Arthritis vs Pain #GetPT1st

One of the biggest Thought Viruses a patient can get from a well meaning provider is getting an x-ray and the subsequent "bad news." That feeds into their expectation and beliefs that structure is related to pain. Visuals often illustrate (pun intended) the point better than words alone, which is why I show them this graph I made and tell them a few points

• as age increases, levels of changes seen on x-ray also increases
• pain, on the other hand peaks between 40-50 and drops off afterward - as those changes continue to increase

My other favorite points are

• if you wake up stiff and painful in the morning, but it gets better as you move around and throughout the day, do you think your x-ray looks worse in the morning and then better later in the day?
• the changes you see on x-ray take years, similar to wrinkles on the skin, does your skin hurt?
• the day before the onset of your pain, your x-ray looked exactly the same (barring trauma)

Stop Thought Viruses: Arthritis vs Pain

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