HURT FEELINGS
Pain Scale Problems
Rating chronic pain from none to a ton is ultimately useless
The question comes every month: “How’s your pain?”
I have a rare genetic disease called multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (M-E-D) that caused my joints to deform as I grew. As a result, I’ve had eight joint replacements (both hips twice, both knees, both shoulders), plus had my ankles fused. As a result of the MED, my body is a mass of inflammation. I hurt from head to toe. Powerful pain medication takes the edge off enough for me to function.
To get the drugs I need, I visit a pain practice monthly. When my prescriber asks me about my pain each time, she isn’t expecting a frank opinion such as, “It sucks.”
No, she wants me to give a number between 0 (no pain) and 10 (the worst pain imaginable).
That’s when what I call “The Pain Game” starts.
Make no mistake: She genuinely cares how I feel and wants an honest answer. But, for me, the question is just too fraught.
That’s when what I call “The Pain Game” starts.
From my experience, patients get little guidance as to what a pain score is and how best to calculate it. I wish my doctors had answered such questions…
