How Pain Impacts Your Vital Signs
Aug 01, 2016
Vital signs are measurements of the body’s basic functions. Doctors routinely check these vitals in emergency situations, as well as during routine checkups to get a sense of the patient’s overall health and well-being. There are four basic vital signs: temperature, pulse, blood pressure, and respiration. In this article we will talk about how pain can influence a patient’s vital signs.
Testing your internal body temperature is a good way to tell if your body is suffering from an infection or other malady. Pain often goes hand-in-hand with an increased body temperature. When your body is dealing with an injury, illness, or infection, your temperature goes up as your body attempts to resolve the issue at hand.
Pulse is a measurement of your heart rate. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals often check your pulse by holding two fingers to your wrist or neck and counting the heart beats. An increase in heart rate is a typical response to pain in the body.
Blood pressure is a measurement of the pressure of the blood within the body’s circulatory system. Increased blood pressure is another common bodily response to pain.
Respiration is a test of your ability to breathe. When your doctor uses his or her stethoscope and tells you to breathe in and out during a clinic visit, they are checking your respiration rate.
At Advanced Spine & Pain Clinics of MN we treat the full scope of a patient’s pain and other symptoms. Our pain management physicians have over twenty years of experience helping Minnesotans reduce their pain and keep it at bay. If you are going through life in pain, stop dealing with it and get the medical attention you need. Call today to set up your own appointment with a pain physician who can diagnose and treat your pain. Our primary clinic is located in Edina, but we treat patients throughout the Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs.