Why are doctors such liars?

I had a cortisone shot in my foot today. It’s the second time I have received one of these shots. I have enough problems with needles already, but separate from my fear, these shots legitimately hurt like hell.

But your doctor is likely to tell you otherwise.  For reasons that I do not understand, doctors and dentists insist on telling me that something will not be painful when it is. Rather than using words like pain or hurt, they replace them with falsehoods like discomfort and pressure and a little pinch.

The problem with these lies is that when you tell me that the cortisone shot will not hurt and then it hurts like hell, I assume that something has gone terribly wrong and I begin to panic.

Today I was told that I would “feel some pressure,” but thankfully, I knew better. I told the doctor that the last shot hurt like hell and expected the same from this one, and I was not mistaken.

But had this been my first cortisone shot, today’s procedure would have been much worse for me. The unexpected pain would have been followed by images of the needle breaking in my foot, detaching from the syringe or the injecting of unintentional air bubbles into my foot.

All I am asking for is a little honesty. Even a statement like “This might hurt” is better than a lie about a pinch or some discomfort.

A pinch is what my daughter does to my cheeks.

Discomfort happens when I am stuck in traffic and need a restroom.

No one deserves to be surprised by pain in the doctor’s or dentist’s office, especially as a metal object is being inserted into your body.