How do you measure pain?

[Katie]

I'm always a bit confused about how to describe the 'pain levels' when asked at the doctor's office. What exactly is a 2 or a 9?

For women, or others who have had a serious accident, a broken leg, car accident, etc., it is a bit easier. For me, nothing beat child birth , and the second worst was when my horse jumped on my foot when I stupidly decided to get off and cross an icy creek and lead him across. He decided that if I was on that spot, then it was obviously safe, so he should be there too Compression pain after 1100 lbs lands on one foot is memorable.

I consider those a 10. But the sciatic pain that has left me crying on the floor is right up there too. The never ending lumbar pain from three herniated discs and compressed nerves has me saying that it's an 8 or so, and everyday pain goes from a 3 to an 8 depending on the level of pain meds.

I guess what I'm asking is whether you class pain like the earthquake scale, that is each level is multiplied by 10? Otherwise, how can you judge the difference between a 4 and a 5?? This has always bugged me. My husband, on the other hand, thinks a headache is a 10 most days (bless his wonderful big heart) and we're not talking migraine, we're talking caffeine withdrawal

[dshobbies]

Katie,

I suppose the difference between a 2 & 10 is up to the individual. I considered my disc rupture to be a 10 pain but I was still thinking and talking, albeit about the pain and how to get rid of it. Childbirth was more like a 20 when if the pain didn't end, I wanted to die. I understand passing a kidney stone is off the charts too. A stubbed toe is like an 8 or 9 but usually passes quickly.

Think about how tolerable the pain is. Can you completely function with it in the backround, then it's low. Does it affect what you do or want to do, it's midline, does it interfere with your life, still higher... is it your whole life, 9-10

Men (generalizing) who haven't experienced real pain do tend to be more dramatic about it (bless their wonderful big hearts) but maybe that's because women are so good at mothering

[Jakea222]

I also find that I hard question sometimes because my tolerance level to pain has increased...

[Katie]

Jake, yes, I've been told that I am functioning much better now than at the beginning of all this, even though I should be in total oblivion with all the meds ;-)

But that's the point dsh; if all pain is on a scale of 0-10, and childbirth is in there somewhere, it has to be compared to what we are dealing with now. Does it interfere every day with what I want to do? Absolutely, with no breaks except a bearable relief with the meds. So I am pretty incapacitated with the pain, but not screaming my lungs out on a bed asking someone to rip it out at all costs

[mmglobal]

Here is a pain evaluation form I found several years ago. This is a difficult topic. I know people who say they have average pain level of 8, yet they work full-time and are highly functional. I know people with average pain level of 5 who are functionally disabled.

I am NOT endorsing this pain scale. There are aspects of it I like, and aspects of it that I don't like. I do agree that 9 and 10 are NON-FUNCTIONING pain levels. You are not at work, reading the forum or typing an email if you have a pain level above 8.



0 - Pain Free
1 - Very minor annoyance – mild aches to some parts of the body. No pain medication needed.
2 - Minor annoyance – dull aches to some parts of the body. No pain medication needed.
3 - Annoying enough to be distracting. Over-the-Counter paid relievers (such as Naproxen Sodium, Acetaminophen, or topical treatments) take care of it.
4 - Can be ignored if you are really involved in your work, but still distracting. Over-the-Counter pain relievers remove pain for 3-4 hours.
5 - Can’t be ignored for more than 30 minutes. Over-the-Counter pain relievers help somewhat (bring pain level from 5 to a 3 or 4) with pain for 3-4 hours.
6 - Can’t be ignored for any length of time, but you can still go to work and participate in social activities. Stronger painkillers (such as Ultram) relieve pain for 3-4 hours.
7 - Makes it difficult to concentrate, interferes with sleep. You can still function with effort. Stronger painkillers (such as Ultram) are only partially effective. (Stronger pain killers bring pain from a 7 to 4-6.)
8 - Physical activity severely limited. You can read and converse with effort. Stronger pain killers (such as Ultram) are not effective. (Narcotic pain killers do bring this pain down to a level 3 or lower.)
9 - Non functional for all practical purposes. Cannot concentrate. Physical activity halted. Panic sets in. (Narcotic pain killers bring the pain level down from 9 to the 4-6 level.)
10 - Totally non-functional. Unable to speak. Crying out or moaning uncontrollably – near delirium.

[Kathy]

Mark- I think that is a pretty good description, probably as close to good as it gets.
Childbirth for me was off the chart. I did not scream, yell or curse... I cried, whimpered and prayed for the child to come out, an epidural or death. I didn't even want to touch the baby for a good 30 minutes, I was so worked up from the ordeal (this was where all the foul language took place). In my opinion, if you can yell or talk, it isn't hurting that bad.

My day to day pain level is between a 2 (with meds) and a 7 (meds wearing off). I do have occassional days where the pain is an 8 or 9 and all I can do is lay in bed and pray for death (literally). All I can think about is the pain and how to make it stop, I can't move and just tense up due to the pain. I have hurt so bad that I couldn't even get up to get my medication to make it stop, knowing that the medicine would help and still could not get up, so I laid there and suffered until my husband got home to help me.

I think the pain level is hard for us to define because we are very tolerant to the pain. We don't know life without some level of pain at all times. Then, we are on a bunch of medication to hide the pain. So, yeah without drugs, it would probably be a 10 all the time; but with them it is usually manageable. I always tell the dr. the pain level I experience without drugs as my pain level (I then tell them what it goes to with drugs).

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

Mark:

That is an excellent pain scale. It would be nice if you could put that in an Excel Spreadsheet and put it in a sticky that people can print from here. This is a very useful tool. Thanks for posting it.

Terry Newton

[Katie]

Yes, I agree with Terry! Mark, that is exactly what we need.

Reading that, I am between an 8 and 9, and the meds take it down accordingly to exactly the way that describes it. Excellent chart, thanks!

Kathy, pain does not incapacitate my ability to yell or say foul things (only a 10+ of course)! I go quiet when the pain goes away and peace sets in

[johnb]

I've also described to my PM the amount of movement I can do before pain comes on and what kinds of movement. I've also described pain at rest vs. pain while doing things. The 10 pt scale doesn't really encompass our experiences. Then there are different types of pain. Stabbing, burning, throbbing, excrutiating interupting your thoughts types of pain.

I thought I knew 10 pain but I had to adjust my personal scale immediately after the dynesys was removed. That was the worst pain I'd ever felt for about 2 weeks. I went back to the emergency room 2 times as my heart rate was high and I couldn't sleep. I suppose the pain was pushing my anxiety that something wasn't right.

John