Tell your story, requesting pain info
Document your story, your pains, your feeling, your journey success tools tools w/o benefit your expectations your mantra’s.
Success diagnosing & treatment when “you” become part team
- Insignificant Data: The success of your diagnoses therefore your treatment plan is based on detail information on each problem-pain-concern-area.Do not assume a small, mild, or insignificant pain, like neck, is not critically important to chronic pain team’s success. The neck discomfort causes contraction in jaw area maintain some contracture chewing muscles to brace against neck muscles.
- Quick Fixes: Please do not let the “brain washing of world” lure you into thinking “your” answer is anywhere near to Fast-Quick-Cheap. Those pills, shots, & quick fixes work in the world of acute pain, but they are not strong enough by themselves to conquer a chronic pain. The world would like to sell you on idea or promise a) the botox shot will cure you, b) my secret appliance will cure you, c) Let me give you magic pill, opioid.
- Withholding Game: The patient has trust issues w/ doctors; so, they withhold valuable diagnostic data, playing a dangerous game of “guess my story and you can make me happy”. These patients act 1) coy about some data needed diagnosis, 2) beat around bush telling bits-n-pieces, 3) withholds data implying it is unimportant, or 4) get focus on one symptom so do not have to reveal others pieces data, 5) get mad at team for trying to collect the very data that is key to success. This is not game, this is your happiness, this is successful pain management, being hidden from orthopedic team. It adds cost to exam causing doctor to play Dick Tracy.
- Illusion Saving money: To cut cost-save money-get a deal, the patient keeps quite, not interacting, not asking questions about area pain management because they do not think it is necessary for them. They don’t research, read that area of packets, ask question of coach-the doctor, especially don’t look at the Letter Medical Necessity that reveals all hints why a chronic pain tool is necessary for them. Whether its game of acting confused, trying save money, selective reading, or somewhat similar previous experience, they limit participation in one tool boxes. By time the patient figures out they are not getting better w/o biofeedback, they have increases cost because of care because they have to repeat some PT and orthotic adjustments.
- I want or I need: Some patients may have a personality like mine, “ready fire aim” prompting them to think that biofeedback is not important and I will milk PT for my benefits. By time they figure out that the PT only helps for week or two, and they remember or are reminded that biofeedback was to disallow the inflammation coming back to chewing system. “Some tools are unimportant for me” is limited view of your problem w/ very little research to back up that decision. The very tool most patients try to leave out is the tool they need most. Sounds like reverse psychology, but ask anyone in chronic pain field how true that statement is true
- Cost of care: The cost of your examination goes down by providing excellent detail in all areas of head and neck concerns. Areas interest in chronic pain are allergies, sensitivities, nutrition, exercise, tooth damage, triggers, fatigue, irritability, sleep, today or during college, snoring, past history of exercise, irritable bowel problems. The same thinking goes into participation w/ any of tools that chewing system orthopedic team teaches. If a patient makes a choice to ignore, passive attempt, or aggressively milk a tool for all it can provide, the patient gets better faster and needs less PT, Bio, RFPC when they work hard to milk tools for most benefit.
- Detail is our friend: It isimperativethat you completely fill out the pre-examination questionnaire and not leave anything blank. In fact your document is incomplete if you have only 1 page of evolution of pain. You may do different page on each of the headaches. Please go back through pre-examination questionnaire and add information on accident on stairs, the child head banging under your jaw, the sports injury, the foot to your jaw wrestling as teen, the irritable bowel episodes, or the poor sleep you had 5 years ago.
- Acute vs Chronic: Inacute pain, you can diagnose w/ just a look or feel, but with chronic pain the diagnosis is difficult even w/ complete knowledge of you, your pains, your history.The more detail, the better chance to diagnose and successfully treat for your pain. You as patient are part chronic pain team. Please help us be successful.