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Understanding Pain

Answers to Pain

The key to determining whether a surgical solution is right for your pain, and as importantly, whether you are a candidate for The Bonati Procedures, is to understand your pain and to communicate as specifically as possible when seeking treatment.

Pain is both a physical and emotional experience caused by real or potential injury or damage to the body. It is often best described as a complex three-way warning system.

• First, acute pain warns of injury.
• Second, pain warns against further injury by causing the body’s movements to withdraw from the source of injury.
• Finally, pain leads to a period of reduced activity.

Pain is often difficult to measure because the severity of the pain does not always reflect the severity of the injury. Some people feel extreme pain from relatively small injuries, while others show little or no pain even after suffering a severe injury. Pain can also be present even though no injury is apparent, or pain can linger long after an injury appears to have healed.

Since each person perceives pain a little differently and responds to pain differently, it is essential that when you contact The Bonati Spine Institute for a discussion you take the time to communicate as much about the exact nature of your pain as you can, including:

• The location of your pain. Does the pain spread or move to any other place? Can you point to it?
• What does the pain feel like? Is it sharp, dull, burning, searing, aching, cramping, or shooting?
• Is the pain constant, or does it come and go?
• How would you rate the pain on a scale of 1 - 10? (1 being no pain at all and 10 being the worst you've ever had)
• How did the pain start?
• How long have you had this pain?
• What kinds of activities make the pain better or worse?
• Is it better or worse when you walk, sit, stand, or lie down?