Are you able to express pain levels?

I had to go to the hospital tonigh for some severe pain and found out I have a 13cm kidney stone that they have to do surgery to get out

Anyway, when I went in, the first thing they asked in my pain levels, 1 being not so bad and 10 being the worst pain ever. I had no idea how to answer that and guessed 7.

I wish I could've had a base pain test or something to get an idea of what a 10 would feel like, that way I could make an accurate estimate...

Anybody else like this?

This sounds like part of a Karl Pilkington podcast where he says there should be a machine where the doctor can feel what you feel and tell you what's wrong, as there may be things you think are not worth bothering about but a doctor would know otherwise.

I'm not sure. I don't think I'd be able to give a specific pain a number either, but I suppose it's a tool for them to gauge how much distress the pain is causing you.

http://www.tipna.org/info/documents/Com ... nScale.htm

Thats the pain scale I use, memorised.

Currently taking morphine for pain levels between 8-9. I have days where I can't do anything due to not being able to focus on simple tasks - thats why I am never always here.

I would use that pain scale. It threw me right out when I had my last operation, they kept asking my my pain scales 1-3 1 being no pain, 3 being worst pain ever.

I find it difficult to make a guess too! especially as everyone has a different pain threshold.

373 wrote:This sounds like part of a Karl Pilkington podcast where he says there should be a machine where the doctor can feel what you feel and tell you what's wrong, as there may be things you think are not worth bothering about but a doctor would know otherwise.

xD It reminded me of Karl Pilkington too! That man is amazing!

I see a pain mgmt specialist regularly for severe rheumatoid arthritis and they ask me my pain level at every appt and I always find it difficult to pinpoint. I find myself worrying about it in the waiting room trying to figure out what I should say. Then I come up w/ weird answers like 7.5 b/c 7 seems too low but it's not quite an 8. I don't think I ever use whole #'s.

373 wrote:This sounds like part of a Karl Pilkington podcast where he says there should be a machine where the doctor can feel what you feel

I've felt that way about my friends and family so they could understand why I get cranky or overwhelmed at times from being in a significant amt of pain 24/7 ever since I was diagnosed in 1996. Just read an article about women feeling pain more than men. So why are we the ones who have to go thru childbirth and all that fun female stuff?

I have this problem! Leads to interesting situations. Once I went to the doctor because i wasn't feeling well and it turned out i had two ear infections, a sinus infection, and strep throat...he was like "didn't you realize something was wrong a week ago??" and i was like "um not really..."

And there was the time i got hit in the eye (with my eye OPEN), hard enough to knock me to the ground, and didn't go to the doctor for several days until my boss told me that she wouldn't let me work bc my eye looked so bad i was scaring the customers...turned out i had a deep scratch on my cornea and the doctor kept me out of work and drugged up for a week to let it heal...

And it comes up nearly every day in dance class; i'll sit in a straddle and my teacher pushes on my legs or back to make me stretch further, and she says "tell me when to stop"...well i never say anything and eventually she's like "HELLO DOESN'T THAT HURT??? i'm afraid i'm going to break you" and i'm like "um...sort of, i'm not sure??"

ogr wrote:http://www.tipna.org/info/documents/ComparativePainScale.htm

Thats the pain scale I use, memorised.

Thanks for this, i think it will be helpful

yep. Either something hurts like a bitch, or its just aggravating to me. No inbetween for me.

I have difficulty expressing painlevels also, but I think it is quite normal for anyone, since usually you don´t remember pain from the past so don´t have anything to compare your pain with.

Camelidae wrote:I have difficulty expressing painlevels also, but I think it is quite normal for anyone, since usually you don´t remember pain from the past so don´t have anything to compare your pain with.

I dunno, I think most males will feel pain or feel sick if your pretend to or show something of someone getting hit in the scrotum if they have ever been kicked or hit there.

But they don´t actually feel any pain then, do they? They only imagine what it´d be like and come to the conclusion it wouldn´t be fun.