Before your doctor can diagnose your condition and design a treatment plan, a complete history and physical exam are necessary. This will give your doctor a better idea of the cause of your condition. Then appropriate diagnostic tests may be recommended.

Complete History
Your doctor will want to get a history of your condition. This may begin by filling out a written form while you wait to see the doctor. Take time to think about every thing that relates to your pain and write it down. The more information you share with your doctor, the easier your problem will be to diagnose. A physical history can give your doctor insight into when the pain began, anything that could have caused an injury, your lifestyle, physical factors that might be causing pain, and any family history of similar problems.

After reading through your written history, your physician will ask more questions that relate to the information you have given. Your doctor may want to know if you have had an injury where you are feeling pain and how intense it is if the pain radiates to other parts of your body if and where you are feeing numbness or weakness what factors make the pain feel better or worse whether you have had this problem or something like it before about any recent weight loss, fever, or illness if you've had problems with your bladder or bowels.

After taking your history, your physician will give you a physical exam. This allows the doctor to rule out possible causes of pain and try to determine the source of your problem. The areas of your body that will be examined depend upon where you are experiencing pain-neck, lower back, arms, legs, etc... continue