Volume 7 Issue 1 January, 2017
Pain in the neck!
The neurologist in next chamber does not know Tamil. A Tamil speaking woman has been consulting him with a translator. The translator told she has intolerable neck pain and headache. Local doctor referred her to the neurologist when pain killers did not help. The neurologist was trying with Flunarizine, Clonazepam, Amitriptyline, Topiramate and
Escitalopram for sufficient time. One day I was talking to this patient outside his chamber in Tamil. He came out and saw this woman was not in pains. She went in with the interpreter and was in severe pain. No need to say – he requested me to interpret.
I told the interpreter to stay out. He said that she is scared of doctors and she does not want medicines. So she will say that she is fine. Don’t believe her, he added.
As soon as I asked her who her pain in the neck is, she said, “My pain in the neck is the translator who is my husband’s eldest brother. My husband is totally under the control of this person for business and family management. This brother-in-law forced me into sex and I am in no position to refuse. Only after he had seen me suffering with severe pain, he does not force me. But now, he forces me to consult doctors and take medicines. I know it is because he wants me for sex. He has wife and children. I have teenage sons. My husband is drunk all the time, not in a position to listen to me.”
So, please ask, “Who is the pain in neck or who is the headache?” It may clinch not only the diagnosis but also the treatment.
Bengaluru, dr.saranya@gmail.com
