Dear 1 to 10 Pain Scale, I Hate You
Let’s talk about the pain scale here for a minute. You know, the chart you see in the ER with the happy and sad faces numbered one to ten so you can better convey the level at which you are suffering. Can we finally call BS on that thing and come up with something better? I mean seriously. Mad props to whoever came up with this right here, because they are on the right track. Over the years I have come to hate the pain scale and the fact that doctors ALWAYS ask me to quantify my pain using it. I get it. It’s a tool, but a majorly flawed one considering what a spectrum of pain and tolerance to pain there is. I have seen people in migraine inpatient units describing a level ten and how it impacts their ability to function at work. Umm...yeah. Their ten is not my ten. If it was, then maybe I too would be able to have a job in the traditional sense. But a job requires you to be able to function with a certain degree of reliability and predictability, at least most of