Being able to explain how you feel in English is extremely important if you live or travel in an English-speaking country. You need to be able to tell a doctor exactly how you feel. For example, is your pain sharp, dull,excruciating? Is it a burning pain, or do you feel sore? All of these different kinds of pain may be signs of very different health problems. Below is a list of different symptoms. Things you have: • I have an upset stomach. • I have a wheezing cough. A “wheezing” cough sounds dry and painful. • I have a rash on my neck. This means that your skin is red and itchy.
Things that you’re having: • I’m having chest pains. • I’m having trouble sleeping. This means that you can’t go to sleep, or that you wake up a lot at night. • I’ve been having excruciating sinus headaches for the last few days. Things that you are: • I’m short of breath. This means that you can’t breathe well. • My muscles are sore. This is the feeling that you get the day after doing hard exercise. Things that you get: • I get this sharp pain in my shoulder whenever I raise my arm. • I sometimes get dull, throbbing headaches. “Dull” pain happens slowly and constantly.
“Throbbing” pain hurts each time blood pumps through your body. Things that you feel: • I feel lightheaded. • I feel kind of nauseous. This is the feeling that you might need to throw up. • I’m feeling under the weather. Things that are happening to parts of your body: • My ankle is red and swollen. When part of your body gets bigger, it’s “swollen”. • It hurts when I apply pressure to it. Pushing, squeezing, or leaning on part of your body “applies pressure” to it. • My stomach hurts. • My nose is stuffy. This happens when you have a cold and mucus clogs up your nose. Things that you’re doing:
• I’m running a fever of 102 degrees. • I’ve been vomiting for the last 12 hours. “Vomiting” is also called “throwing up”. It means that your food comes back up out of your stomach. • I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night every night. Other problems: • I suffered a neck injury in a motorcycle accident last year. • I never fully recovered from the accident. • My allergies are killing me! • My arthritis is acting up. “Arthritis” is pain in the joints which happens to a lot of old people. Can you describe a recent health problem you had? Exactly how did it feel, and what symptoms did you have?