Five reason to see your doctor about your pain

Things to remember

Living with persistent pain isn’t easy
Your doctor can help you balance your pain, your treatment and any hurdles you encounter in life
It’s important to be aware of any ‘red flags’ and seek help

It’s not easy dealing with persistent pain. Facing uncertainty about how you’ll feel each day can be very frustrating. It can make planning your everyday activities, work, social life and family commitments challenging.

So it’s not surprising that sometimes pain and emotions can get on top of you. But there are many things you can do and many resources available to help you get back on track.

Here are five reasons you should see your doctor about your persistent pain.

1. You want to take control

If you want to learn more about pain and how to manage it effectively, talk with your doctor about pain management programs. These programs can be found in many areas, and are even available online.

Pain management programs specifically address the range of factors affecting your recovery including:

physical factors
any psychological issues including your mood, stress or poor sleep
social factors including how you manage your activities at home as well as how you can return to safe work.

By attending a pain management program you will learn from health professionals such as doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses and psychologists. These professionals provide information and advice on how you can best manage your pain with the least side effects to help you increase your activity levels and achieve your goals.

Talk with your doctor about whether a pain management program would be helpful for you.

2. You’re not coping with your pain

It’s important to talk with your doctor if you feel like you’re not coping, especially if:

you’re taking more of your medications than your doctor prescribed
you’re mixing your prescribed medications with other drugs, including alcohol
you’re drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
you’re having problems sleeping due to pain
you’ve been feeling very low for more than a few weeks
you’ve been missing days of work because of pain
you’re more worried, frustrated and irritable than usual.

Your doctor understands that living with pain is difficult. They’ll work with you to manage this safely and more effectively. They can also refer you to other health professionals, including physical and/or mental health specialists.

3. You’re struggling at work

If you’re not coping with your work responsibilities, or just getting to and from work has become difficult because of your pain, you should discuss this with your doctor. Evidence shows that work is good for you.

So even though you may be in pain, doing what you can at work will be of benefit to your overall health and wellbeing.

It may be possible for adjustments to be made to your work to help you cope. Your doctor is able to refer you to other healthcare professionals e.g. physiotherapists, occupational therapists and specialist doctors (occupational physicians) to help you stay at work.

Check out the list of websites and contacts at the end of this page for support services that can help you stay at work.

4. You’ve decided to stop taking your regular medication for pain

It’s important that you talk with your doctor openly if you’re thinking of stopping any medications for pain, mood and muscle spasm. Some medications need to be reduced gradually to avoid potential unpleasant side effects. Your doctor will advise you on this.

5. You’ve noticed significant changes to your symptoms

It’s important to be aware of other health changes that may occur. They can be present for a variety of reasons, many of which will be unrelated to your pain. Pain intensity alone is not a sign that something suspicious or worrying is happening.

However, if you have been experiencing any of the following symptoms, talk with your doctor:

sudden loss of muscle power in your legs or arms
sudden change in your ability to empty or control your bladder or bowel
a lack of feeling in your groin area
sudden onset of pins and needles or numbness in either hands or feet
sudden onset of poor balance or a lack of coordination
unexplained and ongoing loss of weight
sweats at night time
moderate or severe pain at night or at rest
onset of new pain in your abdomen, chest or head which does not go away.

These ‘red flags’ are clues for your doctor that something has changed. For people who have experienced: malignant cancer, long-term steroid use (not asthma puffers), have recently had a severe infection or experienced some physical trauma that could have resulted in a fracture, changes in pain and other signs and symptoms should be treated with caution and investigated further.

Where to get help

Your doctor
Physiotherapist
Exercise physiologist
Psychologist
Occupational therapist
Musculoskeletal Australia
MSK Helpline: 1800 263 265

How we can help

Call our National Help Line on 1800 263 265 or email helpline@msk.org.au

arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions
ways to live well with these conditions
managing your pain
- read our A-Z guide to managing pain
- watch our excellent videos on pain, your brain and how you can retrain your pain system.
  - Pain, the brain and your amazing protectometer – Lorimer Moseley
  - Treating pain using the brain – David Butler
upcoming webinars, seminars and other events.

More to explore

Better Health Channel www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
beyondblue www.beyondblue.org.au
Support Service – 1300 224 636
Choosing Wisely Australia www.choosingwisely.org.au
Employment Assistance Fund www.jobaccess.gov.au/employment-assistance-fund-eaf
Job in Jeopardy Assistance www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/job-jeopardy-assistance
Lifeline www.lifeline.org.au
Crisis Support – 13 11 14
National Prescribing Service www.nps.org.au
Medicine Line – 1300 633 424
Pain Australia www.painaustralia.org.au
painHEALTH http://painhealth.csse.uwa.edu.au
TAC www.tac.vic.gov.au
WorkSafe www.worksafe.vic.gov.au

Download this information sheet (PDF).

The whole or part of this material is copyright to the State of Victoria and the Better Health Channel. Reproduced with permission of the Victorian Minister for Health. Users are permitted to print copies for research, study or educational purposes.
Information has been produced in consultation with and approved by: Musculoskeletal Australia.