Pillar 1 - Investigation & Examination
The beginning stages of any good investigation process involves gathering data, collecting evidence, and establishing a timeline of events. Much like a detective's work in trying to catch a crook, we are creating a line-up of possible culprits, or "pain-villains," that may be responsible for causing your stubborn problem. Although the investigative process begins now at the first pillar's session, it actually continues to develop and redefine its "suspicions" at every other pillar onward, much in the same way a real detective closes a case. ​​
Getting Assigned to the Case
Are you certain that your pain is actually orthopedic in nature, that is, related to bones, muscles, nerves, tendons, and any other non-life threatening conditions that we will later on in our program? That means you do not have an undiagnosed pain over areas of your body that contain vital, life-giving organs, like in your head, chest, or abdomen.
Have you at least been examined by a physician recently for your painful problem and received a diagnosis and plan of care?
If you have not, and you are on your own with nothing more than this website and a heating pad by your side, then you are not yet assigned to the case. Stop reading and go to your doctor now!
Collecting the Evidence
Get imaging! That’s not imagining; that’s imaging — medical imaging. That means you must get the appropriate diagnostic tests used to see inside your body in order to make sure that there’s no life threatening problem or weird condition, which is manifesting as superficial pain. This may include such non-invasive tests as x-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds, or nerve conduction tests. Unfortunately, there have definitely been cases where serious medical conditions, like cancer, were overlooked simply because the patient never got an x-ray of the painful area.
​
Have you had any diagnostic tests performed related to your painful area?
​
In addition to imaging, you may want to collect medical reports, or chart notes, of prior professionals. This also constitutes the larger picture of evidence. It may, or may not, prove helpful but it should still be presented to your specialist in order to make a qualified decision. If you are unsure what to ask your doctor for, please give us a call and we can help guide you.
​
Remember, even failed treatments have some value, because you have learned not to go down the same road twice.
Establishing a Timeline
One of the most challenging parts of understanding why your pain won't go away is figuring out the exact series of events that led you to this predicament in the first place. This can be very difficult and frustrating to think about. Many times there can be multiple factors that caused the pain to flare up or become exacerbated over the course of months, or even years, that just makes your whole condition blend into a big cloudy mess of a problem. This is where you must begin to sort it all out, as best as you can.
​
Establishing a timeline of key events will help to separate you, and your emotions, from the painful condition. It will make the process seem more objective, so that it is not so much as "your pain" that you are trying to figure out, but "the pain."
​
Start as far back as you can remember and list the most significant events in the timeline of the painful problem up until the current day.
Choosing a Suspect
This brings us to the real heart and soul of the investigation process, choosing the painful "supsects." Read the essay below to learn more about the different personalities of pain.
Having read the "profiles" of the most common types of painful conditions, do you see any patterns that are present in your case? Or does it seem too unusual, or unpredictable, to say?
Wrapping It Up
Usually an experienced clinical specialist will have a very strong hunch of the origin of the problem, but sometimes even the best are proven wrong further down the road because certain pieces of new evidence just didn't line up. In that case, a great clinician will switch gears, reassess their perspective, and pursue the next logical suspect.
​
How ridiculous would it be if a police detective never set their sights on a new suspect when the evidence didn't support the conviction of their first choice?
​
It's time to take everything that you've learned in Pillar 1 about Investigation & Examination and bring it to the clinic for your first session. Next you will sit down and collaborate together with your specialist so that you both can form a solid treatment plan to beat this painful problem.