Doctors shouldn't use number scale to measure pain, amirite?

Doctors aren't measuring pain levels on a standardized measured 1-10 scale. A doctor asks you because they're diagnosing you. They're not comparing you to their previous patient, the entire point is to use you to gauge what's wrong with you.

by Diligent_Buy 2 days ago

we're judging the number you tell us against the numbers you've previously told us. we want to see if the pain treatments are helping you and whether we need to do more for you.

by Character-Lock9905 2 days ago

I can't sit still if my back pain is 4 or 7 or 9. How would that help,

by Anonymous 2 days ago

No, that just mean that i can't sit still, not that my 4 is your 7. I can't sit still and I cant sit still and i want to die because my back hurt so much is not the same thing

by Anonymous 2 days ago

if you can't sit still when your back pain is a 4 that's already high enough to be considerided a 7+ on a normal scale. Nope, because this fails to recognize differences between pain and pressure, as well as WHERE an injury is. If I say 4 but can't sit still because my injury is on my damn coxxyx it isn't "a 7+ on a normal scale"; it's a 4, in a very unfortunate place.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

We don't care if your 8 is someone else's 5. We don't compare you to anyone else. We just use the scale to compare you to you. If you start out at a 9 and now after medications your pain is now a 4 then fantastic. So no need to come in and explain how you have a really high pain tolerance. Just tell us what your pain score is. Just say how you feel and what number your pain is.

by Certain-Pair6087 2 days ago

I recently told a doctor, "About a 3, but this is only because I have passed a kidney stone. Before passing the stone I would have called this an 8."

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Yeah, but it doesn't always work great. I fractured my ankle once walking into work. I slipped on some ice in the parking lot. I tried to walk it off but it didn't work. After like a half hour I told my manager and he drove me to the doctor. The doctor asked me what it was on a 1-10. I said I don't know, 5? He looked at it checked my range of motion and stuff, noted the swelling and said it was probably a sprain and gave me a boot. The next morning it was REALLY swollen and purple and my mom was like, "did he do x-rays?" I said no and she made me go back. The doctor looked at it again and was like, "THAT was only a 5? You must have a high tolerance for pain." I said "I don't know it didn't really hurt that much?" He did X-rays and turned out it was a fracture.

by heidenreichjayc 2 days ago

This is judgmental garbage. A lot of people don't show signs of pain the way you'd expect them to until we're in the 9-10s. Doctors have this hubris where they think they can tell when a person is in "real" pain. They can not. There should be a descriptive scale and the patients should be listened to and believed.

by OkConstant8560 2 days ago

There should be a descriptive scale There is. When discussing pain there are more questions other than pain level. Is the pain shooting, throbbing stabbing? Is the pain constant or intermittent? These are standard questions. If your doctor doesn't DO them that's a problem with the doctor, not the pain scale. and the patients should be listened to and believed YES they should. That's also a problem with the doctors, not the pain scale. I believe OP is showing some classic "misplaced rage", all his problems are with doctors. Perhaps his area has some very bad practices...

by Anonymous 2 days ago

If the scale is allowing doctors to be trash - the scale should also change.

by OkConstant8560 2 days ago

The 0-10 scale often comes with such definitions

by SupermarketSome 2 days ago

I've had severe pain though thankfully only fr a short period of time. My belief is that the pain scale is logarithmic, like the decibel scale for loudness; each step up on the scale is a multiple of the one before it rather than just a bit added onto the one before.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

people in the uk trying to claim benefits . doctor touches them : AHAHAHHAHAHHH THATS A 11.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Is it true that women have a higher pain tolerance, or is this another example of male-centric medical research?

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Actually in lab studies, men have higher pain tolerance than women

by Anonymous 2 days ago

When your nurse gives you pain medication, they're asking because they have to give you meds based on your answer. Example would be tylenol for 1-3, low dose opioid for 4-6, and higher dose for 7 and up. An hour later, they should be asking you again. The number you give tells them if your pain improved, stayed the same, or got worse. It's not a perfect system. Some people say 10 no matter what. Some people get really confused when you ask them about it. But you need to chart something, and a number is the easiest.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

So on a scale from A to Z, how much pain do you have, where A stands for 'almost nothing' to Z meaning 'zone of death'.

by vcorwin 2 days ago

It's not a comparison chart.....

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I think it would be sensible if they gave us some examples. Like, if you're going to use a 1-10 scale, give me some idea of where things generally land. "If one is a paper cut, five is a punch in the gut, and ten is being actually set on fire...where are you on that scale?"

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I got a very strange look from my doctor when I asked, what exactly is a "10"? Is when I can't sit still, writhing in pain on the their GD stainless steel table or is it when my eyes roll up into my head and I pass out? (Though TBF I'm not experiencing pain when I pass out.) Been there, done that

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Doctor to his paralyzed victim in a wheelchair dealing with migraines: "can you sit still" 🤔

by Anonymous 2 days ago