The Pain Scale Is Hurting Your Cases

Got this from a client recently and could only sympathize with her. Describing and documenting pain is a perennial problem for disability and personal injury claimants and, in turn, the attorneys representing them.

I've always encouraged my clients not to get too hung up on the pain scale. Instead, I advise them to focus on how their symptoms affect what they can or can't do.

After all, nobody really knows what 8 out of 10 lumbar pain means but people start to get the picture when you say that most days your spouse helps tie your shoes. I’ve found that when clients focus on their functioning rather than their feelings, they get better treatment and we get better medical records documenting what's really going on with them.

ClaimData captures all this functional information – and much more – and then organizes it and presents it in charts, tables and other demonstrative exhibits. You get an entirely new way of understanding and telling your clients’ stories and clients get better at explaining to their providers what’s really going on.