How to explain pain to your doctor

How do you explain pain to your doctor or someone else?

I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places. – Henny Youngman

The sort of pain that YOU feel, can be very different to the pain that I feel – same injury, different pain. One of the most painful physical experiences I’ve had was post surgery when my ACL reconstruction was healing. I was dealing with Nerve Pain, and its something I have never had to face before. It got to the point that I was scared to move my leg for fear of the pain.

I went to the doctor and tried to describe it.

Epic Fail.

“It hurts here when I *insert movement description*…and it feels….. hurty?”

I found this the other day, and thought it worth sharing. Its an acronym to help explain pain.

L.O.C.A.T.E.S

L: Location of the pain and whether it travels to other body parts.
O: Other associated symptoms such as nausea, numbness, or weakness.
C: Character of the pain, whether it’s throbbing, sharp, dull, or burning.
A: Aggravating and alleviating factors. What makes the pain better or worse?
T: Timing of the pain, how long it lasts, is it constant or intermittent?
E: Environment where the pain occurs, for example, while working or at home.
S: Severity of the pain. Use a 0-to-10 pain scale from no pain to worst ever.

Great advice! I’ll be using this if ever I need it again.

Common Hockey Injuries

Hockey injuries, they’re not fun – and aside from the typical knocks, bumps & bruises that you get whilst playing, skaters reaching speeds of up to 30mph and the puck at times exceeding 100mph, it’s no surprise that the game carries some risk of serious injury. Collisions with players, the boards or the ice can lead to concussions, bone or ligament damage, and on top of that, the risk of cuts from skates. Following is a list of the most common hockey injuries.

“I played pretty darn competitive-level hockey. Then the good old knee injury…” – Actor Taylor Kitsch

Head Injuries

Concussions remain the most significant and common injury suffered by hockey players, and contrary to popular belief, not all concussions result in loss of consciousness. Sometimes it manifests itself in the form of mild dizziness, headaches or overall tiredness and irritability.

Knee Injuries

The second most commonly reported hockey injuries are injuries to the medial collateral ligament (MCL). The MCL is one of the knees supporting ligaments. An MCL injury occurs when it is stretched or torn by impacts to the side of the knee or sudden twisting movements. It can also be damaged when the skates blade catches in a rut and the players knee is twisted over. Typically quite painful, it doesn’t always result in surgery. Players are generally back on the ice within 6-8 weeks. Anterior Cruciate Ligaments (ACL) injuries and torn cartilage aren’t as common, but also occur. For more information on knee injuries, check out The Knee Joint Explained

Ankle Injuries

The ankles are also vulnerable to injury with the high speeds of the skaters, the sudden stopping and rapid directional changes means the ankle is vulnerable to twisting.

Shoulder Injuries

Injuries to the acromioclaviular (AC) joint in the shoulder and the clavicle (collarbone) can also happen when a player is “checked” into the boards, another player, or impacts the ice awkwardly.

Hockey injuries are frustrating, but with correct treatment, proper training and developing good playing techniques the severity of the injury will be drastically reduced.

Of course by wearing correctly fitting equipment – at a minimum, shin guards, padded pants, protective cup, shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves and helmet, you’ll reduce the chances of injury and unless your league requires it, it is highly recommended to wear a face mask or visor as well!

Hockey Knee Pain

Category Archives: Injury Prevention