Communication is very important in your claim. The ability to be clear and descriptive with your doctor and the attorneys is very important. Make sure to clearly explain how your injury happened, your symptoms and their severity, when these symptoms started, and whether the symptoms are made worse by activity.

Your doctor listens to what you are communicating and compares what they know about how the injury happened to the amount of symptoms and pain. People are tough and like to minimize how bad their situation is. If you have a claim, being vocal about your injury and pain rather than gritting your teeth and bearing the pain can make all the difference.


Describing Your Symptoms

Think of the answers to these questions and practice being more descriptive when you communicate about how you feel.

  • How long you have had your pain? (Did it start at the exact moment of the injury?)   Since the injury. 
  • Where do you feel the pain? My lower back and left ankle. 
  • Is your pain in one spot or spread out? Spread out
  • How does the pain feel and how severe is it? It hurts really bad 
  • Is the pain constant or does it come and go? It's constant
  • What activities make the pain worse? It hurts constantly 
  • How does your pain limit what you can do? (What activities?) It limits my range of motion and my ability to function. 
  • How often does the pain occur and how long does it last? It's a constant pain. 
  • Is there anything else that triggers the pain? It's constant, it doesn't need to be triggered. 

Your Doctor may ask you what your pain level is using a sliding scale (1-10). In these scales ten is the worst pain. Where does your pain rate?

0---------------------------------5-------------------------------10 TEN

When we talk about pain we use different words to describe it. Which of these words describe what you are feeling?

  • Aching
  • Cramping
  • Excruciating
  • Heavy
  • Hot or burning
  • Sharp
  • Shooting (pain moves from one area of your body to another)
  • Sickening
  • Stabbing
  • Tender
  • Throbbing
  • Tiring or exhausting. ALL OF THE ABOVE 

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