If you happen to be a fan of TV medical dramas, then you’re probably familiar with the notion of having a doctor ask a patient to rate his pain level on a scale of one to 10. These days, the pain scale is becoming more and more widely used in urgent care facilities and emergency rooms throughout the country. The question is: Is the pain scale actually useful?
Dr. Davis Cloward is a physician at Doctors Express, an express clinic in High Point, North Carolina that’s equipped to treat everything from on-the-job injuries to sudden ailments and infections, and in his opinion, the pain scale doesn’t necessarily make a huge difference one way or another.
The idea behind the pain scale is to have each patient rank his pain level on a scale of one to 10, with one being “not so bad” and 10 being “the worst possible pain imaginable.” What’s the purpose of assigning a number to one’s pain? According to proponents of the pain scale, the more measurable one’s pain is, the better his doctors can work to treat it.
Let’s take a patient who comes in with severe stomach cramps. When asked to rate his pain level on a scale of one to 10, his answer might start out as “seven.” However, after receiving treatment, he might start feeling better enough to lower his rating to a three or four. The logic behind the pain scale is that assigning a numeric value to one’s pain level gives doctors a better idea of how effective or ineffective their methods of pain relief are. For some medical professionals, it’s easier to differentiate between a pain level of three versus seven as opposed to pain levels of “it hurts a lot” compared to “it still hurts, but not as much as before.”
On the other hand, some physicians like Dr. Cloward feel that a number recorded on a pain scale does not necessarily imply medical severity. Different patients are bound to have varying thresholds for pain, and one’s person “three” could easily translate into another individual’s “nine.” For this reason, Dr. Cloward prefers to focus on a patient’s pain itself rather than on the number assigned to it. Furthermore, it is possible for a patient to purposely or inadvertently exaggerate his pain in order to convince a doctor to give a higher dose of medication than is actually necessary, or to simply serve as a means of conveying the urgency involved in the situation. According to Dr. Cloward, part of his job as a physician at an urgent care facility is to examine and talk to patients in order to gauge the extent to which they are suffering. And while some doctors may prefer to resort to the pain scale in order to treat their patients, Dr. Cloward is confident in his ability to be empathetic towards patients without necessarily hearing a number.
If you’re ever in a medical situation where a doctor is asking you to rate your pain level on a scale of one to 10, then try to do so as accurately as possible. However, don’t be afraid to supplement this information with verbal details about how you’re actually feeling. Remember, the pain scale does exist for a reason, but that doesn’t mean that some doctors won’t also use a more human approach to patient care.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
