The Pain Scale

[Foxfyre]

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Thank you.

The medication I take controls the pain, but don't back away from praying for those who have not yet found their solution. The condition is colloquially known as "the Suicide Disease", because an astounding percentage of the people who suffer it choose to end their lives rather than endure the pain.

Many describe the pain as feeling like being tased in the face. Sounds right to me, although I've never been tased in the face so have no way to make an objective comparison.


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So happy the doc found a way to control your pain. That is a real blessing. But agreed. No remedy universally helps everybody.

 

[sparky]

The condition is colloquially known as "the Suicide Disease"

i hope you find what works for you OPJQ....

I had no 'training' per se with either of my kids, and had long labor--14 hours with one, 22 hours with the second.

omg!
The crew i was on were called in on a number of home births , most of which were going badly......do you remember Butterfly McQueen re> gone w/the wind?



~S~

 

[Foxfyre]

i hope you find what works for you OPJQ....


omg!
The crew i was on were called in on a number of home births , most of which were going badly......do you remember Butterfly McQueen re> gone w/the wind?



~S~

My first hospital job was with a small county hospital in a tiny rural town of fewer than 8000 people. I was administrative staff but when they were short staffed we were often drafted to help out as orderlies, in the emergency room etc. One of the first things I often did when I arrived for work in the early morning was to chase the cows out of the administrator's flower beds.

Which is how I came to help deliver twins on the hospital lawn one early morning when the mom didn't make it from the car to the hospital and there was only the E.R. doc in the E.R. at that time. And Butterfly McQueen had nothing on me. I didn't know nuthin' about birthin' no babies even though I had already had two myself.

But I do remember comforting the woman who came through it like a trouper though she screamed from the pain a lot. The babies came like 5 minutes apart and there was no time to give her anything for the pain. More traumatic for me than her maybe but it was her pain. I can't imagine telling her that she wasn't having that pain or laughing at her.

Mom and babies were just fine by the way after it was all said and done.

 

[SweetSue92]

I'm with you. I had no 'training' per se with either of my kids, and had long labor--14 hours with one, 22 hours with the second. The pain wears you out after awhile and is intense but it is never absolutely unbearable and you know that it comes, swells to a peak pain, and then subsides until the next labor pain. I'm not saying the pain drugs don't help a great deal though once you're getting close to delivery. I had a saddle block with my second and that was wonderful.

But each person's tolerance for pain is different and if I had authority, any healthcare person who mocked a person's pain should be severely reprimanded and, if the offense repeated, fired.

Yes to all of this, and I don't think I made it clear in the OP that providers mock people who say they are 10, but when the provider walked in the room, they were scrolling their phone and laughing.

You can do that with maybe a 4-5, maybe even a 6. But a 10 is like, "I'm gonna die" pain.

What I glean from this is that too many patients rate their pain a 10 no matter how severe it is, because it's pain and it sucks. But just because it sucks doesn't mean it's a 10.

 

[SweetSue92]

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Thank you.

I take an anti-seizure drug that comes with a lot of side effects, none of which is half as horrific as the pain of the condition.

You're a Christian, aren't you?


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I am indeed.

 

[SweetSue92]

The problem with pain scales is that pain is entirely subjective.

I've seen people scream bloody murder over a mis-aimed hammer to the thumb and I've also seem a farmer finish plowing before driving himself to the dr, not the hospital mind you, with a compound femur fracture.

Yes true. However, if you rate your pain a 10 and are able to be on your phone laughing--I'm with the providers. That's not a 10.

 

[SweetSue92]

I once had a spine procedure, and the doc said it would hurt really bad for a second as the needle went in.

Now I don't know if levitation is a thing of not but when they went in with that needle I just know I levitated off the gurney 6".

1-10, Ha! .... Maybe 87, twist off the knob and throw it out the window!

It made passing a kidney stone seem like walk in the park on a sunny Spring day.

Had that at the dentist once. He hit a nerve and I think I hit the ceiling. I actually GRABBED HIS HAND and yanked it out of my mouth, and later was so sorry for it. He told me no I get it.

 

[SweetSue92]

It may be the worst pain they have ever experienced. Maybe their previous worst was a hangnail or a stubbed toe.

Sorry but no. They even give expression guidance for what it the worst pain.

https://openclipart.org/image/2400px/svg_to_png/238112/Pain-Scale2--Arvin61r58.png

 

[SweetSue92]

When you are in serious pain RIGHT NOW, it is difficult to imagine something else being on a higher level of any pain scale.

I remember times when I thought I was in pain, but the I have no recollection of the feeling itself.

For what it's worth, getting a tattoo on a sensitive part of one's body is what might be called a "painful motherfucker."

I agree, but if you're in SERIOUS pain, you're not laughing on your phone. See the chart I just posted.

FWIW I agree someone's 4 might be someone else's 7. But if you're rating your pain as a 10 and scrolling TikTok you're not a 10. Point blank period.

 

[SweetSue92]

Some folks just feel more pain.......redheads anyone?

then there are folks that pain just doesn't seem to register with

i never could figure it out.......

~S~

Agree with this. But I think anyone rating their pain "the worst pain imaginable" would not be laughing on their phone.

 

[SweetSue92]

A pain level of 10 in your hand would mean your fingers are currently being cut off with a saw...you'd be screaming!

I was with my mom at the doctors & she described every paid she had as a 10...whent he doc left the room I told her "you may as well just refused to answe the question...that's how much info you just gave the doctor".

No disrespect to your mom, but this is exactly what I'm talking about. You can totally function (imo) with a 1-4. 5-7 gets your attention and makes it harder to focus. 8-9-10 means you can only deal with the pain.

 

[Foxfyre]

Yes to all of this, and I don't think I made it clear in the OP that providers mock people who say they are 10, but when the provider walked in the room, they were scrolling their phone and laughing.

You can do that with maybe a 4-5, maybe even a 6. But a 10 is like, "I'm gonna die" pain.

What I glean from this is that too many patients rate their pain a 10 no matter how severe it is, because it's pain and it sucks. But just because it sucks doesn't mean it's a 10.

Yes I did misinterpret your post. Probably didn't read it carefully. And I do agree with that. Some also represent the severity of their pain to get in front of the line and that is unfortunate.

But tolerance for pain is subjective. My husband is a man's man but he has a pretty low thresh hold for pain where I suspect mine is pretty high. But I do know what a 10 pain is.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

I am indeed.

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I have recently heard a theory that posits a connection between trigeminal neuralgia and Christ's Passion.

If you're interested in hearing, let me know.


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[Grau]

All I know is we have saved millions of people from becoming an addict to pain meds by telling them their pain doesn't exist.

This arrogant type narco phobia considers driving those in serious pain to suicide preferable to seeing them on a responsible pain management routine.

What's next?
Denying insulin to diabetics to "save them" from the evils of "addiction"?

Please think.

 

[sparky]

My first hospital job was with a small county hospital in a tiny rural town of fewer than 8000 people. I was administrative staff but when they were short staffed we were often drafted to help out as orderlies, in the emergency room etc. One of the first things I often did when I arrived for work in the early morning was to chase the cows out of the administrator's flower beds.

Which is how I came to help deliver twins on the hospital lawn one early morning when the mom didn't make it from the car to the hospital and there was only the E.R. doc in the E.R. at that time. And Butterfly McQueen had nothing on me. I didn't know nuthin' about birthin' no babies even though I had already had two myself.

But I do remember comforting the woman who came through it like a trouper though she screamed from the pain a lot. The babies came like 5 minutes apart and there was no time to give her anything for the pain. More traumatic for me than her maybe but it was her pain. I can't imagine telling her that she wasn't having that pain or laughing at her.

Mom and babies were just fine by the way after it was all said and done.

on the 'effin' lawn...........oh we could trade notes FF

i mention butterfly only because that's how i felt inside will trying to keep my game face on (and tell them it'll be alright) in the presence of those who were co-creators with God almighty

it got a tad heavy at times, considering i exist with lots of PWT that had little to no recourse, the system had turned their backs on these women.

consider the old graveyards are full of young women who died during childbirth

i was out in the mountains , sometimes a good hr away from an ER , many times unable to get a good radio signal looking at a breach or hemorrhage yellin' for help because i was so scared i'd loose 'em

~S~

 

[braalian]

So I saw a few posts from health care professionals mocking patients who are on their phone, laughing, yet rank their pain a "10".

Not to be too crass, but I think a "10" is you're literally on fire. In my mind, I wasn't even a 10 giving birth. A solid 9, yes.

This chart seems to support my pain rating in childbirth. Bad, but not the worst I can imagine.

Thoughts?

I’ve seen this more times than I could count. It’s obviously frustrating when patients are clearly just saying 10 (or “11” or “12”) in hopes of getting the strongest pain med possible

With that said, there are people who’ve lived with chronic pain for so long they can be in significant pain and still go about their lives more or less normally

Ultimately, pain is always subjective