A National Health Family Practice

Having a high pain threshold:  Is it virtuous or a detriment to your health?

All too often I encounter in my practice a patient who seems to have an acute problem of a very severe nature.  Someone who has a severe back pain or disability as a result of a problem which has seemingly appeared overnight for no apparent reason or at the very least has not been associated with severe trauma.  Upon questioning the patient, I find that he or she has had several episodes of back pain of less intensity and that the pain has gone away on its own.  

People have varying degrees of thresholds of pain.  What may be significant to one may be only minor to another.  Also, the body has an amazing ability to adapt.  Just because the pain or disability seems to lessen does not necessarily mean that the problem has been corrected.  Consequently, each episode seems to be worse and last a little longer until such times as the patient must consult his or her physician.  This chain of events often leads to a severe problem which may have been handled in a much shorter period of time and much less costly manner if the patient had not ignored the original symptoms.

Remember back pain is a warning sign.  Don’t ignore it!  Prompt examination and treatment may save lots of pain, time and money at a later date.