Why do I need a Diagnostic Based Pain Assessment for treating Chronic Pain with Medical Massage? Diagnostic Testing, when combined with Medical Massage Therapy, as part of a Comprehensive Pain Assessment, can be a highly effective tool for Chronic Pain Management.
Without a Diagnostic Based Pain Assessment, can Chronic Pain be treated effectively with Medical Massage? The appropriate Medical Massage Therapy Chronic Pain Treatment Plan for a patient is a shot in the dark without a Diagnostic Testing based Pain Assessment.
Is the Pain Assessment the same thing as a Diagnosis? Although it uses Diagnostic Testing, a Pain Assessment is not the same thing as a Diagnosis. A diagnosis is made by a Doctor and is used to specifically identify an illness, disease, or medical condition. A Diagnostic Pain Assessment is a compilation of information that is gathered and evaluated in order to derive an appropriate plan of treatment.
How do Pain Assessments differ for different Body Parts? Different parts of the body require different types of Pain Assessments. The Diagnostics Testing for Fibromyalgia may use all of the Diagnostic Tests that were used for Lower Back Pain or Shoulder Pain or Elbow Pain, yet the individualized Diagnostic Test for Lower Back Pain or Shoulder Pain or Elbow Pain are quite different.
What kind of Information is used in the Pain Assessment? The assessment information that is used to develop a treatment plan includes the patient’s Pain Scale, their Medical History, an objective observation of symptoms, biomechanical (analysis of posture, and body locomotion) diagnostic testing, and palpation (analyzing soft tissue by feel).
I’ve never heard of a Pain Scale before, can you please explain that to me? As part of the Assessment, the patient is given pictures of the human body and is asked to list the specific pain levels on the pictures that give the representation of the patients pain. The Pain Scale is defined as the amount of pain that a person is experiencing in a specific part of the persons body on a scale of 0 to 10. Zero is no pain, and 10 is un bearable pain. 1-4= functional, 5-7=extreme discomfort and difficulty with functionality, 8-9=pain so great that the person is bed-ridden.
Why is Medical History so important? It is very important for the patient to reveal their Medical History because it helps the health practitioner to better understand the historical factors effecting a persons pain, such as the medications that the person is taking, the time of day when the pain is at its worst, what forms of treatment has helped the patient, and what forms of treatment have not helped the patient.
Why is Observation an important part of the Assessment? Postural Analysis is an important part of the observation of a patients symptoms, because it helps to determine if a patient has good posture or bad posture as a possible source of their pain and will help to improve posture where improvement can be made. A Gait Analysis can reveal a limp or favoritism of a limb. The observation of an externally rotated foot can indicate a leg length difference that could have a factor on Lower Back Pain. The trained eye can observe a Forward Shoulder rotation, which can reveal posterior Shoulder Pain as well as Thoracic Back Pain. A Gait Analysis can reveal a limp or favoritism of a limb.
How is Biomechanical Testing an important part of the Assessment? Diagnostic Pain Assessment tests that help to uncover root causes of Chronic Pain are critically important Pain Assessment Tools. Body motion and movement analysis within identifiable specific planes of that motion and movement are important parts of Biomechanical Testing. Without the use of AROM-Active Range of Motion, PROM-Passive range of Motion, Resistive and other special tests, how can we uncover root causes of Chronic Pain?
Why is Palpation an important part of the Pain Assessment? Analysis of soft tissue by feel, better known as Palpation, is an important part of the information gathering process, that lets the practitioner know the health of the soft tissues that are involved with a persons chronic pain. As part of Palpation, the practitioner gets a better understanding of soft tissue health by evaluating soft tissue texture, temperature, and tone. Diagnostic Palpation also includes the Joint Mobility Test as an important diagnostic test that is used to determine whether or not the spinal column is a chronic pain syndrome contributor.
A systematic approach to Chronic Pain Management is impossible without a Diagnostic Based Pain Assessment. The first critical and mandatory step in systematically developing a divide and conquer treatment strategy for the reduction and possible elimination of chronic pain should always be an organized Diagnostic based Pain Assessment. The ability and skill of clinical and medical massage therapists to provide patients with new hope, strategies and tactics in the battle against chronic pain is a daunting task without an organized Diagnostic based Pain Assessment.
