Interesting pain scale

[Wise Young]

http://www.notdoneliving.net/foothold/scales/shannon_west.html

Shannon West posted this in the Fibromyalgia community on LiveJournal. It is used with her full permission and acknowledging her full copyright of the work.


1. Hmm, this feels funny. Huh. Oh well.
2. Hmm, this kinda hurts a bit. Oh well.
3. Hmm, this is kinda hurts. Ow. Oh well.
4. Ow. Time for a regular strength Tylenol. Gone.
5. Um, ok... this hurts. Not comfortable. Got any Advil? I've got stuff to do.
6. The hell?! Seriously not comfortable. Who invented this pain thing? Coupla Advils, and keep going. Not about to forget about it though.
7. HELLO?! Can we stop with the pain now? Got any Vicodin? I need to lie down. Like RFN! We can talk there.
8. Oh dear God. Whimpering commences. Work stops. Thinking gets muddled. Percocet anyone? Go away, or be prepared to do exactly what I say, when I say it.
9. Afraid this might kill me! Incoherent babbling begins.
10. Afraid this might not kill me! Afraid of having to live through it! Writhing, crying, almost coherent swearing. Morphine drip, anyone?

[adi chicago]

i wonder how am i still alive having pain 9-10 scale] daily after my injury ...since 2002...april.i learned a trick ...instead to cry i better laugh ....helps me ...mentaly.... a lot.

[cass]

printing that off. esp. just having a run-in with nurse who told me an average of 8 was impossible.

[lynnifer]

adi - Just curious, did your pain increase after your OEG procedure?

[keps]

I smiled seeing this pain scale. I use a number scale a lot to tell my boyfriend how bad the pain in my side is when he asks.
At its worst, I say it's an 8. That's agonizing, but I reserve 10 for the pain of a spinal bleed.

[adi chicago]

adi - Just curious, did your pain increase after your OEG procedure?
yes lynnifer my pain increased after oeg procedure.

[TokenGimp]

I've been at 6-7 for 60% of the last three or fours years with 7-9 the remaining 40% so tell the nurse in Chicago she is wrong. I'm glad to see opinions on Cymbalta I was looking at as something to try. Valium made me crabby. I don't like care for Baclofen.
For several years I lived on various amounts of prescribed opiates and some not prescribed with much more intensity as pain killer. I now use Methadone, Tramadol, Zanaflex and Baclofen. Methadone works very well on pain without the desire to take more like I had on oxycontin or hydrocodone and illegal things. I also take Modanifil to help keep me on normal circadian rhythm. On occassion to sleep I add Hydroxyzine Pamoate and Cyclobenzaprine.
Pain scales could be modified for SCI, amputees and other whose chronic levels are much higher daily than the general public.

[darrel]

well I printed it off to torment the nurses next week when I go in..ha,ha

thanks

[alan]

Here's another scale. I'm 10+.

Pain scale:

10 Your pain is intense, constant, greatly restricts your activities, and it is impossible to go more than 5 minutes without awareness of the pain.

9 Same as above, but you can forget about the pain up to 15 minutes at a time.

8 The pain is significant, moderately intense at times, but not constant. Most activities are affected, you think about pain once or twice an hour.

7 Same as above, except that the pain is never intense.

6 The pain is moderate yet too frequent to ignore. Some activities are affected. Hours can go by without being aware of the pain.

5 Same as above except that almost no activities are affected.

4 The pain is little more than a nuisance, and you go through the whole day frequently aware, but never affected by it.

3 Same as above, except that the awareness of the pain may be absent for a whole day at a time.

2 At its worst, the pain is best described as "a little uncomfortable." Days can go by without being aware of it.

1 Same as above, except that the symptom does not recur more frequently than once a week.

(Courtesy of AJ1 member at Men with Fibro.com Message Board)

[bcpayne1]

I use to think a 10 would be repeated bodily damage inflicted by a chainsaw and a sledgehammer. with these scales I guess that would be a 50!

[Tiger Racing]

Here's another scale. I'm 10+.

Pain scale:

10 Your pain is intense, constant, greatly restricts your activities, and it is impossible to go more than 5 minutes without awareness of the pain.
I don't like this scale. I would bump all of the ratings down at least a notch or two and don't think that this kind of scale should be used to rate one's "overall" awareness of pain. This type of scale should be used to refer to a current level of pain, not how one sees their pain over a daily, weekly or longer basis.

C.

[truebansidhe]

When I go to the er or my gp, and they ask my the 1-10 question, I ask them if they want a number from thier scale or mine-My one being thier 5or 6. As I am at a minimum of a 5 on thier scale even on the best pain day.

[adi chicago]

still 10+here ....agrrrrrrrr............

[skippy13]

This scale is better than the one at my pt office. They use little blue smiley faces with different facial expressions. I want one that uses descriptive phrases like constantly in pain, bitchy and grim...etc. Maybe I can get the pt office to add a little blue snarly face.

[cass]

I don't like this scale. I would bump all of the ratings down at least a notch or two and don't think that this kind of scale should be used to rate one's "overall" awareness of pain. This type of scale should be used to refer to a current level of pain, not how one sees their pain over a daily, weekly or longer basis.

C.

are you in pain? i have been for 22 yrs and working, despite laying my head down at work and crying from the pain, despite resorting to 911 a few times in last 3 yrs (with no relief), despite getting up at 6 a.m. in so much pain i cried every day.

now the pain is so bad i barely get out of bed, let alone work. a nurse at Pain Clinic said i couldn't possibly be dealing with 8 daily. THAT's the crap you get when talking to ppl who have no clue.

[skippy13]

are you in pain? i have been for 22 yrs and working

I went for fifteen years working and coming home and staying in bed for the whole weekend. I have very little memory of that time. It messes with your head. I finally had to quit when I just couldnt take it anymore and I truly felt I was impaired in my thinking. The rest has helped a lot. The pain isnt gone, but the head had cleared up a little. There are still days when I dont get out of bed for a few days at a time.

I feel for you Cass, and I think your decision to slow down/stop work is a good one for you. It sure helped me to recover a bit of who I am.

[cass]

pain scales, to me, are mostly meaningless.

i liked wise's op and laughed. it's funny and i'm pretty sure wise meant it to be. :)

on an average, 5 minutes do not go by w/o my pain on my mind. it's even in my dreams, what little sleep i get.

[Tiger Racing]

are you in pain?
Yes. I have had constant pain for the past 21 yrs. Why do you ask?

C.

[cass]

i think why i ask is obvious. your pain, i'm guessing, is no where near an 8? mine is why i am up (awake) now and why i can no longer work. it is to the point, like alan, i cannot function. i say an 8, but many days it is a 10. all i can do is lie in bed and every movement, noise, light, etc. exacerbates it tenfold. is yours like that?

[Kathi49]

I liked it Wise...that was funny and actually more accurate. :)

I have discussed the pain scale with so many people I view it this way. The scale goes from 1 to 10. Since the 10 is there...use it! Anything past 10 is passed out or dead. I had cervicogenic headaches WITH variant migraines for 3 years straight and EVERY DAY! That is a condition that is severely debilitating. And a definite 10! So, for the heck of it and because people wanted to argue that point all the time, I asked my spinal PM about it since cervical pathology is his speciality. He told me that by the time people reach him for treatment they are at a 9+. So, that's not too far off from a 10. ;) Besides that, he KNOWS the pain; had to have two fusions because of it himself. So, in a sense, it helps me to have a doc that "gets it"! :)

[Rbrauer]

Old thread? 7-8 on doc's scale..
8 on the 2nd scale provided ...

Life goes on.. so does the pain.
Yin to my Y...owch!

[Tiger Racing]

i think why i ask is obvious.
Well, it was obvious that you were expecting me to say no.

your pain, i'm guessing, is no where near an 8?
Guessing is a bad idea. Doesn't tend to yield accurate results.

mine is why i am up (awake) now and why i can no longer work. it is to the point, like alan, i cannot function. i say an 8, but many days it is a 10. all i can do is lie in bed and every movement, noise, light, etc. exacerbates it tenfold. is yours like that?
I have dealt with severe, chronic pain for over 2 decades. Not a day has gone by that I haven't been in pain and, yes, all too often it escalates to the point where I am nonfunctional.

a nurse at Pain Clinic said i couldn't possibly be dealing with 8 daily. THAT's the crap you get when talking to ppl who have no clue.
I'm sorry that you have to deal with people like that. Fortunately, I don't. I have great doctors and my friends and family are extremely supportive and do not question the fact that I am constantly hurting. If anything, they often express amazement at how I deal with it and the fact that I don't complain very often. My husband always knows though. He is the first one to notice when my control begins to slip and the pain begins to overwhelm me.

I don't know what about my original post came across to you as "clueless", but your ire is misdirected. I'm not going to engage in some sort of competition to see which one of us is currently in more pain or who has dealt with more over time or whatever. Suffice to say, it seems that we are both big losers in this area. Unremitting pain obviously sux and I'm sorry that either of us has to live with it.

C.

[mimin]

After my mitro op I was in so much pain, I couldn't sit up (maybe b/c I was given real Neurontin as opposed to the generic gabapentin that I usually take). My mom asked if I was really in pain or if it was an excuse for not wanting to get up. I think she gets it a little better now...

[cass]

Well, it was obvious that you were expecting me to say no.


Guessing is a bad idea. Doesn't tend to yield accurate results.


I have dealt with severe, chronic pain for over 2 decades. Not a day has gone by that I haven't been in pain and, yes, all too often it escalates to the point where I am nonfunctional.


I'm sorry that you have to deal with people like that. Fortunately, I don't. I have great doctors and my friends and family are extremely supportive and do not question the fact that I am constantly hurting. If anything, they often express amazement at how I deal with it and the fact that I don't complain very often. My husband always knows though. He is the first one to notice when my control begins to slip and the pain begins to overwhelm me.

I don't know what about my original post came across to you as "clueless", but your ire is misdirected. I'm not going to engage in some sort of competition to see which one of us is currently in more pain or who has dealt with more over time or whatever. Suffice to say, it seems that we are both big losers in this area. Unremitting pain obviously sux and I'm sorry that either of us has to live with it.

C.

actually, no, i wasn't expecting a no from you as i seem to remember you talking about your pain before. it was an honest question, so take your own advice :) .

as far as having no clue, i was not referring to you but the nurse. and i never engage in "oneupship" [man intentionally omitted ;) ] on the subject of pain.

i'm sorry any of us are in pain.

[metronycguy]

printing that off. esp. just having a run-in with nurse who told me an average of 8 was impossible.
i always have been kind of befuddled with the pain charts, the best one i saw was kind of like this one that dr wise posted.
at level 3 the weaker breakthrough meds like ultram were started.
now it is somewhat the same except my bt med is much stronger, i dont even bother with the ultram any more.
i have been told to put out the fire before it get too big and roars out of control