Feel free to ask me any questions you might have - I don't know whether you know, but I'm a student doctor. I don't know everything by any means, but I know some stuff! It's hard to diagnose problems if I can't see you, but I may be able to help you decide whether you need it looked at.
In general, you don't need to be able to say in scientific terms what part of your body hurts. Pain's a funny thing anyway, if it hurts in one place it may actually be coming from somewhere entirely different - like shoulder injuries which often hurt halfway down your arm.
For pain and/or sports injuries, we tend to use the mnemonic RICE or MICE. RICE stands for rest (of which more in a moment), ice (get a bag of frozen peas or something similar and wrap it in a cloth - not directly on your skin! - and cool down the area), compression (a tight bandage) and elevation (put the affected part up, like on a footstool if it's your ankle). These days we sometimes use MICE instead - complete rest can cause you to stiffen up, so gentle movement is good.
'It's hurting *here*' is a perfectly good way to describe pain, and that's what your doctor would prefer you to say anyway. Different people mean different things by words like 'ankle' - it's easier if you just point. As for the type of pain, they want to know whether it feels dull (like toothache) or sharp (like a knife) or burning, how quickly it came on, whether it's getting better or worse, what makes it better, what makes it worse.
As for whether you should keep going on an injury - that's really hard to say in general, because it depends on the nature of the injury. That's something a personal trainer or physiotherapist would be better able to talk to you about, as maestrodog very sensibly points out.
If there's anything in particular you want to ask about, feel free to drop me a PM or an email and I'll advise you as best I can.
And good for you for being more active! That's something I really need to do for myself. xxx
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-06-10 10:09 pm (UTC)In general, you don't need to be able to say in scientific terms what part of your body hurts. Pain's a funny thing anyway, if it hurts in one place it may actually be coming from somewhere entirely different - like shoulder injuries which often hurt halfway down your arm.
For pain and/or sports injuries, we tend to use the mnemonic RICE or MICE. RICE stands for rest (of which more in a moment), ice (get a bag of frozen peas or something similar and wrap it in a cloth - not directly on your skin! - and cool down the area), compression (a tight bandage) and elevation (put the affected part up, like on a footstool if it's your ankle). These days we sometimes use MICE instead - complete rest can cause you to stiffen up, so gentle movement is good.
'It's hurting *here*' is a perfectly good way to describe pain, and that's what your doctor would prefer you to say anyway. Different people mean different things by words like 'ankle' - it's easier if you just point. As for the type of pain, they want to know whether it feels dull (like toothache) or sharp (like a knife) or burning, how quickly it came on, whether it's getting better or worse, what makes it better, what makes it worse.
As for whether you should keep going on an injury - that's really hard to say in general, because it depends on the nature of the injury. That's something a personal trainer or physiotherapist would be better able to talk to you about, as
If there's anything in particular you want to ask about, feel free to drop me a PM or an email and I'll advise you as best I can.
And good for you for being more active! That's something I really need to do for myself. xxx