20.11.06

What do I ask next?

Posted in People, Work at 2:20 pm by alby

I had an example of a problem at work this morning.  It happens on occasion but probably less often than you’d think.

A young lass came to see me about her back pain.  She’s in her mid-20′s and the possessor of some level of attractiveness. 

Now one of the questions we ask about the pain is “What makes it worse?” In other words; are there any activities or movements that invariably bring on your pain.  She answered this with the dreaded – “Sex”.

Now you may understand my post title here.  Specifically what I’m after with the “What makes it worse” question is an idea of what position or movement the back doesn’t like.  For instance people will say something like “Bending over” or “lifting” or “standing for an hour or so” or “hoovering” or “making chapattis”.  When someone answers “sex” then it leads to other questions.  There’s not enough information there for me to figure out anything of worth.  This leads to a quandary.  Do I ask about exactly which positions are the most painful?  Do I ask about “dimensions” or “roughness”?  I don’t know, I really don’t.  If I don’t ask I don’t get the full info that I really need.  If I do ask then there’s an extreme risk of being slapped and thought of as a pervert for asking such probing questions [pun intended].

Still I had a quick chat with a colleague who’s had a patient who hurt her knee whilst engaging in the sexual activity of her choice.  When she said this apparently she also proffered “Well I was kneeling for quite some time”.  I really wouldn’t have known where to look at that one.

Sometimes this job is really fun.

Have fun.

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