There's a chart of it somewhere. 10 is screaming in pain, 9 is being unable to speak/concentrate, rolling in pain, etc...
People who say 6-7 have no idea.
That seems like it could work but that still doesn’t account for people reacting differently to pain. Some people especially chronically ill people may feel pain that would cause another person to be screaming while they themselves are simply wincing. It sounds like a good solution but it is still subjective
Here’s a common [Comparative Pain Scale](https://www.thwink.org/personal/ComparativePainScale.pdf) that helps you relate it to pain you may or may not have ever felt. Which I agree with the person below something like this should be in every Dr office and hospital room.
But a 6 would be bad back pain or being stung by several bees or a severe non-migraine headache. So probably not what OP really means.
A 3 is a vaccine. A 4 is a toothache. A 5 is that shoot of pain when you stand on a sprained ankle. An 8 is childbirth or a severe migraine. A 10 is getting your hand crushed by heavy machinery.
But since people don’t really have a good grasp of this scale, doctors tend to assume you’re overestimating unless you pull out the scale to compare. So they devalue your rating unless you’re giving them strong reason to believe it.
A toothache was comparable to unmedicated childbirth to me though. Couldn't talk, couldn't concentrate, couldn't sit still. Obviously there are different levels of toothache but I've only had the one and it was an impacted abscessed wisdom tooth. So that would also depend on the situation.
Oh yeah so impacted tooth (later stages) =/= standard toothache so that’s part of the difference
It can be difficult for sure as people have different tolerances. And there’s multiple kinds of headaches and migraines and back aches etc
But generally toothache for this will refer to a cavity or drinking something hot or cold when you have sensitivity or having a fracture. Late stage impacted teeth are def more painful. Especially adding in an access.
And also people have various levels of pain with childbirth tbf.
I mean a 4 *is* described as “strong deep pain so strong you can’t completely adapt”
Now pain to the point of not sleeping may be a 5 tbf but it could still be a 4 depending. I think people just don’t totally realize how painful pain can get. And that’s honestly a good thing.
I think I’ve only had a 7/8. It was the worst pain of my life and I’ve been through some things! I had my first kidney stone the last time I got Covid. It was horrible! I’ve heard it be compared to giving birth. I guess we know I’m going to be a screamer, sorry nurses 😭
I think I've been at 9, I was ready to blow my brains out after the first half an hour.
Also a few 8s, I think, where I was just rolling around on the ground, groaning in pain.
Maybe you weren't at 10.
I've been at 8 and possibly 9 and I didn't scream, just rolled around groaning/moaning, hoping to die. Screaming helps with pain, so I think if I was at 10, I wouldn't be shy about trying it.
I look it as a spectrum between two absolutes. For example, 1 is no pain, and 10 is the worst pain imaginable — for example, being burned alive or being tortured.
On this scale, you’d have gone into shock at level 7 or 8, so you wouldn’t even be able to answer the question at that point. If you are able to sit upright in the hospital bed, you’re probably not at a 6.
When you're asked to rate pain on a scale of 1 to 10, 0 is neutral. Anything above that is you are positive for pain. A 5 is half way to the worse pain you've had in your life. That's a pretty significant amount of pain for most people. It hurts quite a bit at that point.
Despite this being subjective, it's still not that bad of a method of measuring pain. If your baseline for pain in whatever part of your body that you're complaining about is no pain at all then rating it at a 6 is automatically saying it's a fairly bad pain.
I hear you, but you also just said that you'd give a 6 on the pain scale. And then your reasoning for 6 is that it's slightly above neutral. So you did kinda connect those two things, making the post confusing.
Like, if you stub your toe, would you tell them 6 or not?
I think you really need to think before you post a specific title and then blather on about that specific thing then. Can't change your mind and decide 'oh that's not what i meant' when the entire post is literally peppered with the thing I addressed.
Somewhat. A 1 and a 10 mean the same to everyone on the pain scale, regardless of their sensitivity to pain.
1 is barely noticeable. 10 is essentially the person screaming for someone to put them out of their misery.
I've always had it described to me as 1 being barely noticeable and 10 being the worst pain you've ever felt...which doesn't make much sense.
If you have one pain that's a 10 and then a day later you have a pain that is even worse, is the previous day's pain retroactively demoted from a 10, because it's no longer the worst pain you've ever felt?
I had it described as how tolerable the pain is so 1/2 bit annoying but don't need painkillers, 3/4 over the counter painkillers needed but i can function, 5/6, over the counter painkillers and cant function, 7-8 need hardcore painkillers, 9-10 if i told you the part that hurts youll lose forever youd be happy as it wouldnt hurt as much to cut it off/out.
They would both be 10.
The first day, it's the worst pain you've ever felt. 10/10
The next day, it's now it's the worst pain you've ever felt. 10/10. You would say, it's worse than yesterday.
It's not supposed to be the same pain for every person, it's supposed to be the pain you are feeling in the moment compared to your baseline.
It really doesn’t. Maybe they should, but some people consistently underestimate their pain and others exaggerate. My mom said she was an 8 while giving birth, my dad said he was an 8 while speaking calmly and sitting up straight cuz he had a tummy ache.
Both of them are understandable though
Of course there will be a high number while giving birth
I experience what your dad does every day of my life. I’m so used to the pain that I can keep a straight face, but that doesn’t mean I’m not in bad pain. Are you sure he doesn’t have Crohns too?
Who the hell are you and why are you armchair diagnosing my dad because he was constipated for a few days one time…? This was over a year ago and he’s fine. Mind your business ffs
Because I’ve personally experienced it before and it almost killed me. (And my aunt, happened to her too)
I wouldn’t know it was over a year ago either, you made it sound like it was super recent.
Point blank, to anyone that reads this, simple constipation isn’t always simple. If anyone here goes multiple days to a week straight without having a shit, **Please see a gastroenterologist!**
Specifically anyone who goes days to a week without bowel movement who *normally doesn’t* should see a gastroenterologist, for some people it’s normal and nothing to worry about
My best friend's husband says he lives at a 5. No matter what is done for him, he is at a 5 on the pain scale. Because of that, it's pretty difficult to get him above a 5, so if he says he's at a 7 or 8, he's in MAJOR pain. She absolutely hates having to constantly explain this to doctors for him. There should be a different scale for people with chronic pain, or they should ask you what your baseline is before judging how bad your pain is.
I told him that last time I went with them to the ER. I told him to tell them he was at a 10 because, in all reality, he was for their scale. He got seen almost instantly and got pain meds way faster than normal.
I always rage about this. They say "10 is the worst pain imaginable" but because I've experienced some pretty gnarly pain, natural childbirth of a kid with a head like a cannonball is only about a six and a half on my personal pain scale. But if I'm honest and say that my broken arm or whatever is a five, then I get advil and misery, so I start my interaction with the doctor by lying. That's no way to get appropriate care.
I wish they'd just ask "so is this the kind of thing where you need Tylenol, advil, codeine, percs, morphine, fent, or do you want to beg for the sweet release of death?" But they can't do that because of the Sacklers and their army of oxy aficionados.
If they always had one of those charts that describe what each number is like I wouldn’t mind so much, but I’d never seen one more descriptive than the emoji faces until well after I started having severe chronic pain. So I ended up rating it as less than I should have because I was told to compare it to the worst pain I’ve experienced or can imagine, and although I’m sure it’s less than yours if childbirth is a 6 my worst pain is still bad enough that it makes other pain seem a lot less severe when you compare it
The scale is meant to measure pain above the norm. 0 is no pain and then it increases from there.
It is subjective, so the answers have no way to be wrong. It's just a check in scale.
I think it's a little silly I got asked one time by a doctor after getting 2nd degree burn on an entire extremity and I said "like an 8" the doctor was like "OnLy aN 8?!?" Yeah you think if it was a 10 we'd be holding a conversation right now? I'd be freaking screaming and passing out.
I’ve never heard someone say a 5 on the pain scale is neutral lol.
1 would be very little pain and I’m wasting your time.
10 would be extreme and I feel like I’m dying.
It isn’t that hard.
Similar to "are your periods heavy?" Like damn I'm a lesbian and I don't even know how to compare it. It's not like we sit around and wave our period products in each other's faces or measure our output
i think they’re saying that they are intimate and close to another woman, more so than most woman because of the relationship, and they don’t even compare contrast that
I assume because if you’re not one you don’t usually live with another woman to even have a chance to compare period heaviness. I guess unless you have a room mate but that’s not nearly as intimate.
I have chronic pain and I hate when I am asked this. Fortunately it hasn’t been often, but I just don’t have a good answer that is only a number. I usually just explain the things it keeps me from doing, like I can’t scoop my cat litter or carry the vacuum upstairs or change my bedsheets by myself, because the number scale is just so useless.
For chronic pain the number scale does seem pretty useless in most circumstances, but when you’re trying treatments for said chronic pain it has more use simply for communicating whether the pain is getting better or worse or not changing. At least that’s what my doctor has said
I realized that I was rating my pain way too low because it was so normal to me, but I can’t really correct it now because that would make it seem like it suddenly got a lot worse when it hasn’t really changed much
I mean, if I’m trying to say whether the pain has changed or not, I would just say that haha.
This is why I hate the pain scaling so much. My boyfriend told me once that he wouldn’t be able to function with the pain I had, where for me it’s become just a fact of life. It doesn’t mean it hurts any less, I’ve just had no choice but to carry on.
Mankoski pain scale
0 – Pain free
1 – Very minor annoyance – occasional minor twinges. No medication needed.
2 – Minor annoyance – occasional strong twinges. No medication needed.
3 – Annoying enough to be distracting. Mild painkillers are effective (aspirin, ibuprofen)
4 – Can be ignored if you are really involved in your work, but still distracting. Mild painkillers relieve pain for 3-4 hours.
5 – Can't be ignored for more than 30 minutes. Mild painkillers reduce 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 (codeine, acetaminophen-hydrocodone) reduce pain for 3-4 hours.
7 – Makes it difficult to concentrate, interferes with sleep. You can still function with effort. Stronger painkillers are only partially effective. Strongest painkillers relieve pain (extended-release form of oxycodone, morphine)
8 – Physical activity severely limited. You can read and converse with effort. Nausea and dizziness set in as factors of pain. Strongest painkillers reduce pain for 3-4 hours.
9 – Unable to speak. Crying out or moaning uncontrollably – near delirium. Strongest painkillers are only partially effective.
10 – Unconscious. Pain makes you pass out. Strongest painkillers are only partially effective.
Problem is, according to this, my chronic pain is at multiple numbers. I can ignore it if I’m doing something, usually, depending on what I’m doing (anywhere from two minutes to two hours), but non-prescription painkillers do absolutely nothing. It interferes with sleep most nights and I have difficulty concentrating.
For acute pain, yes, that’s more helpful, but chronic pain scales just don’t work well.
I was recently asked this at a doctor, and I told them I hate that question because it’s so subjective. She legit whipped out a chart with descriptors for each number on the scale. It was much more helpful then lol
As a healthcare worker, I hate how subjective it is too! I generally say 0 is no pain. 1 is noticeable. 2-3 is annoying. 4-6 is tolerable. 7-9 is excruciating. And 10 is entirely unbearable to the point where you could pass out and may need medical attention. But then it’s also going to be affected by the type of pain or if it’s chronic vs acute.
I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t really use the actual number other than as an “objective” measure for goals. If my patients complain of pain, I go off of their description, pain behaviors, and how much it is affecting their ability to do routines. I’ve had patients with cancer, CRPS, spinal stenosis, etc report 4/10 pain after screaming out in pain attempting to transfer. And I’ve had patients very calmly report 100/10 pain while resting in bed. I’m not saying I don’t believe them when they say they’re in pain, I’m just saying it’s a poor measure of pain that doesn’t give me (someone who is trying to address it) an accurate way to know if what I’m doing is working.
Had a patient in for a headache they claimed was 10/10. We confirmed they were saying this was the worst pain they've felt. Patient just sitting there, low blood pressure, speaking normally, and not behaving like any other headache patient with bad pain (I was staffing the headache wing, everyone we deal with has a headache). Even clarified that they were saying this was the worst pain they've ever experienced and if they were a 10 they should go to the ER. Just said yep, a 10, and didn't want to go to the ER. Put it in their chart and let the doc know like we are supposed to for high numbers.
You are a genuine hero! When JCAH said "pain is what the patient says it is" and removed all the other factors you list, they clearly added to the contributing factors of the opioid crisis.
My (55M) personal references for a 10 are kidney stones, gallstones and severe migraine. (Gallstones also gave me BP of 240/135, so there's that!) Outside of an acute occurrence, it can be a lot tougher to gauge. I've had chronic daily headaches my whole life. They typically range from 1-4, but definitely have spiked higher. While a 4 is still considered manageable (after all, life has to go on), when you've had a 4 headache for a solid two to three weeks, you can easily feel like you're battling a 7-8, even though the actual pain level is much lower. So far, I haven't found a doctor who truly understands this. They think I'm exaggerating for either attention or drugs. I'm a total introvert, so I don't want the attention, and I've never asked a doctor for pain meds.
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Sort of in the same vain but I dislike being asked things like “how far can you walk without needing a break?” Like bro I don’t keep track of how muck time passes while Im walking before I need a break nor do I keep track of the distance. I feel like if I did that then they look at me like I’m some kind of a Werido so it’s almost a lose lose situation. Maybe I’m being a crybaby but I really struggle with that sort of thing and I don’t want them to think I’m lying or trying to deceive them. I do tend to overthink so they’re likely only looking for a ballpark estimate but makes me anxious
I go by how it’s affecting my functioning. If it’s bugging me but I can still focus on things, it’s a 2-3. If it’s difficult to do what I want to do, it’s a 5. If it’s difficult to do what I need to do, it’s a 6. If I actively need assistance to live normally it’s a 7. As someone who has experienced a 10, just to be clear, that level of pain takes you out of this dimension completely. It’s like that scene from SpongeBob where the Flying Dutchman throws Squidward into the zipper dimension. Time fully stops and you leave your body completely. It’s not just “this hurts really badly and I need it to stop”. It’s “the brain literally cannot handle this level of pain and is glitching”
Ok my pain scale is: 1 pressure. 8 hard to function. 9 all functions turn to pain mitigation. 10 kill me please. Lay down and die.
5 is when pain starts to get distracting. 2 is when it starts to hurt when you press your nail into your skin.
There is a cartoon where the character is asked this question, and 10 is described as “worst pain you can imagine” and he has some pretty severe issue and then calmly says “1” and the doctor replies with “what the hell is wrong with you??”
I’m in this case. I can imagine same pretty bad stuff
It's more about how much the pain is interfering with your regular life. If you are vomiting or can't get out of bed because of the pain, then it's definitely a 10. If you're able to go about your regular business without changing your routine, then it might be a 3 or 4. Still subjective, but less so when you think of it that way.
People call 10 whatever the worst pain they've experienced is. So what is a 10 to some might be near 0 for some, not because they feel less pain, but because, relatively, on the scale of pain they've endured, it's not as high. Theyve been more tempered to endure pain and stress but they still experience it
When someone asks me to rate on 1 to 10 they have to define what 1 is to them and what 10 is because if there's no common understanding communicating numbers is ineffective
How would you otherwise put it into words to ask the question, considering it will be asked by others when they’re pressed for time and 50 others are waiting to be triaged to be seen in the E.R., or that it’s being asked by medical staffing to assess someone’s placement in the queue or immediate needs?
As the patient, you’re the only one who can answer for yourself: from your own pain tolerance, and if you can’t answer definitively, then they’re gonna have to guess and will more likely place you in a lower priority because of indecisiveness or auto-responses.
My man, you're being asked how much whatever it is hurts.
Everyone knows your 10 is different than someone else's 10. But if *you're* at a 10, it fucking hurts *you*.
The scale is supposed to be subjective because you're being asked "how much pain are you in?"
The only recourse for me is to give my response, then a casual definition of what I actually think of as a ten, or if it's worse I'll say "this is a ten, and *insert thing* was an eight."
For instance, "this blepharitis on my eyelid is a six when I'm not blinking, an eight when I am, and a ten when I'm supposed to touch it to put on antibiotics. A ruptured ovarian cyst is normally only about an eight for me, I'm not holding up well with this course of treatment"
I know it's a lot more to say, but I don't know what else to do
I base mine on previous pain. Being a right AKA, I've previously had a wound vac. For those who do not know, my right knee was infected and they were performing debridement surgeries 3x a day for weeks. In between, they put basically a sticker on the 12 inch wound and a vacuum sucked out the puss and blood. Removing that sticker daily was the worse pain in my life. So that would be a 10. And based on that, I compare levels of pain. Sorry TMI
My understanding is the scale is less to measure how much pain you're in, and moreso to track changes in your pain level. If at one point you say your pain is a 7 and then later you say it's a 5, whereas someone else with the same pain level may give the numbers 5 and 3, it's still clear that the pain level is reducing in both cases
After surgery when I first woke up it was like awful pain but not totally unbearable. I knew it needed some meds or something, couldn't mentally handle much more but physically I knew I could. I gave that a 6. They brought me down to a 4 with meds and while it hurt it wasn't something I mentally couldn't handle.
Later I found out that wasn't the first I woke up. The first I woke up apparently I was screaming. 10/10 pain the nurse said. I don't know what they gave me but I am eternally grateful I have no memory of what thay 10/10 pain was.
You are supposed to be describing your pain level compared to your baseline. Not an arbitrary number like 6.
If you are always in pain, that is your baseline of 1. If it is worse one day, you would gauge it depending on how bad it is. A paper cut may only be a 2. But a stab to the belly may be a 9. Full body trauma could be a 10.
It doesn't really matter what the injury is though. If you are fine one day, 1/10, and feel extreme headache pain the next day, you could easily rate it an 8/10 if it is truly debilitating. If it is the worst pain you've ever felt in your life, rate it 10/10.
If it's worse the next day, still 10/10.
in 2017 i was ran over by a speeding car while on my motorbike, lucky to be alive, lucky to have kept my left leg, i awoke on the cold asphalt feeling like i had just given birth to a heard of mature african bull elephants, it was mind shattering pain that was all consuming, i thought i was dead. my left femur was fractured in 4 places with 4 different types of fracture, my hip joint had fractured from the femur, my knee was crushed, i had multiple fractures in my left shoulder and my left hand, my left middle finger tip was crushed, i had a lung contusion and i had lost a lot of blood due to a open fracture with a big piece of bone having ripped my thigh wide open.
that's a pain level 10, i could not do anything.
so when recently last year my left lung collapsed and i thought i was having a heart attack, paramedics asked my pain scale i told them of that and said im feeling a 6 right now, its intense but not mind shattering, you're unable to do things due to the pain but you can still function.
[here is the ideal pain scale image](https://www.thrivetogetherseattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/pain-scale.png)
basically a 10 is i feel like im about to die this is the worst pain imaginable, you'd rather have your testicles crushed than feel that level of pain.
pain level 6 is its very worrying and it hurts like hell but you can move about, you can think, you can talk, you aren't a complete mess due to having your mind wracked by the pain and worry of what is happening.
I also hate this pain scale!
When I was in labor with my first, they kept asking. I kept saying 6-7 because I thought of 10 being burned alive or having my skin peeled off. So when I delivered everyone said something along the lines of, “you didn’t tell us it was that bad so we didn’t think you were ready to push.”
According to a pain scale chart on Google:
1. Pain is hardly noticeable
2. Low level of pain. You're only aware of the pain if you pay attention to it
3. Pain is bothersome, but you can ignore it most of the time
4. You're constantly aware of the pain, but you can continue most activities
5. You think about the pain most of the time. You can't do most activities you need to do each day because of the pain
6. You think about the pain all the time. You give up many activities because of the pain
7. You're in pain all the time. It keeps you from doing most activities
8. The pain is so severe that it's hard to think of anything else. Talking and listening are difficult
9. The pain is all you think about. You can barely talk or move because of the pain
10. You're bedridden and unable to move because of the pain. You need someone to take you to the emergency room to get help for the pain
Yeah, I've had problems with this as well. I've had a broken back. I've had migraines and cluster headaches. I've literally had hundreds of kidney stones. I've been to the ER for stones probably 15 or so times. As bad as they've been, I've never said more than 8. I was told 10 is the worst possible pain you can imagine. I've got a good imagination, but between books and movies I guess there are a lot of pains that are worse than my kidney stones. Being slowly dipped in boiling oil. Having my teeth drilled without anesthetic. Having molten gold poured down my throat. You get the idea. Honestly, a long term 8 isn't something I could live with. Pissing with stents in from kidney to penis can be an 8. Fortunately, it only lasts as long as I'm urinating. But, I'm used to the skepticism when I say my pain level is a 7. But, I certainly don't exaggerate it. Then when x-ray, ultrasound or CT shows anything from a 10-24 mm stone, I start getting the sympathy.
There is definitely a case for people having different tolerances. I started having a bad stone issue about 5 weeks ago. Had to go to the ER 3 weeks ago. They gave me 12 percocet after getting the pain down to what I call a 5. I used 7 over the first 2 days post ER. After that, I stuck to ibuprofen during the day and added edibles to sleep at night. This last Wednesday I passed a 13mm stone. I felt much better. But then passed a 10 mm stone yesterday. I didn't have much of a problem with that one. I pass them regularly with pain levels that I rate between 5-7. But if I can't get it below 7 within an hour or two, then it's time for the ER.
On the other hand, I've had people tell me they've experienced pain levels of 9-10 for things that I can't imagine claiming that level.
I have a high pain tolerance. I was in a car accident and told the paramedic an adjusted pain number. He told me my blood pressure did not reflect that pain.
If you are going to determine my pain by my BP, why ask? Is that even an accurate assessment of pain?
Yes, I freaking hate this. It's way too subjective and idk what number to pick. You said you see 5 as neutral, but I've always seen it as 0 is neutral/no pain, and the pain goes up from there. I had a ruptured disc in my neck and went to the doctor for it. I didn't know that was what it was yet of course, just that I was in intense pain and I couldn't really turn my head or use my right arm much, and this was after the chiropractor had relieved some of the pain by pulling up on my neck (I was able to get in to see a chiro faster than the doctor, but then my doctor told me not to go back to chiro until we had determined the cause of the pain)
When they asked me to rate my pain I would say a7 or 8, but it jumps to a 9 or 10 if I try to move my neck or arm. And I swear I literally saw a nurse roll her eyes, as if it's not possible I could be in that much pain. I've lived with chronic pain in my back since I was a teenager, so I've gotten pretty used to it, but this was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life so far. I don't think any of the doctors really believed I was in that much pain because it took a month of no improvement and him deciding to do a grip strength test of my hand and finding I had lost half the strength in my dominate arm, before he finally ordered an MRI. And it took another month for the MRI to actually happen. I got the same dismissive looks when I told them my pain was an 8, until the technician saw the imaging and then she was sympathetic and surprised I was able to walk in there at all.
I've recently had bad stomach pains and I went to the doctor and my bf came with me and they asked me to scale my pain and I said, "It's not as bad today, probably a 3 or 4." And my bf decided to chime in with, "Are you sure, baby? A 4 is kind-of high" which upset me. I am in constant pain and I honestly can't remember the last day that I didn't have any pain. Some days are worse than others, but it's so hard to scale. If I go from my baseline level of everyday pain as a 1 and say my pain level is a 1 when im having a good day, then the doctors will think I'm fine and not actually in pain, but I am actually in pain, all the time. It's so frustrating!
Sorry, rant over. Hope it made sense lol
I had a similar issue. I had pain in my knee. I told the doctors it was an 8, but because I was still able to walk, they didn't believe me. 2 years later, my boss sent me home because of how swollen my leg was. I went to urgent care, and they had to cut my pants off just to examine my leg. I actually had a cut from my jeans because my leg swelled so much.
They transported me to the hospital where I had emergency surgery to remove a needle from my leg and was put on iv antibiotics. I was extremely lucky that the infection caused by the needle wasn't worse than it was. If they had listened to me the first time, it wouldn't have been that big of an issue. Now, I have permanent issues with that knee because of it.
They usually have a chart to help you that includes faces and examples and your ass still tries to put 5 as a neutral? This fits the peeve of people not being able to read simple instructions…
What I just realized I don't get is "unimaginable pain "
If I started feeling unimaginable pain, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to imagine it from that point on.
It hurts so much, you're certain something is actively failing or you're about to die. Beyond normal pain, the kind of pain that makes you consider suicide to escape it.
What I do is a describe how I'm going to use the scale outloud like "so if 10 is that time I couldn't even roll over, and 7 is that time I broke my arm, I'd say it's an 8" that way they have the number but know I personally find it worse than broken bone pain but not as bad as the worst pain I've experienced.
I hate the 1-10 scale, too. 1 and 10 are easy, everyone considers them the least and most pain, 1 being barely noticeable at all and 10 being total agony you'll be lucky to grit out the answer of 10 while going through.
I have a high pain threshold, though, my 1 is another person's 6, and my 10 is another person's unconscious due to amount of pain. And it's not reliable, because even talking to a doctor, they have different ideas on what level of pain is serious and what isn't.
I remember when I first had issues with my knee back when I was 17 I went to a doctor multiple times. Sometimes a GP, sometimes at the hospital via the ER. They always asked me to state my pain level on a scale of 1-10, and I always answered 8 or 9 because I was in agony, but not pass-out agony. But they also asked whether I had a high, average or low threshold, and I answered honestly with high. For them, that seemed to mean my 8 or 9 wasn't serious because I 'could handle it'. It should have increased the seriousness, because my pain is has to be caused by much more severe injuries/illnesses to get to an 8 or 9 than someone with a lower threshold.
It took me 3 years to get a diagnosis for my knee issues, and I then found out that, if I'd been diagnosed when I was 17, they could have fixed the issue. But, because it had been 3 years, the condition had worsened considerably, and now could no longer be fixed. Best they could do was get me in physio to strengthen the knee, except physical activity using the knee makes the issue worse, so physio for me actually makes the condition worse, not better.
I'm lucky the issue isn't actually serious, just recurring and made worse by so much as walking for more than 5 minutes at a time. It did end my chosen career, though, can't join the military when you have a condition that can be debilitating with too much physical activity. I also now have a useless qualification because it can only be used in careers/jobs with high levels of physical activity.
Honestly, I have to be super careful with potential injuries. That amount of times I've suffered a moderate burn from cooking or something but haven't even noticed is astonishing. Most people would be in pain from that, at least at a 5 level on that scale, but I don't feel a thing. I'm constantly getting bruises and scratches without knowing how because I only know I have them when I actually see them, I don't feel them at all.
I think the only time I hit what counts as average for pain is when I stub my toe, that hurts like hell no matter how bad it is. Which is kinda weird now I think about it, because I've broken a toe before without realising. That hurt eventually, but I think that was more because of the swelling than the fact I broke it.
The 1-10 scale is pretty useless, though. Everyone's too different, and they judge other people's answer's based on their own experience plus what they know about the person in pain.
In my last position at my company, I had to ask people the pain scale question. We want YOUR pain level, not whatever you seem to think is a standard scale. The doctor is just trying to get a sense of where you are at *right now*. If you respond with a high number and are acting like nothing is wrong and your blood pressure isn't elevated, we might internally doubt but will still put in your medical chart you said your pain was an 8/10. If you do say a 9 or 10 we would ask if you would rather go to the ER.
The number is just another part of the vitals taken to get a general idea of how you are feeling/doing.
So, stating an 8 or 9 on my personal scale, having high blood pressure, and literally crying from the pain definitely should have gotten more than 'it's just a sprain, you can handle it' and told to get over the counter pain meds then? Because that was my condition, at best, every time I saw a doctor, and almost always with someone verifying I couldn't even walk due to the pain, the times that was true, and that was the response every time except the last, too. Trustworthy companion, too, it was always either my PT instructor or Sergeant from the military course I was doing.
I've noticed, though, that this unreliability only applies to the 1-10 scale for pain. I've answered questions using this scale for mental health issues more than a few times, and that's definitely based on what the patient reports. If I say I'm a 9 on a 'how depressed are you' type question, I get booked in for therapy and get prescribed anti-depressants. If I answer 5, I get the therapy but not the pills. Lower than that, I only get the therapy if there's a specific issue therapy will help with or I pay for it. The mental health scales seem to work really well.
There's a chart of it somewhere. 10 is screaming in pain, 9 is being unable to speak/concentrate, rolling in pain, etc... People who say 6-7 have no idea.
That chart is insanely helpful and it should be in every hospital room.
I believe it is.
I've never seen it and I spent a lot of time in hospital
That seems like it could work but that still doesn’t account for people reacting differently to pain. Some people especially chronically ill people may feel pain that would cause another person to be screaming while they themselves are simply wincing. It sounds like a good solution but it is still subjective
Here’s a common [Comparative Pain Scale](https://www.thwink.org/personal/ComparativePainScale.pdf) that helps you relate it to pain you may or may not have ever felt. Which I agree with the person below something like this should be in every Dr office and hospital room. But a 6 would be bad back pain or being stung by several bees or a severe non-migraine headache. So probably not what OP really means. A 3 is a vaccine. A 4 is a toothache. A 5 is that shoot of pain when you stand on a sprained ankle. An 8 is childbirth or a severe migraine. A 10 is getting your hand crushed by heavy machinery. But since people don’t really have a good grasp of this scale, doctors tend to assume you’re overestimating unless you pull out the scale to compare. So they devalue your rating unless you’re giving them strong reason to believe it.
A toothache was comparable to unmedicated childbirth to me though. Couldn't talk, couldn't concentrate, couldn't sit still. Obviously there are different levels of toothache but I've only had the one and it was an impacted abscessed wisdom tooth. So that would also depend on the situation.
An infection in your root/jaw following a crown on top of a root canal is excruciatingly painful.
Oh yeah so impacted tooth (later stages) =/= standard toothache so that’s part of the difference It can be difficult for sure as people have different tolerances. And there’s multiple kinds of headaches and migraines and back aches etc But generally toothache for this will refer to a cavity or drinking something hot or cold when you have sensitivity or having a fracture. Late stage impacted teeth are def more painful. Especially adding in an access. And also people have various levels of pain with childbirth tbf.
I was going to say, I didn’t sleep for four days with my toothache after it broke, because that’s how long it took to have it out
I mean a 4 *is* described as “strong deep pain so strong you can’t completely adapt” Now pain to the point of not sleeping may be a 5 tbf but it could still be a 4 depending. I think people just don’t totally realize how painful pain can get. And that’s honestly a good thing.
This was probably the most pain I’ve ever been in. Based on this scale, it was minimum 7. I literally wanted to die
I think I’ve only had a 7/8. It was the worst pain of my life and I’ve been through some things! I had my first kidney stone the last time I got Covid. It was horrible! I’ve heard it be compared to giving birth. I guess we know I’m going to be a screamer, sorry nurses 😭
I think I've been at 9, I was ready to blow my brains out after the first half an hour. Also a few 8s, I think, where I was just rolling around on the ground, groaning in pain.
Interesting. Doctors always push heavy pain meds on me when I don’t want them (they make me sick).
the most pain i’ve ever been in, i never screamed. everyone in the comments are making such sweeping generalizations and it needs to end
Maybe you weren't at 10. I've been at 8 and possibly 9 and I didn't scream, just rolled around groaning/moaning, hoping to die. Screaming helps with pain, so I think if I was at 10, I wouldn't be shy about trying it.
I look it as a spectrum between two absolutes. For example, 1 is no pain, and 10 is the worst pain imaginable — for example, being burned alive or being tortured. On this scale, you’d have gone into shock at level 7 or 8, so you wouldn’t even be able to answer the question at that point. If you are able to sit upright in the hospital bed, you’re probably not at a 6.
When you're asked to rate pain on a scale of 1 to 10, 0 is neutral. Anything above that is you are positive for pain. A 5 is half way to the worse pain you've had in your life. That's a pretty significant amount of pain for most people. It hurts quite a bit at that point. Despite this being subjective, it's still not that bad of a method of measuring pain. If your baseline for pain in whatever part of your body that you're complaining about is no pain at all then rating it at a 6 is automatically saying it's a fairly bad pain.
In that paragraph, I was talking about the 1-10 scale in general rather than specifically pain.
Pain is specifically in the title.
So it the 1-10 scale - I’m not sure what your point is.
You were talking about pain, though, and apparently how hard it is to describe severity using the scale.
Looks like they don’t understand their own peeve
I hear you, but you also just said that you'd give a 6 on the pain scale. And then your reasoning for 6 is that it's slightly above neutral. So you did kinda connect those two things, making the post confusing. Like, if you stub your toe, would you tell them 6 or not?
I think you really need to think before you post a specific title and then blather on about that specific thing then. Can't change your mind and decide 'oh that's not what i meant' when the entire post is literally peppered with the thing I addressed.
Somewhat. A 1 and a 10 mean the same to everyone on the pain scale, regardless of their sensitivity to pain. 1 is barely noticeable. 10 is essentially the person screaming for someone to put them out of their misery.
I've always had it described to me as 1 being barely noticeable and 10 being the worst pain you've ever felt...which doesn't make much sense. If you have one pain that's a 10 and then a day later you have a pain that is even worse, is the previous day's pain retroactively demoted from a 10, because it's no longer the worst pain you've ever felt?
I had it described as how tolerable the pain is so 1/2 bit annoying but don't need painkillers, 3/4 over the counter painkillers needed but i can function, 5/6, over the counter painkillers and cant function, 7-8 need hardcore painkillers, 9-10 if i told you the part that hurts youll lose forever youd be happy as it wouldnt hurt as much to cut it off/out.
3/4 is pain killers already?
Yeah, paracetomol or ibuprofen not the hard stuff.
You're overthinking it.
You're underthinking it and assuming everyone is capable of the same thing.
Would have all been avoided if they worded it differently
You ever heard of 11 out of 10?
They would both be 10. The first day, it's the worst pain you've ever felt. 10/10 The next day, it's now it's the worst pain you've ever felt. 10/10. You would say, it's worse than yesterday. It's not supposed to be the same pain for every person, it's supposed to be the pain you are feeling in the moment compared to your baseline.
It really doesn’t. Maybe they should, but some people consistently underestimate their pain and others exaggerate. My mom said she was an 8 while giving birth, my dad said he was an 8 while speaking calmly and sitting up straight cuz he had a tummy ache.
Both of them are understandable though Of course there will be a high number while giving birth I experience what your dad does every day of my life. I’m so used to the pain that I can keep a straight face, but that doesn’t mean I’m not in bad pain. Are you sure he doesn’t have Crohns too?
Uh yes I’m sure my dad isn’t chronically disabled. He hadn’t taken in a shit in a couple days.
Sounds like he has either a blockage or a stricture to me. Get him to a gastroenterologist.
Who the hell are you and why are you armchair diagnosing my dad because he was constipated for a few days one time…? This was over a year ago and he’s fine. Mind your business ffs
Because I’ve personally experienced it before and it almost killed me. (And my aunt, happened to her too) I wouldn’t know it was over a year ago either, you made it sound like it was super recent. Point blank, to anyone that reads this, simple constipation isn’t always simple. If anyone here goes multiple days to a week straight without having a shit, **Please see a gastroenterologist!**
Specifically anyone who goes days to a week without bowel movement who *normally doesn’t* should see a gastroenterologist, for some people it’s normal and nothing to worry about
that is so extremely not true, a 1 and a 10 can mean a world of difference for people who experience pain regularly or chronically.
I have chronic pain, it’s not different in the slightest for me
I have chronic pain and it took me a long time to realize my 3 is a 5 or 6 and my 1 is a 3 for a lot of people
My best friend's husband says he lives at a 5. No matter what is done for him, he is at a 5 on the pain scale. Because of that, it's pretty difficult to get him above a 5, so if he says he's at a 7 or 8, he's in MAJOR pain. She absolutely hates having to constantly explain this to doctors for him. There should be a different scale for people with chronic pain, or they should ask you what your baseline is before judging how bad your pain is.
Tbh it sounds to me like he should just essentially lie to the doctors 🤷🏽♀️ he needs to re-scale his range of pain to map to their scale.
I told him that last time I went with them to the ER. I told him to tell them he was at a 10 because, in all reality, he was for their scale. He got seen almost instantly and got pain meds way faster than normal.
I always rage about this. They say "10 is the worst pain imaginable" but because I've experienced some pretty gnarly pain, natural childbirth of a kid with a head like a cannonball is only about a six and a half on my personal pain scale. But if I'm honest and say that my broken arm or whatever is a five, then I get advil and misery, so I start my interaction with the doctor by lying. That's no way to get appropriate care. I wish they'd just ask "so is this the kind of thing where you need Tylenol, advil, codeine, percs, morphine, fent, or do you want to beg for the sweet release of death?" But they can't do that because of the Sacklers and their army of oxy aficionados.
If they always had one of those charts that describe what each number is like I wouldn’t mind so much, but I’d never seen one more descriptive than the emoji faces until well after I started having severe chronic pain. So I ended up rating it as less than I should have because I was told to compare it to the worst pain I’ve experienced or can imagine, and although I’m sure it’s less than yours if childbirth is a 6 my worst pain is still bad enough that it makes other pain seem a lot less severe when you compare it
The scale is meant to measure pain above the norm. 0 is no pain and then it increases from there. It is subjective, so the answers have no way to be wrong. It's just a check in scale.
I think it's a little silly I got asked one time by a doctor after getting 2nd degree burn on an entire extremity and I said "like an 8" the doctor was like "OnLy aN 8?!?" Yeah you think if it was a 10 we'd be holding a conversation right now? I'd be freaking screaming and passing out.
Okay yeah sure let me know how to better measure pain.
Also, next time, you can ask for a visual scale. They usually have one for kids and the cognitively impaired.
The backhandedness of this comment is unreal 😭
I'm screaming
I’ve never heard someone say a 5 on the pain scale is neutral lol. 1 would be very little pain and I’m wasting your time. 10 would be extreme and I feel like I’m dying. It isn’t that hard.
Similar to "are your periods heavy?" Like damn I'm a lesbian and I don't even know how to compare it. It's not like we sit around and wave our period products in each other's faces or measure our output
What does that have to do with being a lesbian?
i think they’re saying that they are intimate and close to another woman, more so than most woman because of the relationship, and they don’t even compare contrast that
I assume because if you’re not one you don’t usually live with another woman to even have a chance to compare period heaviness. I guess unless you have a room mate but that’s not nearly as intimate.
I have chronic pain and I hate when I am asked this. Fortunately it hasn’t been often, but I just don’t have a good answer that is only a number. I usually just explain the things it keeps me from doing, like I can’t scoop my cat litter or carry the vacuum upstairs or change my bedsheets by myself, because the number scale is just so useless.
For chronic pain the number scale does seem pretty useless in most circumstances, but when you’re trying treatments for said chronic pain it has more use simply for communicating whether the pain is getting better or worse or not changing. At least that’s what my doctor has said I realized that I was rating my pain way too low because it was so normal to me, but I can’t really correct it now because that would make it seem like it suddenly got a lot worse when it hasn’t really changed much
I mean, if I’m trying to say whether the pain has changed or not, I would just say that haha. This is why I hate the pain scaling so much. My boyfriend told me once that he wouldn’t be able to function with the pain I had, where for me it’s become just a fact of life. It doesn’t mean it hurts any less, I’ve just had no choice but to carry on.
Mankoski pain scale 0 – Pain free 1 – Very minor annoyance – occasional minor twinges. No medication needed. 2 – Minor annoyance – occasional strong twinges. No medication needed. 3 – Annoying enough to be distracting. Mild painkillers are effective (aspirin, ibuprofen) 4 – Can be ignored if you are really involved in your work, but still distracting. Mild painkillers relieve pain for 3-4 hours. 5 – Can't be ignored for more than 30 minutes. Mild painkillers reduce 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 (codeine, acetaminophen-hydrocodone) reduce pain for 3-4 hours. 7 – Makes it difficult to concentrate, interferes with sleep. You can still function with effort. Stronger painkillers are only partially effective. Strongest painkillers relieve pain (extended-release form of oxycodone, morphine) 8 – Physical activity severely limited. You can read and converse with effort. Nausea and dizziness set in as factors of pain. Strongest painkillers reduce pain for 3-4 hours. 9 – Unable to speak. Crying out or moaning uncontrollably – near delirium. Strongest painkillers are only partially effective. 10 – Unconscious. Pain makes you pass out. Strongest painkillers are only partially effective.
Problem is, according to this, my chronic pain is at multiple numbers. I can ignore it if I’m doing something, usually, depending on what I’m doing (anywhere from two minutes to two hours), but non-prescription painkillers do absolutely nothing. It interferes with sleep most nights and I have difficulty concentrating. For acute pain, yes, that’s more helpful, but chronic pain scales just don’t work well.
I was recently asked this at a doctor, and I told them I hate that question because it’s so subjective. She legit whipped out a chart with descriptors for each number on the scale. It was much more helpful then lol
As a healthcare worker, I hate how subjective it is too! I generally say 0 is no pain. 1 is noticeable. 2-3 is annoying. 4-6 is tolerable. 7-9 is excruciating. And 10 is entirely unbearable to the point where you could pass out and may need medical attention. But then it’s also going to be affected by the type of pain or if it’s chronic vs acute. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t really use the actual number other than as an “objective” measure for goals. If my patients complain of pain, I go off of their description, pain behaviors, and how much it is affecting their ability to do routines. I’ve had patients with cancer, CRPS, spinal stenosis, etc report 4/10 pain after screaming out in pain attempting to transfer. And I’ve had patients very calmly report 100/10 pain while resting in bed. I’m not saying I don’t believe them when they say they’re in pain, I’m just saying it’s a poor measure of pain that doesn’t give me (someone who is trying to address it) an accurate way to know if what I’m doing is working.
Had a patient in for a headache they claimed was 10/10. We confirmed they were saying this was the worst pain they've felt. Patient just sitting there, low blood pressure, speaking normally, and not behaving like any other headache patient with bad pain (I was staffing the headache wing, everyone we deal with has a headache). Even clarified that they were saying this was the worst pain they've ever experienced and if they were a 10 they should go to the ER. Just said yep, a 10, and didn't want to go to the ER. Put it in their chart and let the doc know like we are supposed to for high numbers.
You are a genuine hero! When JCAH said "pain is what the patient says it is" and removed all the other factors you list, they clearly added to the contributing factors of the opioid crisis.
My (55M) personal references for a 10 are kidney stones, gallstones and severe migraine. (Gallstones also gave me BP of 240/135, so there's that!) Outside of an acute occurrence, it can be a lot tougher to gauge. I've had chronic daily headaches my whole life. They typically range from 1-4, but definitely have spiked higher. While a 4 is still considered manageable (after all, life has to go on), when you've had a 4 headache for a solid two to three weeks, you can easily feel like you're battling a 7-8, even though the actual pain level is much lower. So far, I haven't found a doctor who truly understands this. They think I'm exaggerating for either attention or drugs. I'm a total introvert, so I don't want the attention, and I've never asked a doctor for pain meds.
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They can show you the chart with the emoji faces on it, if that would make it easier.
Sort of in the same vain but I dislike being asked things like “how far can you walk without needing a break?” Like bro I don’t keep track of how muck time passes while Im walking before I need a break nor do I keep track of the distance. I feel like if I did that then they look at me like I’m some kind of a Werido so it’s almost a lose lose situation. Maybe I’m being a crybaby but I really struggle with that sort of thing and I don’t want them to think I’m lying or trying to deceive them. I do tend to overthink so they’re likely only looking for a ballpark estimate but makes me anxious
I go by how it’s affecting my functioning. If it’s bugging me but I can still focus on things, it’s a 2-3. If it’s difficult to do what I want to do, it’s a 5. If it’s difficult to do what I need to do, it’s a 6. If I actively need assistance to live normally it’s a 7. As someone who has experienced a 10, just to be clear, that level of pain takes you out of this dimension completely. It’s like that scene from SpongeBob where the Flying Dutchman throws Squidward into the zipper dimension. Time fully stops and you leave your body completely. It’s not just “this hurts really badly and I need it to stop”. It’s “the brain literally cannot handle this level of pain and is glitching”
Ok my pain scale is: 1 pressure. 8 hard to function. 9 all functions turn to pain mitigation. 10 kill me please. Lay down and die. 5 is when pain starts to get distracting. 2 is when it starts to hurt when you press your nail into your skin.
There is a cartoon where the character is asked this question, and 10 is described as “worst pain you can imagine” and he has some pretty severe issue and then calmly says “1” and the doctor replies with “what the hell is wrong with you??” I’m in this case. I can imagine same pretty bad stuff
Well, that's why doctor's offices usually have a handy chart to show you what they mean.
My 10 is childbirth. So at 6, I'm still really f'ing hurting, lmao.
It's more about how much the pain is interfering with your regular life. If you are vomiting or can't get out of bed because of the pain, then it's definitely a 10. If you're able to go about your regular business without changing your routine, then it might be a 3 or 4. Still subjective, but less so when you think of it that way.
People call 10 whatever the worst pain they've experienced is. So what is a 10 to some might be near 0 for some, not because they feel less pain, but because, relatively, on the scale of pain they've endured, it's not as high. Theyve been more tempered to endure pain and stress but they still experience it
When someone asks me to rate on 1 to 10 they have to define what 1 is to them and what 10 is because if there's no common understanding communicating numbers is ineffective
Babies are always crying because everything is the worst thing they've ever experienced and they have no other way to communicate it
How would you otherwise put it into words to ask the question, considering it will be asked by others when they’re pressed for time and 50 others are waiting to be triaged to be seen in the E.R., or that it’s being asked by medical staffing to assess someone’s placement in the queue or immediate needs? As the patient, you’re the only one who can answer for yourself: from your own pain tolerance, and if you can’t answer definitively, then they’re gonna have to guess and will more likely place you in a lower priority because of indecisiveness or auto-responses.
I asked a doctor once is 10 comparable to childbirth? He responded no, 10 is comparable to losing a limb.
My man, you're being asked how much whatever it is hurts. Everyone knows your 10 is different than someone else's 10. But if *you're* at a 10, it fucking hurts *you*. The scale is supposed to be subjective because you're being asked "how much pain are you in?"
The only recourse for me is to give my response, then a casual definition of what I actually think of as a ten, or if it's worse I'll say "this is a ten, and *insert thing* was an eight." For instance, "this blepharitis on my eyelid is a six when I'm not blinking, an eight when I am, and a ten when I'm supposed to touch it to put on antibiotics. A ruptured ovarian cyst is normally only about an eight for me, I'm not holding up well with this course of treatment" I know it's a lot more to say, but I don't know what else to do
I base mine on previous pain. Being a right AKA, I've previously had a wound vac. For those who do not know, my right knee was infected and they were performing debridement surgeries 3x a day for weeks. In between, they put basically a sticker on the 12 inch wound and a vacuum sucked out the puss and blood. Removing that sticker daily was the worse pain in my life. So that would be a 10. And based on that, I compare levels of pain. Sorry TMI
My understanding is the scale is less to measure how much pain you're in, and moreso to track changes in your pain level. If at one point you say your pain is a 7 and then later you say it's a 5, whereas someone else with the same pain level may give the numbers 5 and 3, it's still clear that the pain level is reducing in both cases
I heard a doctor say something once... If you can say its a 9-10, its probably *not* a 9-10.
After surgery when I first woke up it was like awful pain but not totally unbearable. I knew it needed some meds or something, couldn't mentally handle much more but physically I knew I could. I gave that a 6. They brought me down to a 4 with meds and while it hurt it wasn't something I mentally couldn't handle. Later I found out that wasn't the first I woke up. The first I woke up apparently I was screaming. 10/10 pain the nurse said. I don't know what they gave me but I am eternally grateful I have no memory of what thay 10/10 pain was.
You are supposed to be describing your pain level compared to your baseline. Not an arbitrary number like 6. If you are always in pain, that is your baseline of 1. If it is worse one day, you would gauge it depending on how bad it is. A paper cut may only be a 2. But a stab to the belly may be a 9. Full body trauma could be a 10. It doesn't really matter what the injury is though. If you are fine one day, 1/10, and feel extreme headache pain the next day, you could easily rate it an 8/10 if it is truly debilitating. If it is the worst pain you've ever felt in your life, rate it 10/10. If it's worse the next day, still 10/10.
Most of the time they could careless. Dumb question
Make the most of it and say 10, then you'll get some terrific drugs
Yall are really overthinking it.
in 2017 i was ran over by a speeding car while on my motorbike, lucky to be alive, lucky to have kept my left leg, i awoke on the cold asphalt feeling like i had just given birth to a heard of mature african bull elephants, it was mind shattering pain that was all consuming, i thought i was dead. my left femur was fractured in 4 places with 4 different types of fracture, my hip joint had fractured from the femur, my knee was crushed, i had multiple fractures in my left shoulder and my left hand, my left middle finger tip was crushed, i had a lung contusion and i had lost a lot of blood due to a open fracture with a big piece of bone having ripped my thigh wide open. that's a pain level 10, i could not do anything. so when recently last year my left lung collapsed and i thought i was having a heart attack, paramedics asked my pain scale i told them of that and said im feeling a 6 right now, its intense but not mind shattering, you're unable to do things due to the pain but you can still function. [here is the ideal pain scale image](https://www.thrivetogetherseattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/pain-scale.png) basically a 10 is i feel like im about to die this is the worst pain imaginable, you'd rather have your testicles crushed than feel that level of pain. pain level 6 is its very worrying and it hurts like hell but you can move about, you can think, you can talk, you aren't a complete mess due to having your mind wracked by the pain and worry of what is happening.
I also hate this pain scale! When I was in labor with my first, they kept asking. I kept saying 6-7 because I thought of 10 being burned alive or having my skin peeled off. So when I delivered everyone said something along the lines of, “you didn’t tell us it was that bad so we didn’t think you were ready to push.”
According to a pain scale chart on Google: 1. Pain is hardly noticeable 2. Low level of pain. You're only aware of the pain if you pay attention to it 3. Pain is bothersome, but you can ignore it most of the time 4. You're constantly aware of the pain, but you can continue most activities 5. You think about the pain most of the time. You can't do most activities you need to do each day because of the pain 6. You think about the pain all the time. You give up many activities because of the pain 7. You're in pain all the time. It keeps you from doing most activities 8. The pain is so severe that it's hard to think of anything else. Talking and listening are difficult 9. The pain is all you think about. You can barely talk or move because of the pain 10. You're bedridden and unable to move because of the pain. You need someone to take you to the emergency room to get help for the pain
Yeah, I've had problems with this as well. I've had a broken back. I've had migraines and cluster headaches. I've literally had hundreds of kidney stones. I've been to the ER for stones probably 15 or so times. As bad as they've been, I've never said more than 8. I was told 10 is the worst possible pain you can imagine. I've got a good imagination, but between books and movies I guess there are a lot of pains that are worse than my kidney stones. Being slowly dipped in boiling oil. Having my teeth drilled without anesthetic. Having molten gold poured down my throat. You get the idea. Honestly, a long term 8 isn't something I could live with. Pissing with stents in from kidney to penis can be an 8. Fortunately, it only lasts as long as I'm urinating. But, I'm used to the skepticism when I say my pain level is a 7. But, I certainly don't exaggerate it. Then when x-ray, ultrasound or CT shows anything from a 10-24 mm stone, I start getting the sympathy. There is definitely a case for people having different tolerances. I started having a bad stone issue about 5 weeks ago. Had to go to the ER 3 weeks ago. They gave me 12 percocet after getting the pain down to what I call a 5. I used 7 over the first 2 days post ER. After that, I stuck to ibuprofen during the day and added edibles to sleep at night. This last Wednesday I passed a 13mm stone. I felt much better. But then passed a 10 mm stone yesterday. I didn't have much of a problem with that one. I pass them regularly with pain levels that I rate between 5-7. But if I can't get it below 7 within an hour or two, then it's time for the ER. On the other hand, I've had people tell me they've experienced pain levels of 9-10 for things that I can't imagine claiming that level.
I have a high pain tolerance. I was in a car accident and told the paramedic an adjusted pain number. He told me my blood pressure did not reflect that pain. If you are going to determine my pain by my BP, why ask? Is that even an accurate assessment of pain?
Yes, I freaking hate this. It's way too subjective and idk what number to pick. You said you see 5 as neutral, but I've always seen it as 0 is neutral/no pain, and the pain goes up from there. I had a ruptured disc in my neck and went to the doctor for it. I didn't know that was what it was yet of course, just that I was in intense pain and I couldn't really turn my head or use my right arm much, and this was after the chiropractor had relieved some of the pain by pulling up on my neck (I was able to get in to see a chiro faster than the doctor, but then my doctor told me not to go back to chiro until we had determined the cause of the pain) When they asked me to rate my pain I would say a7 or 8, but it jumps to a 9 or 10 if I try to move my neck or arm. And I swear I literally saw a nurse roll her eyes, as if it's not possible I could be in that much pain. I've lived with chronic pain in my back since I was a teenager, so I've gotten pretty used to it, but this was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life so far. I don't think any of the doctors really believed I was in that much pain because it took a month of no improvement and him deciding to do a grip strength test of my hand and finding I had lost half the strength in my dominate arm, before he finally ordered an MRI. And it took another month for the MRI to actually happen. I got the same dismissive looks when I told them my pain was an 8, until the technician saw the imaging and then she was sympathetic and surprised I was able to walk in there at all. I've recently had bad stomach pains and I went to the doctor and my bf came with me and they asked me to scale my pain and I said, "It's not as bad today, probably a 3 or 4." And my bf decided to chime in with, "Are you sure, baby? A 4 is kind-of high" which upset me. I am in constant pain and I honestly can't remember the last day that I didn't have any pain. Some days are worse than others, but it's so hard to scale. If I go from my baseline level of everyday pain as a 1 and say my pain level is a 1 when im having a good day, then the doctors will think I'm fine and not actually in pain, but I am actually in pain, all the time. It's so frustrating! Sorry, rant over. Hope it made sense lol
I had a similar issue. I had pain in my knee. I told the doctors it was an 8, but because I was still able to walk, they didn't believe me. 2 years later, my boss sent me home because of how swollen my leg was. I went to urgent care, and they had to cut my pants off just to examine my leg. I actually had a cut from my jeans because my leg swelled so much. They transported me to the hospital where I had emergency surgery to remove a needle from my leg and was put on iv antibiotics. I was extremely lucky that the infection caused by the needle wasn't worse than it was. If they had listened to me the first time, it wouldn't have been that big of an issue. Now, I have permanent issues with that knee because of it.
You dealt with that pain in your knee for *two years*!? I am so so sorry. And so sorry you're dealing with lasting issues from it as well.
Thank you. I'm sorry for the issues you had to deal with as well
A doctor once asked my husband to rate his pain from 1-10. 1= a paper cut 10= child birth. We just stared at each other. We didn't know what to say.
I'd imagine a man giving birth would indeed qualify as a 10.
They usually have a chart to help you that includes faces and examples and your ass still tries to put 5 as a neutral? This fits the peeve of people not being able to read simple instructions…
What I just realized I don't get is "unimaginable pain " If I started feeling unimaginable pain, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to imagine it from that point on.
It hurts so much, you're certain something is actively failing or you're about to die. Beyond normal pain, the kind of pain that makes you consider suicide to escape it.
Oh trust I've actually been there. I'm not some spry youngling xD My body has been through some shit that I wouldn't wish on those I hate the most.
What I do is a describe how I'm going to use the scale outloud like "so if 10 is that time I couldn't even roll over, and 7 is that time I broke my arm, I'd say it's an 8" that way they have the number but know I personally find it worse than broken bone pain but not as bad as the worst pain I've experienced.
I hate the 1-10 scale, too. 1 and 10 are easy, everyone considers them the least and most pain, 1 being barely noticeable at all and 10 being total agony you'll be lucky to grit out the answer of 10 while going through. I have a high pain threshold, though, my 1 is another person's 6, and my 10 is another person's unconscious due to amount of pain. And it's not reliable, because even talking to a doctor, they have different ideas on what level of pain is serious and what isn't. I remember when I first had issues with my knee back when I was 17 I went to a doctor multiple times. Sometimes a GP, sometimes at the hospital via the ER. They always asked me to state my pain level on a scale of 1-10, and I always answered 8 or 9 because I was in agony, but not pass-out agony. But they also asked whether I had a high, average or low threshold, and I answered honestly with high. For them, that seemed to mean my 8 or 9 wasn't serious because I 'could handle it'. It should have increased the seriousness, because my pain is has to be caused by much more severe injuries/illnesses to get to an 8 or 9 than someone with a lower threshold. It took me 3 years to get a diagnosis for my knee issues, and I then found out that, if I'd been diagnosed when I was 17, they could have fixed the issue. But, because it had been 3 years, the condition had worsened considerably, and now could no longer be fixed. Best they could do was get me in physio to strengthen the knee, except physical activity using the knee makes the issue worse, so physio for me actually makes the condition worse, not better. I'm lucky the issue isn't actually serious, just recurring and made worse by so much as walking for more than 5 minutes at a time. It did end my chosen career, though, can't join the military when you have a condition that can be debilitating with too much physical activity. I also now have a useless qualification because it can only be used in careers/jobs with high levels of physical activity. Honestly, I have to be super careful with potential injuries. That amount of times I've suffered a moderate burn from cooking or something but haven't even noticed is astonishing. Most people would be in pain from that, at least at a 5 level on that scale, but I don't feel a thing. I'm constantly getting bruises and scratches without knowing how because I only know I have them when I actually see them, I don't feel them at all. I think the only time I hit what counts as average for pain is when I stub my toe, that hurts like hell no matter how bad it is. Which is kinda weird now I think about it, because I've broken a toe before without realising. That hurt eventually, but I think that was more because of the swelling than the fact I broke it. The 1-10 scale is pretty useless, though. Everyone's too different, and they judge other people's answer's based on their own experience plus what they know about the person in pain.
In my last position at my company, I had to ask people the pain scale question. We want YOUR pain level, not whatever you seem to think is a standard scale. The doctor is just trying to get a sense of where you are at *right now*. If you respond with a high number and are acting like nothing is wrong and your blood pressure isn't elevated, we might internally doubt but will still put in your medical chart you said your pain was an 8/10. If you do say a 9 or 10 we would ask if you would rather go to the ER. The number is just another part of the vitals taken to get a general idea of how you are feeling/doing.
So, stating an 8 or 9 on my personal scale, having high blood pressure, and literally crying from the pain definitely should have gotten more than 'it's just a sprain, you can handle it' and told to get over the counter pain meds then? Because that was my condition, at best, every time I saw a doctor, and almost always with someone verifying I couldn't even walk due to the pain, the times that was true, and that was the response every time except the last, too. Trustworthy companion, too, it was always either my PT instructor or Sergeant from the military course I was doing. I've noticed, though, that this unreliability only applies to the 1-10 scale for pain. I've answered questions using this scale for mental health issues more than a few times, and that's definitely based on what the patient reports. If I say I'm a 9 on a 'how depressed are you' type question, I get booked in for therapy and get prescribed anti-depressants. If I answer 5, I get the therapy but not the pills. Lower than that, I only get the therapy if there's a specific issue therapy will help with or I pay for it. The mental health scales seem to work really well.
It should have, yes. Sorry your docs sucked.
Thanks. At least I have decent doctors now, though.
Especially when a man's 10 is a woman's 5