more pain.

What can you do?

 Be an advocate for yourself and your future health. If you decide to see someone for your pain, ask questions where you feel uneasy or uncertain. It’s ok to question a provider if you don’t understand something or things aren’t making sense. Make sure they provide you with an accurate diagnosis and then explain how their treatment will affect the diagnosis. If they don’t provide you with a diagnosis, then ask them. 

How can we help?

Once you come to Functional Pain Relief, you can rest assured we will get down to the root of your problem. First, we get started with a consultation which dives into the history of your problem to make sure you have a musculoskeletal problem. Next, we get you scheduled for an examination so we can perform specific testing that directs us toward your diagnosis and ensures you’re in the right office. Finally, we can discuss an effective and appropriate course of treatment that will restore healthy ranges of motion, make you stronger, improve tissue health, and decrease pain.

You can skip the uncertainty and wasted time and see us for a complete and accurate diagnosis before any treatment is applied.