The Language of Pain: Why Metaphors Matter in Endometriosis Diagnosis
Metaphors are not exaggerations. They are diagnostic clues.
Patients rarely stop at it hurts. They reach for knives, fire, pressure, or something alive inside them. These images appear when pain resists measurement. They are not decoration but attempts to make pain visible.
For endometriosis, this language can be a clue. Clinics often compress words into numbers. Useful, yes. Complete, no. When language gets flattened, meaning goes missing and diagnosis can drift.
Years of analysing patient accounts taught me a simple lesson. Metaphors carry detail. They hint at intensity, location, duration, and fear. They reveal what a form cannot catch. Listening well can change a clinical history. Paying attention to these expressions is not literary indulgence but a clinical tool.
Key points for practice
- Notice vivid imagery. It often signals information that questionnaires do not capture.
- Invite free description before you ask for numbers. Let the patient speak in their own words.
- Treat metaphors as clues to explore. Ask where, when, how it feels, and what it limits.
Language does not cure pain. It does something else: it lets pain be seen and heard. For people living with endometriosis, that first hearing can bring timely care. Small shift, real impact.