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It’s not all in your head
Pain Rachel de Simone Pain Rachel de Simone

It’s not all in your head

Over the years I’ve seen a lot of people whose doctors dismissed them or made them feel like their pain was all in their head because they didn’t get better by treating their symptoms, and often the source of pain couldn’t be seen on an image. If you know my story, you know that this happened to me. I had excruciating pain and severe loss of function (I couldn’t make a fist with my right hand, so I couldn’t do basic things like hold a pen to write my name), and I had doctor after doctor tell me that I was fine because the MRIs didn’t show any signs of nerve compression.

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The power of being heard
Pain Rachel de Simone Pain Rachel de Simone

The power of being heard

We have a real problem with our medical system right now. Doctors rely on lab tests and imaging for diagnosis, but the diagnostic tests aren't sensitive enough to detect issues at the early stages. Patients are often told to just come back if it gets worse, and unfortunately, that is exactly what happens. The consequence is that it teaches us to ignore our pain and override our body's built-in protective mechanism.

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