Describing your pain as fully as you can will help your doctors and nurses to work out the best way of treating it.

Some questions you can ask yourself

Where is the pain? Is it in one part of your body or in more than one place? Does it start in one place and gradually spread during the day?

What is the pain like? You can use the words below to describe your pain. Use any that are appropriate.

Aching  Gnawing  Pins and needles
Annoying  Hot  Pricking
Biting  Hurting  Radiating
Blinding  Intense  Scratchy
Blunt  Intermittent  Searing (comes and goes)
Burning  Mild  Sore
Cold   Miserable  Splitting
Constant   Moderate   Spreading
Cutting   Nagging   Stabbing
Crawling  Nauseating   Stinging
Crushing   Niggling   Tender
Dragging   Numbness   Throbbing
Dull   Overwhelming  Tingling
Electric-shock like   Penetrating   Tiring
Excruciating  Piercing  Unbearable

Have you had similar pain before? Is it similar to any other pain you have had, like toothache or cramp?

Is the pain near the surface of your body or deep inside?

How bad is it? Try to rate your pain by comparing it with pain you have experienced before, such as headache, back or period pain, sports injury or childbirth.

Is it mild, moderate, severe or very severe? Or if you measured it on a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate it? 0 means that you have no pain and 10 is severe pain (the worst that you have ever had).

Does anything make the pain better or worse? Do you feel better standing, sitting or lying down? Does a hot-water bottle or ice-pack help? Is it relieved by painkillers, such as paracetamol or aspirin? Do the painkillers stop the pain, or just reduce it? For how long? Can you distract yourself by reading, or with music, TV, etc?

Is the pain there all the time? Does it come and go? Does it go if you sit still? Does it get worse if you move around? Is it worse at night? Does it keep you awake? Does it wake you?

How does the pain affect your daily life? Does it stop you from bending or stretching for something? Does it stop you from sitting for very long – to eat a meal, for example? Does the pain stop you from concentrating to read, or affect your sleep? Does it stop you from walking for short or long distances?

Don't feel that you are being a nuisance or making a fuss by talking about your pain. Go into as much detail as you can.

Keeping a pain diary

It can help to keep a record of your pain – listing how bad it is at different times of the day and noting anything that makes it better or worse. This can help you to discuss your pain with the doctors or nurses looking after you. Some hospitals will give you a pain chart.