I don’t want you to think that I am the mistress of doom and gloom, but after last week’s post on words that collocate with injury I thought I would continue with the theme of medical problems in this week’s post.
A few weeks ago I posted this excellent image about medical symptoms shared on my Facebook Page which proved to be very popular with my followers. It was created by a fellow teacher and blogger, Jenny on her excellent website, The English Student.
You can also view it on Jenny’s post here. Jenny has some excellent tools and resources for language learners so do check her site out. Her posts and lessons are beautifully illustrated.
What I thought I’d do with this post is to expand a little more on some of these symptoms and share the possible associated medical problems. I also want to offer some additional vocabulary that you can use with some of these symptoms. So here goes.
1. My head hurts!
This means that you probably have a headache /hedeik/ or worse still, a migraine /mi:greɪn/.
You can have a slight, throbbing, pounding or splitting headache.
2. My ears are sore!
Your ears could also hurt or ache meaning that you have earache /ɪəreɪk/.
3. I have a toothache!
You will need to see the dentist who will probably have to pull your tooth out. You may have a cavity caused by tooth decay.
The pain from toothache can be sharp, throbbing and constant.
4. My arm is sore!
The muscles in your arm may be sore and that’s why it feels sore. Perhaps you did some strenuous exercise or overused your arm at work.The soreness normally passes.
Luckily, you haven’t broken or fractured your arm because that would cause excruciating pain or be excruciatingly painful.
5. I cut my finger!
Oh dear, try putting your finger under a tap of cold, running water to ease the bleeding. Hopefully the bleeding will stop and you can put a plaster on it. If not, you will need to go to A & E (Accident & Emergency) and have the cut treated with some stitches and a bandage.
NB: I have since had a reader inform me that and I quote: “putting your bleeding finger under running water is actually going to impede the healing process as it prevents the blood from coagulating. The thing to do is to put pressure on the wound“. Thank you to Claire H for correcting me on this.
6. My nose is runny!
You have either caught a cold or you’re suffering from hay fever. In either case, you may find that you cannot stop sneezing and have to keep blowing your nose.
Your head could feel fuzzy because your sinuses are blocked.
A heavy cold is no fun and can often last for weeks. As we approach winter, I’m afraid more and more people will come down with heavy colds that could feel debilitating.
7. My eyes are dry or watery!
My eyes sometimes get dry when I have been in front of the computer for many hours. They then become sore and itchy. On the other hand, I have watery eyes when I cut onions and they really sting or when I have a cold.
8. My throat is dry!
A sore throat is the worse thing to have. It is so painful and it makes swallowing so hard. In the past I used to get really bad sore throats which would make me lose my voice!
Sometimes, if you haven’t drunk water for a while, your throat can feel dry and worse still, parched. A long drink of water should do the trick and ease the symptoms!
9. My chest feels tight!
If I run too fast on my weekly runs I can feel my chest tighten and it takes me a while to get my breath back.
10. My stomach hurts!
If I eat too much, I get a stomach ache /eɪk/. The pain can be sharp.
Sometimes, your stomach can feel queasy and you could feel sick. Does your stomach ever gurgle?
11. My legs feel weak!
Especially after a long run, your legs can feel weak and wobbly. If that happens, you need to sit down.
If, however, your legs are weak because you’ve drunk a bit too much alcohol, you will probably have to lie down and sleep off the effects of alcohol!
12. I twisted my ankle!
Ouch, a twisted ankle could mean that you have sprained it or worse, broken it. That will make walking very difficult and very painful. You will probably limp or hobble rather than walk.
Well, I do hope none of you is suffering from any of the above ailments. However, I do hope that the vocabulary shared in this post is helpful for next time you have to talk about such a topic.
Despite the subject, I hope you enjoyed this post. If you did please share it and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog if you don’t want to miss out on my posts.
Ciao for now
Shanthi
Key to the colours
The expressions in blue relate to medical vocabulary and symptoms while the words in pink are adjectives we use linked to medical terms and symptoms. The expressions in red are verb phrases and expressions connected to the medical theme.
