How do I describe physical pain to a doctor? #EnglishHelp

Describing your pain in a second language can be very difficult. It can even cause a lot of anxiety.

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Pain can come from many sources, but imagine that you were in a minor car accident.

• Someone drove into the back of your car.

• You hit your head on the steering wheel.

• You're planning what to tell the doctor.

With a few specific words and phrases, you'll be able to tell the doctor about the pain you received from this accident.

You'll need to complete this sentence: "I have a [type of pain] pain in my [body part]. The pain is [level of pain]."

But first, you'll need to describe the event that caused you pain with a few nouns and verbs.

The most common words for describing physical pain are:

• wound: The damaged part of the body, or the action causing the damage. The "ou" part is pronounced like the "ou" in "you."

• injury: This means the same thing as the noun "wound".

• injure: This is the verb form of "injury". It describes the action causing the damage.

• hurt: The act of causing or experiencing pain.

These words can be divided into nouns and verbs.

Nouns

• I got a bad wound from the accident.

• I got a bad injury from the accident.

Verbs

• The accident wounded me.

• The accident injured me.

• My wound/injury hurts badly.

To help the doctor understand your pain, you need to be able to describe different types of pain.

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Imagine that the car accident has given you injuries like what you see in the picture above. Your forehead and nose are the most badly injured, while you have a minor injury on your right cheek.

Which of these types of pain do you think you would be feeling?

1. stabbing: A sharp, sudden pain that feels like being poked with something pointy.

2. throbbing: A rhythmic, pulsing pain that often feels like it's beating.

3. cramping: A sudden, tight pain caused by muscles contracting or tightening.

4. shooting: A quick, sharp pain that travels through a part of the body.

5. searing: A very intense, burning pain.

They can all be used to complete the sentence: I have a [type of pain] pain in my head. The pain is [level of pain].

Any of these words are possible, though "searing" and "cramping" are less likely.

You should also be able to describe how intense the pain is.

Pain can be ranked on a scale from 0 to 10. The vocabulary is ranked according to that scale, with 0 being no pain and 10 being maximum pain. Learn more by viewing the scale in detail.

• mild = 1

• minor = 2

• noticeable = 3

• moderate = 6

• strong = 7

• intolerable = 9

They can all be used to complete the sentence: "I have a [type of pain] pain in my head. The pain is [level of pain]."

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Imagine your fingers were also injured in the accident. Use the next quiz to test your knowledge of how to describe that pain.

With the vocabulary above, you're now prepared to describe various types of pain you might experience to complete the sentence: "I have a [type of pain] pain in my [body part]. The pain is [level of pain]."

Continue to get practice with pain words and with other types of vocabulary.