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Rating pain

As The Oracle mentioned in a recent post, medical professionals will often ask you to rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10, one being no pain and ten being pure agony. I find this helpful because pain is very subjective - there's no way to measure it in absolute terms, so a 4 for you may be a 7 for me. But still, it's my 7 and I want some relief.

When my daughter was in the worst of her medical crisis two years ago, she would frequently give a 9 or a 10 and it would break my heart. Previously she would probably have also rated splinter removal as an 8 or a 9, but probably not anymore; sadly she has more perspective on it now. I had an adult woman HSP patient tell me that her HSP pain was far worse than her labor pains.

One thing I have realized as I continue to deal with my wound is that a significant contributor to my pain is the constancy of it. I haven't needed my pain medication much lately, but during my dressing change yesterday, the nurse tweaked how she put it together. She made it more effective, which is good, but it's also more uncomfortable. So, the overall pain is probably only a 4 or so, with twinges of 5/6's, but it doesn't let up. After several hours of it, it's still only a 4, but I want the pain meds like it was a 7.

It leaves me speechless when I think of people that live with truly chronic pain. Their ability to function in their day to day life is so completely admirable, and the days when they just. can't. do. it. anymore. are so understandable.

I have a light at the end of this tunnel of pain. I know it won't be with me forever. I wish it could be that way for everyone.

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Comment by Herasmus B. Dragon on April 13, 2010 at 3:14pm: Amen. I also wish there wasn't such a stigma attached to people who need constant pain meds, they're not "junkies" if they're using responsibly.

With my pulmonary embolism and resulting 4 months of edema and referred shoulder pain I really denied myself the pain meds, afraid I'd become hooked since I was also struggling with nicotine withdrawal (docs really discourage smoking when your lungs are half-full of fluid). I was in agony every night since I hurt in any position other than straight upright, which is not the best for sleep. Looking back I think I made it so much harder on myself.

With my first C-section I used the prescribed pain meds but weaned myself before I'd used the whole bottle. With Ebay's I used it all up because I couldn't slow down for pain, and even got two weeks' more pills after the first bottle was done. I had small skin infections with both requiring long term management, though not on the scale of yours. After my recent foot surgery I found that I actually felt more dopey from the muscle relaxers than I did with the Percocet and Vicodin so I had no trouble weaning myself down to the Darvocet and then Advil and then nothing. I generally have a high tolerance for pain.

My sister in law, who's 5 feet even and 95 pounds, has fibromyalgia, and her attacks are crippling. There are weeks where she never leaves her bed. I wish I could do something to help her.

Comment by Mamawho on April 13, 2010 at 4:25pm: I hate the pain scale. I think my pain clinic has to ask per federal law - I heard that mentioned once- but the doctor always laughs because I involuntarily roll my eyes when they ask me.

I've found that pain itself has more of an effect on my cognitive abilities than all the narcotics I take do. My memory is shot to hell. I carry a little Moleskein journal with me to make notes. My first appointment with the pain psychiatrist is next week. My pain specialists hope that she can at least help with the pain-related anxiety, if not my memory.

The lowest I ever go on the pain scale is a 4, but of course, a 4 this year was more like an 8 a few years ago. But I'm fairly functional, just at a snail's pace.

I've never had an actual wound - I can't imagine that's any fun. I hope it heals quickly and completely.

Comment by Boring User Name on April 13, 2010 at 7:21pm: I hated that scale, too. I landed in the hospital for 4 days with a kidney stone infection, but I never rated the pain more than a 5, but apparently it was serious enough to land me in the hospital for days. And they looked at me like I was crazy that I wasn't rating it higher, but it came no where close to comparing to labor. So, just because I wasn't over 5 didn't mean something wasn't wrong (I lost track of the negatives there).

Comment by mightyninjamom on April 13, 2010 at 8:23pm: I guess for me, the longer pain lasts the worse it feels. I've had some fairly painful accidents, but nothing that's lasted long enough for me to require long term therapy of any kind. I feel fortunate for that.

I remember when High Maintenance Sister was undergoing a prolonged, somewhat medieval dental procedure that required periodic debridement. She would come out of the dentists' office pale, shaky, and sweating from the pain. At the time, I was pregnant and we would have long conversations over which was worse - chronic pain or chronic nausea. Neither of us won.

Comment by The Oracle on April 13, 2010 at 8:59pm: Yeah, I hate the pain scale too. What really bugs is that, in your mind, you really are comparing it to your own worst pain, but in the doctor's mind, they're comparing you to someone else, which is just about impossible. The only effective way I've found to get them to believe me when I say "10" is to say, "I gave birth unmedicated. This is worse."

(What I don't tell them is that it's worse, in large part, because there's no light at the end of the tunnel like there was in labor.)

MW -- Is the memory thing related to pain? I thought I was just stupid. Now I feel better, thanks!

Where am I again? Who are you people?

Comment by Mamawho on April 14, 2010 at 6:26am: Oracle - I think I use up a lot of headspace compartmentalizing pain, not leaving much brain to handle other things. And there's some chemical processes and endorphins and such involved, too. I'll pass along what I learn from the shrink.

Comment by MamatothaMax on April 19, 2010 at 7:32am: For a long time I used my labor with Max as a standard for pain. Then when I was trying to get pregnant and was on Clomid I had a large ovarian cyst burst and that became the standard. But then I had a tooth abscess and developed a deep bone infection. The pain wasn't as bad as the cyst but it was never ending, mind numbing pain.

Rating pain

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