How We Assess Pain

Pain is highly individual. Two patients with identical MRI findings may experience entirely different levels of disability. For this reason, our assessment goes beyond imaging.

At your first consultation, our team will evaluate:

• Pain history – the character, location, radiation, timing, and severity of your pain, and what makes it better or worse.
• Functional impact – how pain affects your sleep, work, relationships, and daily activities.
• Previous treatments – what has been tried, what helped, and what didn’t.
• Imaging review – CT, MRI, or X-ray findings interpreted in the context of your symptoms, not in isolation.
• Nerve conduction studies / EMG – where nerve or muscle involvement is suspected.
• Psychological factors – pain and mood are deeply connected. Unaddressed anxiety or depression can amplify pain significantly. Where relevant, we involve our clinical psychology team.

From this, a personalised pain plan is developed, combining medication, procedures, and rehabilitative support in the combination most likely to work for your specific situation.