On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain?

Brynmor

Came across a very interesting discussion on pain levels online and how people answer this question when asked to describe what level of pain they are experiencing.

Part of the discussion was about how pain was subjective - even down to a person comparing the level of pain they felt from one day to the next. This led to talk about the different pain charts some people use. The best one I saw came from a Twitter member called @SpoonieTrees :

What works for you?

Ellen

That is just so 'me' @Brynmor

I know pain is subjective of course it is it's unique to the individual but gosh I can relate to that.

Thanks

Ellen.

RogerBill

That chart is a really useful yardstick. I've had two major operations and each time while in hospital I've been asked to rate my pain on a scale of 1 to 10. Without any reference point I wasn't at all sure how to respond. All I could sensibly answer was it's better/worse than when I was last asked or I need more pain killers or less. Wouldn't it be great if there was an instrument that measured pain levels with a reading that could be used to compare our pain levels over time and with other people.

jamieA

I'd agree with @RogerBill . I found it really difficult to answer initially when medics asked - on a scale 1 to 10 how's your arthritis pain. I could only answer in reference to a previous serious eye injury/operations that I'd had 25 years before.

Now I reference it to last June when I was admitted to hospital with severe joint pain. I needed morphine injections then oral morphine to quell the pain and I'd rate that time as a 10. After 6 months of biologic Amgevita I was asked again in February and my response was between 1 and 2.

Funnily enough when I arrived at hospital last June in the ambulance it was queued due to pressures on A&E. I was on entonox which wasn't touching the pain. When the paramedic went to see if I could be bumped up the list he came back cursing as there was a woman in A&E demanding to see a consultant about her sprained ankle!

A chart like the above would be very useful.

Hillman

Pain is very subjective and different for each of us , lots of different things can make it worse of better for me I find that what is a strong 8 on the chart on Monday ,alone at home feeling sorry for myself with out distraction , can no Wednesday ,lots of people about grandkids to talk to and play games with etc , drop it down to a 3 , still a chart like would be helpful

stickywicket

I find it an utterly pointless, tick-box exercise and my pain tolerance levels sink as soon as I find someone taking my answers seriously. This is a pain scale I wrote for a similar thread on here about 10 years ago.

1 - What pain?

2 - Hardly a twinge

3 - Not bad

4 - Average

5. – I can handle it

6 - Not good

7 - Bad

8 - S….ing awful

9 - F… Off

10 – Morphine! Now!

Of course, this was written with the pain tolerance that 50 years of arthritis teaches and also before the week in hospital when a bit of cement from my ancient THR broke off and lodged on a nerve. The idea of morphine being the solution is now laughable. i was almost kicked out because I refused to take any more when eight doses had made no impact. Pain scale? Get a new one.

You might just as well ask:

On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate yesterday's chicken salad? Better than today's? Similar? Worse?

On a scale of 1-10 how much do you fancy Dr X? More than Dr Y? More than yesterday?

I really detest pain scales because I think they purport to give important information and they don't.

Lilymary

I agree with @stickywicket that all scales are so subjective they can make the 1-10 range meaningless, but I can still really relate to this. A few friends aware of my dramatic hip have mentioned to me that they've just been diagnosed with arthritis in one joint or another. While I wouldn't belittle their very real experience and concerns, when they said they managed it with the odd paracetamol I felt a private twinge of envy and suggested they might just be at the beginning of the journey, and that surgery is probably a way off yet. I was at 4-8 (occasionaly 9) on the right hand scale every day, even on handfuls of opiates. When I told them how many, their eyes widened with horror.

I wish someone would invent something you could wear that measured and displayed energy levels. It's hard for non-sufferers to understand that just because you got a lot done the previous day you can do exactly the same the next.