Describing the pain

You’re having pain and finally decide it’s time to get it checked. Chances are, you’re not in the best of moods and the emergency room or clinic is the last place you planned on being. And, now that you’re there, you just want help. So – what’s with all the questions?

Why is the nurse asking if it’s aching, sharp, pulsing, constant – isn’t pain pain? And, what’s with the “on a scale of 1 to 10….?” And why do they keep repeating the same questions?

I know; it is frustrating sometimes to want and need pain relief, only to be asked a bunch of questions. But, there really are good reasons for them. The more information the nurses and doctors can get from you and the more accurate the information is, the better care you end up receiving.

When you are asked the quality of the pain, meaning if it’s constant, stabbing, throbbing, or however you want to describe it, this tells the healthcare professionals a lot. A sharp stabbing pinpoint pain has often a very different cause than an achy, throbbing pain. Pain that is located in one area is different from one that radiates (moves) from one part of the body to another. This is all very important information.

Just as important is the pain scale, asking of the pain is rated from 0 to 5 or 10, with 0 being no pain and 5 or 10 being the worst ever. The thing about pain is that it is very individual. You may break a bone in your foot and be able to walk on it until you get care; others may break the same bone and pass out from the pain. One person can get stitches with minimal freezing, someone else needs as much as possible. When these different perceptions of pain can be a problem is in the hospital. Different healthcare personnel have different perceptions of their own. So, if you say that you are in a lot of pain but then feeling somewhat better, to one nurse, that may mean one thing – to another it could be different.

By using a pain scale of 0 to 10, consistently, the perception of pain is taken out of the equation. Let’s say you are complaining of pain in your back at a level of 8 – that’s pretty bad – and that’s what you tell the nurse. He or she charts that in your record and gives you a medication for the pain. You tell another nurse that the pain is about a 5 after you’ve had your medication. The 5 is noted in your chart and the people who read it all come up with the same conclusion: the pain medication only worked a bit. There’s no influencing from any person other than you.

With children, it changes a bit; they may not be able to give accurate scales, so other methods can be used, like images of happy and sad faces, for example. A good resource can be found at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which includes a diagram of the facial expression scale.

So, while it can be annoying, and believe me I know, I have had it done to me as a patient, there really is a good purpose behind it. Consistent reporting of pain and pain relief helps the medical staff help you.