Daily Life,  Lifestyle,  Medical,  Pain

Define Your Pain

April 17, 2024 /

In my opinion, perhaps the most important part of your medical record is a daily log of your most important symptoms. Pain is my number one and is considered part of your vital signs (along with respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure, etc) by medical personnel. I don’t know about you, but I tend to tolerate higher levels of pain than the average person. I’m sure it comes from being in almost constant pain for the past 10 – 12 years. However, when a physician’s office staff asks me for my pain level and I say “3,” my “3” isn’t equal to your “3” or the next person’s “3.” It may be drastically different!

Several years ago, I came up with a definition for each level of my pain. Here’s an example:

  • 0 = No pain
  • 1 = Very mild pain that comes and goes
  • 2 = Very mild pain – intensity fluctuates
  • 3 = My routine daily pain
  • 4 = Daily pain requiring frequent breaks in activity
  • 5 = Daily pain but not able to do any activity, light sensitivity & blurry vision, need pain medication
  • 6 = Worse than daily pain with noise and light sensitivity, blurry vision, need 2 rounds of pain medication
  • 7 = Pain worse than 6, noise & light sensitivity, blurry vision, requires ice, pain medication
  • 8 = Pain worse than 7, noise & light sensitivity, blurry vision, requires ice, bed & dark, several rounds of pain medication
  • 9 = Pain worse than 8, no stimulation, around the clock pain medication, ice, dark, bed, several rounds of pain medication
  • 10 = Cannot get comfortable in any position due to pain, go to emergency department

This is my actual definition oof pain. Yours may be different but I encourage you to make one and share it with your physicians. Begin with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain. Put 5 in the middle as a break between “I can deal with this” and “I need to ask for help.” I use that as my “I need medication” level but that doesn’t mean I never take medication before level 5. There are some days I know it is going to be bad. On those days, I try to take medication earlier to avoid needing to go to the emergency department.

I hope this helps! Today isn’t an easy day for me to be on the computer so I’m going to post the other suggestions tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful day. Continue to choose your way to healing with peace.

Chris