Understanding Your Pain.

One of the most common pleas Physical Therapists receive from patties is to alleviate their pain. All too often pain becomes a part of an individual’s identity. As a practicing physical therapist one of the moments I feel most empathetic is when a patient says, “I’ve been in pain so long, I have just accepted it.” How I approach treating a patient whose pain has totally engulfed their life is by using a Biopsychosocial Approach. Now, that word might seem a bit overwhelming so let’s break it down.

Bio simply means understanding the patients biology through a thorough evaluation, any imaging, tests or past events that help paint the picture how the patient has gotten to this point. The next part of that word is “Psycho” – this stretches in to understanding the patient’s comprehension of their pain, how they cope with it and if there is a part of their lives they have put on hold due to their pain. The final piece of Biopsychosocial is “Social”, meaning gaining insight on any external stress or events that may be compounding the individual’s pain.

This approach goes beyond the anatomy of an individual and is truly PATIENT CENTERED.