How Patients Describe Pain
When patients talk about pain they usually give three kinds of information:
- The kind of pain (the feeling)
- When the pain comes (how often)
- How bad it is (the level)
Please look at the examples for describing different kinds of pain. How would you explain them in Japanese to a co-worker who can’t understand English?
“I have a tingling pain in my fingertips”
“I have pins and needles in my feet”
“There’s a tight pain in my chest”
“I have muscle pain in mu left shoulder”
“There’s a throbbing pain in my big toe, on my right foot”
“I have a splitting headache that won’t go away”
“I keep having migraines”
“It’s a raw pain”
“The heel of my left hand is completely numb”
“It feels really hot”
“There’s a blunt pain all over the back of my head”
“My feet feel cold and painful”
“I get a crushing pain whenever I breath deeply”
“There’s a cutting pain in my chest”
“I have a dragging pain just here”
“I have a gnawing pain in my jaw”
“I’ve got a nauseating pain in my stomach”
“I’ve been having a niggling pain in my right knee”
“There’s a strange numbness in my toes”
“There’s a penetrating pain in my ribs and chest”
“I’ve got a prickly pain all over my back”
“I’ve got pain radiating from my right eye down to my chin”
“I’ve got an itchy pain on the inside of my legs”
“There’s a smarting pain around my nipples”
“I’ve got pain spreading all down the back of my left leg”
“There’s a stinging pain all over my face”
“I’ve got a tiring pain in my back”