Helping people

overcome injuries

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Treatment :: Health :: Coping :: Goals :: Career :: Life in ruins? :: They don't understand

Diagnosis and Treatment

Undiagnosed problems can be exasperating, especially if the symptoms seem bizarre. Suggestions that the problem is 'all in your mind' only compound the distress.

After diagnosis, it should be easier to understand your problems even if no effective treatment is currently available.

A reputable personal injury lawyer will make sure your injuries are diagnosed and are told the treatment options - you may even be able to claim the cost of private treatment. Finding a personal injury lawyer can result in more than financial compensation. My chronic pain condition was not diagnosed by the NHS - doctors told me I should be better a year after my accident - the first medico-legal report identified RSD.

1. Play an active part

2. Pain management

3. Alternative therapies

4. Mental health

5. Anger

1. Play an active part

• Take an active role in managing your treatment in partnership with your doctors and specialists. Diagnosis and treatment can be a painfully slow process. I wish I had made more of a fuss about my injury. Ask for an explanation if no progress is being made.

• Are you being informed about all the treatment options, their possible side effects and complications? What are the short-term and long-term success rates? You are entitled to a second opinion on the NHS. Try to talk to someone who has had any proposed treatment. However desperate you feel - weighing up the possible benefits and risks makes sense.

• Anyone can discuss their health treatment with the Citizens Advice Bureau.

• Medical websites tell you more than you might want to know about most conditions. Not all information is accurate and some may be misleading or alarmist. Don't panic. Try to verify what you read before swamping your doctor with information and risking the loss of his/her support. Where does the information come from? Are there references to the source of the information? Support groups or your doctor/consultant may help you to find the most reliable information.

• Well-being depends on a sense of control. It is not helped if your whole future depends on the next treatment or specialist. Having your hopes are dashed could lead to a downward spiral of depression. Try breaking the cycle by taking control of other aspects of your life.

2. Pain management

• If you are suffering constant pain despite treatment, the least your doctor/specialist can do is to refer you to a pain clinic.

• Pain can limit every facet of life and result in distress, depression and disability unless it is controlled effectively. Over time, even a tiny pain can drive you bonkers. Pain management courses can put sufferers back in control of their lives, optimise mobility, reduce emotional distress and restore their sense of humour. Coping with pain is easier if someone can alleviate the fear of doing further harm. The Think Back site provides details of their own and other UK pain management courses.

• My painful existence was transformed to a "real" life by an in-patient pain management course at Unsted Park rehabilitation hospital in Surrey. I attended the course with the bravest group of people anyone could hope to meet. Yet we all needed a "helping hand" to apply that courage effectively. Nine years later most of us are still in control and doing things that would have been impossible before the course. Taking a degree, having a baby, leading adventure holidays … despite chronic pain.

• In so much pain that you don't know what to do? Pain management means having 101 techniques that might help. I'm never lost for something to try and even if it doesn't work it's a distraction from the pain. Most importantly, I am in control. I wasn't in control when I was waiting to take the next painkiller in the vain hope it would do more than take a slight edge off the pain. Learning to control your pain, rather than letting it control you, can revolutionise the way you feel and function.

• Pain Support offers useful advice and support for those living with pain.

3. Alternative therapies

• Both conventional and alternative therapies can be dangerous. Seek advice from your doctor/specialist before trying any alternative therapy. They may be able to refer you to someone reputable and warn you about therapies that are unsuitable. How would you feel if your doctor was not fully qualified? To find a qualified therapist, or to check on claimed qualifications, contact the British Complementary Medicine Association or the Complementary Medical Association . Also, ask about the therapist's length of training, experience, membership of a professional body and whether they have professional indemnity insurance.

• If an alternative therapy is safe for your condition and really improves your quality of life, does it really matter how it works? Long live placebo effects. I've tried acupuncture (on the NHS), osteopathy, aromatherapy massages, Indian head massages, healing and reflexology. The practitioners were all recommended by friends or my pain consultant. Luckily, I haven't been pounced upon by healers in the local supermarket. No-one claimed to be able to cure me. They all provide short-term relief and emotional support that is invaluable in helping me to cope.

• Therapy shopping can leave you at the mercy of unscrupulous practitioners. I understand the desire to try anything that might help but are you asking for a miracle? If so, it could save a lot of disappointment if you can accept your situation and just use therapies to make life more comfortable. Decide if they're really helping after a few sessions. Any miracle will be an unexpected bonus. The Think Back site has a guide to alternative therapies for back-pain.

4. Mental health

• Where does your body end and your mind begin? Even if your injury hasn't affected your brain, pain, physical injuries and their consequences can affect mental health. Half of all patients with chronic pain (lasting for more than 6 weeks) are depressed.

• How we think and feel directly affects our health. Exploring your boundaries, achieving goals and having fun with friends can inject a revitalising sense of hope. Talking to a stranger about your problems may feel easier than talking to close friends and family. There is always someone to talk to, from counsellors to members of self-help and support groups to the Samaritans. People with similar problems don't need explanations about how you are feeling - they understand.

• Psychologists can help you develop effective coping strategies and take a realistic view of life. Psychotherapy helped me to come to terms with changes in every aspect of my life. You too could be "psychologically more sophisticated" in ten or so sessions. My therapist wasn't intrusive - in complete contrast to the Hollywood stereotype. Antidepressants were invaluable whilst I took them but the coping techniques I learnt in therapy will last me for life.

• St Joseph's Centre at Holy Cross Hospital in Surrey [01428 656 517] runs a post-traumatic stress disorder programme that can make a difference. In particular, they deal with the isolation and psychic numbing that can result from accidents and assaults.

5. Anger

• Anger can be corrosive if you bottle it up. Leave it fizzing away and it may explode like a bottle of ginger beer. Talk to you doctor about anger management.

• Anger arises when reality doesn't meet your expectations. You cannot alter the way other people behave but you can change your expectations of them.

• Some 'victims' are consumed with anger years after their injury. If only they could be helped to forgive. I wasn't angry about my accident because no-one injured me deliberately. I can blame the safety culture in the company but I cannot blame one individual for a thoughtless act. Making mistakes is part of human nature.

• Emotions are designed to be expressed - perhaps not instantly but as soon as you are alone with a pillow. How are people to know how you feel if you don't openly express your emotions?

• Can you summarise what made you angry in three sentences? Having clarified the problem, what can you do to resolve it? Anger can be a great motivator if you channel it into constructive action to prevent similar events happening again or to help victims of accidents.