So on a scale of 1-10, how much do you hate the scale of 1-10?
**Reposting because WP decided to move it to a different date in my history…hopefully I fixed the problem.
I am sure that most of you are familiar with the above chart (or a variance of the chart). If you have not seen anything like this (maybe it’s just in the US), but this chart hangs in doctor’s offices and the question is typically asked “On a scale of 1 to 10, what’s your pain level?”
Really? On a scale of 1 to 10? I really can’t have a scale of 1-100? Maybe 1000? 10 just seems so small some days. And how do you truly answer the question? What exactly does an 8 feel like? I don’t always look at my own face when I am hurting, so I can’t compare it to the little face on the chart.
As someone with chronic pain, I find this chart to be ridiculous. I can understand it if you sprained an ankle and came in to have it examined, that might be a legitimate use of the chart. The pain at the very moment is probably the harshest, right after the accident. Someone who lives life at a 0, must certainly be able to judge their pain against their baseline pain level.
I don’t have a baseline pain level. Each minute, hour, day, month feels different. Hurts differently. Aches differently. Debilitates differently. So when I go to my doctor and they ask the question, I always have to pause, think, and come up with a number to identify my pain at that very moment. Some days I was a 2-3, other days an 8-9. There were times I was a 10, but a 4 by the afternoon appointment…then returning to a 7 in the evening. The only slice of information the doctors record, typically, is the 4.
The other issue I have with this technique is, I just don’t really know what it tells the medical staff besides how heavy of a pain killer one might need. If the patient is at a 10, then the doctor rushes to help take away the pain.
Vicodin, Percocet, Celebrex, Ultram, Demerol, Lorcet, Lortab, Percodanm, Morphine, Oxycodone.
You get the point, I hope. For someone in Chronic Pain, this chart is a joke. Doctor’s need to document the overall story of the pain and symptoms, not simply ask what our pain level is at that moment. I even has my disability lawyer ask me this question last week in preparing for my next step in the disability battle. I was not expecting to be asked that question by my lawyer, and still am not sure what that bit of information will do to help my case. Maybe the fact that I was at a 7 on 4/3 at noon will help me win my case. The judge will see that and it will all be cleared up. (last line dripping with sarcasm, in case the tone didn’t come through. Still waiting on the Sarcasm Font to be introduced.)
So until such time that the medical community comes of age and actually asks questions that are pertinent to what I am dealing with, I guess I will continue to take my numbers with me to doc appointments, ready to flash my pain when asked.
Here is my scale questionnaire for you:
On a scale of 1-10:
How badly do you want the pain to be a 0?
How cute of a couple are Mickey and Minnie Mouse?
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck Fibro?
How many marathons have you run in the last 3 months?
How precious are kittens and puppies?
Most of us have numerous struggles, all wrapped up into one misunderstood body. Somehow we are expected to squish all of our experiences into one 30-60 minute conversation with our doctor. Think about this for a minute. There are 24 hours in a day…14440 minute in just one day. One day!! So a month works out to an average of 43,200 minutes. So for 43,200 minutes each month we have to deal with our pain and illness. Yet, we have 60 minutes, or 0.001% of our month, at the doctor to truly reflect what the other 99.999% of the month.
A piece of advice, take full advantage of the 0.001% of your time and tell the doctor as much as you can, AND make sure he/she is typing everything you say into the system. I personally submitted a letter from my Fibro Specialist which stated, clearly, that in my current state there is no possible way I would be able to work 40 hours a week, and be a contributing employee. Disability denied my claim stating that the 45 minute doctor visits did not back up the letter from my doctor. So please be sure that doctors are documenting thoroughly everything that is going on.
From the Fog 