If you live with chronic pain, you probably know just how quickly your world can shrink. The things that used to define who you are begin to slip away. You no longer enjoy the hobbies that once brought you joy. You might struggle to go to work on a daily basis. Ultimately, you might spend most of your time indoors and away from other people. It is no way to live.
Perhaps you’ve also visited a pain medicine doctor who told you something like, “Our primary goal isn’t just to relieve your pain. We also want to help improve your quality of life.” What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you know what your doctor was referring to when he mentioned quality of life?
How Pain Is Measured Clinically
Structural abnormalities, like broken bones, can be clearly identified through X-rays and MRIs. Unfortunately, there is no diagnostic test capable of revealing a patient’s level of pain. The only tool doctors have for understanding the pain experience is a numerical pain scale.
Patients are asked to rate their pain level on a scale of one to ten. Over time, these numbers are tracked to give the doctor a better understanding of how a patient is doing. Here is the problem: pain scales are subjective. Patients experience pain differently. Moreover, numbers change depending on how a patient is feeling on any given day.
Quality of Life Goes Beyond the Numbers
Although pain scales are a necessary tool for treating chronic pain, the pain medicine experts at Lone Star Pain Medicine say they have little to do with quality of life. In fact, quality of life goes way beyond a static number on a monthly report.
Pain scale numbers are for charts. They are numerical records of how a patient was feeling at the time. By contrast, quality of life seeks to help doctors understand how patients are impacted by their pain. A Lone Star pain medicine doctor might ask quality of life questions like:
- What is your pain preventing you from doing?
- Have you given up activities or hobbies because of your pain?
- Are you still able to socialize with friends and family on a regular basis?
- Does pain prevent you from holding down a full-time job?
- How does pain impact spending time with kids and grandkids?
Chronic pain’s impact goes way beyond numbers on a chart. If a person’s life is limited due to pain, their world gradually shrinks. As more things are abandoned, a person can begin to lose hope, joy, and purpose. It does not take long before the person is merely existing. That is what pain medicine doctors hope to correct when they focus on quality of life.
How Quality of Life Is Addressed
Chronic pain is a life sentence for many of the patients Lone Star doctors see. So rather than trying to eliminate the pain completely, doctors help patients manage it. In so doing, they also help patients get back to doing the things they used to do.
If a patient can take up golf again, playing a round or two every week could make an enormous difference. Getting a patient back to full-time work can help him feel fulfilled once again. Managing pain successfully enough to allow a grandmother to play with her grandchildren can be life-changing.
It is not always possible to eliminate chronic pain completely. On the other hand, there are strategies doctors can recommend for managing pain and improving quality of life. That matters. Because when quality of life improves, patients can start living again.
