Empowering You To Speak Up About Pain
Flip the Script aims to empower people, especially older adults, to speak up about pain. By learning more about pain and how to manage it, patients and families can stay hopeful and feel confident in working with their health care team to develop a plan for the best relief.
Our Downloadable Resources will help you learn more about pain and safe pain management options as well as spark new ideas for questions to ask your health care provider.
Understanding Pain
Whether you have a recent diagnosis that causes pain, started feeling pain or have felt pain for a while, knowing what results are possible with treatment can help you stay hopeful and confident. Understanding pain is the first step in flipping the script.
The Impact of Pain
Pain can get in the way of daily activities, bring up difficult feelings and keep us from spending time with friends and family.
Pain not only impacts our physical health, but it can also impact other parts, like relationships and emotions. Difficult emotions, like worry, frustration and anger, can happen because of pain. Sometimes, these feelings can make pain worse.
Everyone reacts to pain differently. Some people feel they should be brave and not complain when they hurt. Other people are quick to report pain and ask for help. Worrying about pain is common. This worry can make you afraid to stay active, and it can separate you from your friends and family.
Managing Pain
Everyone deals with pain differently. Some people do not talk about their pain, because they do not want to complain or worry others. Others report pain and ask for help quickly.
But what is important is knowing that pain is not a normal part of aging. Talk to your health care provider about your pain. Together, you can find options that work for you.
Using Pain Medicine Safely
We know that medicine affects people in different ways. We also know that pain can change over time. Whether this is your first time taking a pain medicine or you have taken one in the past, it is important to take a look at how it might affect you now.
Safe Storage and Disposal of Pain Medicines
Check out our helpful tips of how to store and dispose of your pain medications
Know Signs and Risk Factors of Medicine Misuse
When it comes to the misuse of prescription pain medicine, everyone is at risk. Misuse means to take it in a way that was not instructed by your health care provider or pharmacist. It is possible to accidentally misuse medicine by borrowing a medicine from someone else or by confusing pills. Misuse can also include taking an opioid pain medicine to feel its feel-good effects.
Check out our tips on taking medicine safely to avoid accidentally misusing medicine.
Care Partner Support
When it comes to medicine misuse, it is hard to tell when a problem exists. People may even mistake signs of misuse or addiction as normal behaviors associated with aging. But knowing what to look for can help.
