Questions and worksheets for planning care, making shared decisions, working with rehabilitation, handling records and referrals, and fitting care into work, school, and home. This page lists all 15 Pain Care Questions guides on the topic, each with its opening lines so you can pick the one that matches your question.
Pain Care Questions is an independent publication. These guides are for education and do not replace care from a qualified professional.
Guides in this section
Activity Pacing With Chronic Pain: Questions About Goals and Flare Signals
Activity pacing is a self-management approach in which activity and rest are planned around a sustainable level, rather than pushing until pain forces a stop.
Pain Care Progress Is Uneven: A Monthly Function Review Sheet
By Pain Care Questions Editorial Team. Updated September 26, 2026. Pain care progress can look uneven from week to week, and the sources we reviewed do not define a "normal" pattern.
Medication and Nonmedicine Pain Options: A Shared-Decision Worksheet
A shared-decision worksheet helps you compare medication and nonmedicine pain options with your clinician by writing down your goals, what the evidence says, what is still unknown, and the safety questions that matter for you. It does not pick a treatment for you.
A Pain-Care Follow-Up: Progress, Limits, and Unanswered Questions
It's a familiar scenario: someone starts managing ongoing pain with an initial plan — maybe physical therapy, an over-the-counter medication, or a referral — and a follow-up appointment is scheduled to check progress. When that visit arrives, the pain is a little better on some days and just as bad on others. Is that "working"?
A Pain-Care Referral: Questions About the Reason, Role, and Records
A pain-care referral is a suggestion from your provider to see a specific type of specialist, and three questions matter most before that visit: why the referral is being made now, what the referred professional's role will actually cover, and which records will help that professional understand your situation quickly.
Pain and Stigma: Questions for a More Respectful Care Conversation
Pain stigma is when a clinician's tone, questions, or conclusions leave you feeling doubted, rushed, or dismissed rather than heard — and it is a communication pattern you can prepare for, not something you have to accept quietly.
Non-Drug Pain-Care Options: Questions to Bring to Rehabilitation
Non-drug pain-care options are treatments that don't involve medication — like exercise therapy, manual therapy, or mind-body practices — and rehabilitation teams often raise them before or alongside medicine.
Shared Decision-Making in Pain Care: Questions About What Matters to You
Shared decision-making in pain care is a structured process where you and your clinician work together on a treatment-related choice, combining their clinical knowledge with your personal values, goals, and daily-life priorities.
Adaptive Tools and Pain Care: Questions to Ask First
An adaptive tool — a cane, a jar opener, a page turner, a voice-typing app, a shower grab bar — is meant to make one specific task easier, not to treat a condition. The right one depends on the exact task, your body, and your daily routine, not on which product is popular.
Pain Care and Daily Responsibilities: Preparing for a Work or School Conversation
Preparing for that conversation starts with identifying which specific tasks pain is affecting, not the diagnosis itself, then separating who to approach, what you're actually asking for, and what questions you still have — before you say anything out loud.
Returning to an Activity After a Pain Setback: Questions to Bring to Rehabilitation
A pain setback after progress is discouraging, especially when you were close to resuming an activity. The most useful first step isn't deciding on your own when to return — it's bringing focused questions to your next rehabilitation visit so your provider can help you figure out what the setback means and what comes next.
Bringing a Support Person to a Pain-Care Visit: Questions and Boundaries
A support person at a pain-care visit is someone — a spouse, adult child, or friend — who helps you remember details, ask questions, or advocate for you during the appointment. Deciding to bring one means agreeing beforehand on their role, what they'll hear, and when you'd rather speak with your clinician privately.
Organizing Pain-Care Records: A Question Guide for Sharing Information Safely
Organizing pain-care records means gathering your medicines, diagnoses, and care-team contacts into one clear list you can share safely across providers. It helps you communicate faster during short appointments and ask informed questions about how your information moves between the people involved in your care.
When a Pain-Care Plan Changes: Follow-Up Questions
When a pain-care plan changes — a medicine is stopped, a procedure is postponed, or a new therapy replaces an old one — it helps to know what to ask before you leave the appointment.
Rehabilitation Questions for Pain Care: Goals, Pace, and Progress
Rehabilitation questions are questions you ask a physical therapist, doctor, or occupational therapist to understand your recovery plan — not a workout routine to follow alone. This guide gives you a framework for asking about goals, pace, feedback, and progress.