French: Expressing Pain and Discomfort

Expressing Pain

• "Douleur" translates to pain.
• "Aigue" translates to sharp or acute pain.
• "Constante" signifies constant pain.
• "Écrasante (douleur de la poitrine)" describes crushing pain, specifically in the chest.
• "Généralisée" means general pain.
• "Intermittente" means intermittent pain.
• "Légère ou faible" indicates slight pain.
• "Localisée" means localized pain.
• "Périodique" indicates recurrent pain.
• "Sourde" describes dull pain.
• "Vive" describes severe pain.
• "Élancement de douleur/douleur lancinante ou pulsatile" describes throbbing pain.
• "Picotements de douleur" describes tingling pain.
• "Sensation de coups de couteau" describes stabbing pain.
• "Sensation de brûlure" describes burning pain.
• "Sensibilité (à la douleur)" describes tenderness.
• "Sensible au toucher ou à la douleur" means tender to the touch.
• "Vagues de douleur" describes waves of pain.

Patient's Feelings of Pain or Discomfort

• "J’ai mal à la cheville" / "Ma cheville me fait mal" translates to "My ankle hurts" or "My ankle is painful."
• "J’ai une forte migraine. C’est comme si c’était des vagues de douleurs" translates to "I have a strong migraine. It's like waves of pain/throbbing pain."
• "Mon dos me fait vraiment mal" translates to "My back is really hurting me/ my back is really aching."
• "J’ai de l’acidité avec une étrange douleur qui me brûle" translates to "I have acidity (heartburn) with strange feeling of burning pain."
• "J’ai des courbatures" translates to "I have stiff muscles."
• "J’ai des difficultés à uriner" translates to "I have difficulty urinating."
• "Je sens comme un picotement (fourmillement) dans mon bras gauche" translates to "I feel tingling in my left arm."
• "Je me sens engourdi/ j’ai des fourmis" translates to "I feel numb."
• "Ça démange" translates to "It feels itchy/It is itchy."
• "Je ne me sens pas bien" translates to "I don’t feel well/I’m not feeling well."

Types and Descriptions of Pain

• Pain can be described in several ways, including muscle pain.
• "Ache" refers to a headache.
• "Suffering" can describe moral suffering.
• "Sore" describes a sore throat.
• "Tenderness" is when a patient complains of tenderness in the lower abdomen upon palpation.
• "Acute" pain is exemplified by experiencing acute neck pain after a car accident, requiring immediate medical attention.
• "Chronic" pain is exemplified by suffering from chronic back pain for over five years due to a herniated disc.
• "Transient" pain is exemplified by foot pain subsiding after removing tight shoes.
• "Continuous" pain is when a patient describes continuous pain in their joints.
• "Intermittent" pain is exemplified by intermittent headaches that occur about three times a week, often after long hours at the computer.

Mnemonic for Pain Assessment: SOCRATES

• Site: Where is the pain?
• Onset: When did the pain start?
• Character: What is the pain like?
• Radiation: Does the pain spread?
• Associations: Are there other symptoms?
• Time course: How often do you get the pain?
• Exacerbating/relieving factors: What makes the pain better or worse?
• Severity: How bad is the pain?