As a caregiver, you never want to see your loved one wincing in pain. But, it is more difficult to assess your family member’s level of pain if they deny their symptoms, or if they are not able to communicate their needs and wishes.

If you ask your elderly relative if he or she is in pain, the answer may be a simple, “No.”

Be more specific with your questions, such as:

· “Are you achy?”
· “Is your back sore?”
· “Is your knee still bothering you?”
· “Have you been sleeping well?”
· “How is your appetite?”

In nursing homes, assisted living communities, doctors’ offices, or hospitals, a health care professional will use an assessment test to determine pain intensity. The test helps compare a senior’s pain before and after use of a particular medication or pain therapy technique.

The American Geriatric Society (AGS) recommends number, word, and picture scales to identify pain levels. The number scale is a range of increasing numbers that indicates the severity of pain. The elderly patient circles the appropriate number. The word scale describes different pain levels and asks the senior to pick the words that best describe how he or she is feeling.

If your loved one suffers from some level of cognitive impairment, the picture or “faces” scale may be helpful. This is a series of cartoon faces exhibiting expressions that range from relaxed to grimacing, illustrating the degree of pain that the elder may be experiencing.

Pain can manifest itself in many ways. Even if your elderly parent denies feeling any pain, it could effect their appetite, weight, sleep patterns, energy levels, ability to socialize with others, and bowel movement regimen.

Your parent might have started to withdraw from their circle of friends and stay at home more often. This loss of activity could affect them physically, and they might present as more deconditioned and frail.

Effective pain management can allow your elderly family member to remain mobile and independent, and maintain their activities of daily living.

At times, it is necessary to try various forms of pain relief before the optimal pain management treatment plan is achieved. It is important to remember that pain is often under-reported in seniors, and it is up to us, as our loved one’s advocates, to ensure that their physicians and health care professionals are treating their levels of pain accordingly.