There are many aspects and characteristics of pain that are important to your primary care physician as well as your attending spine specialist.  When describing the pain you are experiencing, always attempt to describe when you first noticed the pain, and what the quality of pain was at the time of onset.  It is also important to describe the pattern of the pain, whether it is acute, chronic, or intermittent in nature.  Always try to describe what conditions influence the pain either positively or negatively. The doctor will want you to describe the quality of the pain as accurately as possible, specifying whether it is burning, dull or achy, sharp and stabbing so as to help identify the source of the pain.  Also report what positions, activities or conditions make the pain better or worse.   

When receiving spinecare it is also important to provide the doctor with feedback as to whether there is any alteration of the pain immediately after and long after the treatment.  Many physicians will recommend pharmaceutical medications in order to reduce pain.  The physicians will need to determine whether the approach is working as they had hoped.