Post #2375777
2026-05-10 20:57 UTC
Replies (28)
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@aredridel@kolektiva.social 2026-05-11 03:51
This is a tool to COMMUNICATE impact of pain. It's not just expressive, the goal is not just to assign a number, it is to communicate the impact of pain or discomfort to a clinician or caregiver so they can know it needs treatment, and to understand if treatment is working. Accuracy helps that, but remember the point is not to have the NUMBER, but to COMMUNICATE.
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@wwahammy@social.treehouse.systems 2026-05-10 21:07
@aredridel@kolektiva.social interestingly, that makes my chronic back pain much higher on the scale. I usually say it's a 1 because it's really not all that bad. But it definitely affects what activities I do, so here it's a 4 or 5.
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@cassey@ottawa.place 2026-05-10 21:14
@aredridel@kolektiva.social I was recently asked (by an insurance provider, adding insult to injury) to rate how each of several symptoms have been recently on a scale of 1 to “the worst it’s ever been”. They asked no further questions about say, how bad each symptom has been for me in the past, or how it affects me now or how much my supposed level 10 may have affected me…
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@twenty20sight@mstdn.games 2026-05-10 22:06
@aredridel@kolektiva.social Thank you for this, I now know how to talk to medical folks on my Dad's behalf; his chronic pain has been happening and worsening for decades and he never knew how to answer "what's your pain level" even *before* he had cognitive issues.
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@kos@stolat.town 2026-05-10 22:36
@aredridel@kolektiva.social See also the Kip scale for migraines and cluster headaches specifically!
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@zl2tod@mastodon.online 2026-05-10 23:53
@aredridel@kolektiva.social 11. Screaming and writhing, doesn't answer question.
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@nagaram@gts.thinkstoomuch.net 2026-05-11 00:01
@aredridel@kolektiva.social Also a note from the loved one of a tired nurse. Please don't respond to "Rate your pain on a scale of 1-10" With anything higher than a 10. Some nurses will get it and not be mad. Some nurses suck and will write you off as being dramatic and it might impact care. Related note, if you say you're at a 9 and they give you medicine that works, don't respond with 9 when they ask again. They're likely to start losing trust in you and might avoid giving more meds out of fear that you're drug seeking. Being honest when you're feeling better let's them know this is a med that can help. The 1-10 scale is standardized as much as it can be for a subjective chart, but there are physical queues nurses are looking for. So if you say you're a 9/10 and then they find you acting completely normal, able to function with very little help, then they may think you're drug seeking. Hopefully this info is helpful
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@afilina@phpc.social 2026-05-11 00:05
@aredridel@kolektiva.social I kept saying 7 when I should have been saying 9 or 10 on some occasions. No wonder triage almost let me die more than once. I was basically just comparing it to the worst pain I knew: giving birth.
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@trib@aus.social 2026-05-11 00:11
@aredridel@kolektiva.social as both a first responder first aider (volunteer firefighter) and someone who has been asked more than once to rate pain and not been able to respond in a way that accurately reflected the injury (I rated a dislocated ankle + fractured tib-fib and a torn MCL at different times as “5”), I am a fan of this. What the pain distracts you from and to what degree is very useful.
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@libramoon@mastodon.social 2026-05-11 00:22
@aredridel@kolektiva.social mostly 4
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@f800gecko@mastodon.online 2026-05-11 00:30
@aredridel@kolektiva.social I so wish I'd had this last year. And I so wish the medical world had long ago internalized it.
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@RegGuy@mstdn.social 2026-05-11 00:31
@aredridel@kolektiva.social I have a very high pain tolerance and therefore have a hard time determining the level of pain. I've had level 10 several times, twice I blacked out from that pain. I understand the reason for trying to determine pain level, but it's, as Sheldon said at his driving test "A car length is not a standard measure of distance."
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@drewtowler@mas.to 2026-05-11 00:31
@aredridel@kolektiva.social This is a good tool, thank you.
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@futurebird@sauropods.win 2026-05-11 00:34
@aredridel@kolektiva.social When my foot and leg were broken they put a cast on my foot. My foot became swollen in the cast and started to hurt from being pinched. It was the worst pain of my life. Worse than when my appendix burst, worse than the broken leg. After SIX HOURS I got them to cut the cast and just sat there crying since the pain had stopped. But they just didn't understand how much it was hurting. I still don't understand why it was so bad. I was on some painkillers but it still hurt.
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@solitha@mastodon.social 2026-05-11 00:50
@aredridel@kolektiva.social Oh this is immensely helpful. I've always struggled with these. Why don't they just post these in clinical areas for reference?
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@SomeVeganCheeseIsOk@mastodon.social 2026-05-11 01:06
@aredridel@kolektiva.social 10 is where I literally pass out. 9 is where I can see colors if I breathe through it and successfully disassociate. 8 is where it hurts enough to impair movement significantly. 7 is where it hurts but I can maybe move almost like a human. 6 is fine, I'm ok, we're good, but I might want to see a doctor like tomorrow or something. 5 and below are ignorable. 1 is FUCKING SPECTACULAR.
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@anne_twain@theblower.au 2026-05-11 01:18
@aredridel@kolektiva.social Thanks for this. Bookmarked.
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@QuercusMacrocarpa@mastodon.social 2026-05-11 01:46
@aredridel@kolektiva.social This is useful, thanks for posting it. The best I had found to date was the Mankoski pain scale (https://www.valis.com/andi/painscale.html). This one seems similar.
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@NilaJones@zeroes.ca 2026-05-11 02:10
@aredridel@kolektiva.social The best response I ever got was when a doctor asked me to rate my pain 1-10 and I bust out laughing I had to explain, we were just talking about the scale on the internet the other day, and how it doesn't make any sense without referents It was one of those rare moments where you can see a doctor actually focus and be present, for a few seconds - Anyway, how am I supposed to rate pain that prevents me from doing 99% of my previously normal activities, and has been ongoing daily for decades? Am I supposed to change how I define normal activities? This is what I mean when I say the whole concept is stupid, for chronic pain I am not super distracted. I am not unable to stop screaming (yes, I have experienced that kind of pain too). I just can't do any of my normal things If I did 5% of my normal stuff, then yeah, I probably would not be able to stop screaming But that's not socially acceptable, so I just don't do the stuff
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@nomdeb@mstdn.social 2026-05-11 03:54
@aredridel@kolektiva.social I have very high tolerance for pain. Two memories come to mind. After first abdominal surgery decades ago, surgeon after finding total mess inside commented, most people would have called 911, not said for TWO YEARS, "it will go away." The second was when I had such severe back pain I saw stars and fainted. Hubby still mad at me I didn't call him after I woke back up, levered myself up, dove from bathroom to bed and rolled myself along the sides until I could lay flat again. ;)
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@geoffl@mastodon.me.uk 2026-05-11 03:59
@aredridel@kolektiva.social Even 10 seems a bit soft there, in my experience. Where are "the thought of movement terrifies me, I will deficate where I lay" and "I'm only vaguely aware of your presence. Pain is everything If death is the only way to make it stop please kill me." On the other hand I know someone who, after coming round after major lung surgery, was repeatedly offered pain medication because they "must be in a lot of pain" and didn't need any because it was "just a little uncomfortable".
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@violetmadder@kolektiva.social 2026-05-11 04:36
@aredridel@kolektiva.social I know somebody who calibrates their 10 from the time they fell off a cliff and broke their spine in several places. After foot surgery, they rated their pain at a 7, and the nurses gave them some Tylenol and left. Pain got so bad that night they were about hallucinating without the proper medication. Nurses didn't take 7 seriously enough without context.
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@Texan_Reverend@kind.social 2026-05-11 05:31
@aredridel@kolektiva.social The DVPRS and similar versions of the pain scale which focus on the effects the pain is having have been a tremendous boon to communicating more effectively both in healthcare settings and in conversation with friends and family. This page talks about the DVPRS, how it was created, how it's meant to be used, and so on: https://www.disabled-world.com/health/pain/dvprs-2.php At the end of the article, it also includes the supplemental DVPRS questions page which asks about impact on: activity, sleep, mood and stress.
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@Tattooed_Mummy@beige.party 2026-05-13 17:21
@aredridel@kolektiva.social hmm 2-4 on this scale looks the same to me. It's crazy trying to tell someone else what your pain is like. I didn't think childbirth was painful for example. But stubbing my toe, easy 9 or 10
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@deborahh@cosocial.ca 2026-05-13 18:39
@aredridel@kolektiva.social @ShaulaEvans@zirk.us thanks for posting this. I used a chronic pain tracking app this Spring, and hed to decide for myself what 0 or 4 or 10 meant. My scale looked a lot like yours. It's good to see a standard one I can share. 🙏
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@anthra@todon.nl 2026-05-17 19:14
@aredridel@kolektiva.social I thought my usualy pain was about 3-4, but according to the reference points it’s 6
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@Cronopio@nrw.social 2026-05-25 16:03
@aredridel@kolektiva.social Would be nice when staff would recognize "hard breathing, unable to scream, unable to move, on the edge of fainting, unable to communicate" to mean: 10. Would be even nicer when local as well of general pain management would be done before that situation arises.
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@inthehands@hachyderm.io 2026-06-01 23:52
@aredridel@kolektiva.social @mcmullin@musicians.today In case nobody’s posted the xkcd: https://xkcd.com/883/