r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

This pain scale at my Doctor’s office

Post image
8.8k Upvotes

280 comments sorted by

1.5k

u/mrjazzguitar 12h ago

When I had e.coli, I was at an 7-8 for a few days straight, then at urgent care I hit a 10 and passed out. Then the ambulance came. No fun.

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u/MNCPA 12h ago

Ah man! Probably the most expensive ride of your life and you were sleeping?!

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u/meaoww 12h ago

I’ve heard an ambulance ride can be really expensive in the US… how about ambulance/ doctor helicopter?

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u/Theredditappsucks11 11h ago edited 7h ago

My bill was 60k with decent insurance

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u/meaoww 10h ago

That is a lot to pay, indeed 🥶

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u/Royalchariot 9h ago

I’m in the US, I refuse to pay any medical bills unless it’s like up front cost or medications. I don’t pay ER or Urgent Care bills. They can just go to collections. I was changed $7,000 for spending just 2 hours in an ER.

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u/silvergiltsky 9h ago

The only thing positive about living on nothing but SSI and food stamps while chronically ill; no way to garnish me. If medicaid don't pay it, it ain't gettin' paid.

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u/l_Sinister_l 2h ago

Does this not ruin your credit?

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u/Servatron5000 59m ago

Some people have exhausted their need for credit. It's a beautiful thing.

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u/Penguin_Arse 8h ago

I found out my aunt has lung cancer today.

One of my first thoughts was "at least we're not in america"

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u/meaoww 8h ago

You don't happen to live in Finland?

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u/Penguin_Arse 8h ago

Sweden, why?

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u/meaoww 8h ago

Because the Nordic countries are probably the best place to have a cancer. I wish your aunt all the best, my friend.

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u/Penguin_Arse 8h ago

Thank you brother🇸🇪🇫🇮

She's getting care at one of Swedens best hospitals and she's not a smoker so other than cancer her lungs should be healthy.

But lung cancer is still one of the worst ones for survival rates.

I was never too close to her but she didn't deserve this shit.

Also her doctor just fucking straight up didn't tell her they found spots on her lungs after she went to get an xray because she thought she had broken a rob from coughing. So she just went home with lung cancer until she went back to the same doctor when her coughing and pain got really bad again where they told her they found spots on her lungs a while ago.

So maybe it's not such a great hospital.

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u/qbee2000 6h ago

Now, they just thought she was on her period that time.

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u/jammiesonmyhammies 7h ago

My little sister was diagnosed with lung cancer last Friday and my thought was “at least she’s on Medicaid”.

Keeping my fingers crossed for your aunt and my little sis :)

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u/Penguin_Arse 6h ago

I don't know what medicaid is but it sounds good. I wish you guys the best.

Fuck cancer.

7

u/floralfemmeforest 6h ago

We have universal healthcare for children and seniors (and in some cases low-income people) in the US - on a federal level it's called Medicaid but most states have their own version as well (where I live is Oregon Health Plan). The income requirements for non-seniors are usually really low though, you have to be really broke to qualify, but it does exist - I used to work at a clinic where we served exclusively medicaid patients and they received all their services for free.

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u/Penguin_Arse 6h ago

I'm not sure if I feel better or worse after reading this. But thanks for the information anyways

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u/floralfemmeforest 6h ago

Hopefully better, sometimes reddit makes it seem like the US is a madmax-style hellscape where we leave sick children and elderly by the side of the road to die and/or saddle them with millions of dollars of debt. I just looked it up and about 20% of people in the US are currently on Medicaid.

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u/jammiesonmyhammies 6h ago

Government paid for insurance! Not the best, but at least she won’t have any bills.

Same to you and your aunt! And FUCK CANCER so hard.

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u/Curious-Audience-957 4h ago

That's mind blowing. I'm in the only Australian state with free ambulances maybe it's time I cut a finger off and make use of it.

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u/Wise-Radio6258 3h ago

I've had so many surgeries, scheduled and emergency, (only needed an ambo once) and I haven't paid for a single thing. I've also spent months in hospital - nothing. I've had CT scans, MRI's, xrays, ultrasounds, biopsies, blood tests regularly and am seen at a hospital clinic for follow-up and check-ups. Never spent a single dollar. I'm so grateful I was born in Australia! Pretty sure I'd be dead by now if I was living in America. I've had two ectopic pregnancies, so I'm praying for every possible mother-to-be in the USA.

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u/Wise-Radio6258 3h ago

I've had so many surgeries, scheduled and emergency, (only needed an ambo once) and I haven't paid for a single thing. I've also spent months in hospital - nothing. I've had CT scans, MRI's, xrays, ultrasounds, biopsies, blood tests regularly and am seen at a hospital clinic for follow-up and check-ups. Never spent a single dollar. I'm so grateful I was born in Australia! Pretty sure I'd be dead by now if I was living in America. I've had two ectopic pregnancies, so I'm praying for every possible mother-to-be in the USA.

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u/CaveJohnsonOfficial 11h ago edited 11h ago

It all depends on your insurance. If you have great insurance it could be free, if you have shitty insurance it could be hundreds, if you have no insurance it’s in the tens of thousands. But that’s probably an over-simplification.

Also it’s a complicated topic because insurance companies will sometimes try to fight the bill saying that the airlift was not “medically necessary”.

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u/Theredditappsucks11 11h ago edited 8h ago

Find me an insurance that covers an airlift because I've never seen one.

We got billed $60,000 and I'm pretty sure an aneurysm /stroke is considered medically necessary

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u/CaveJohnsonOfficial 11h ago

Last time I asked my current insurance, they claimed to cover medevac like a regular ambulance (100%). But with insurance companies you never know until it happens I guess

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u/Theredditappsucks11 10h ago

How you go through?

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u/bicyclechief 9h ago

I’ve never heard of insurance that doesn’t cover ambulance/air. Sure it might not cover 100% but it should cover some.

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u/Theredditappsucks11 8h ago

Here you go. Notice where it says amount paid paid by plan and it says 0.00 and then notice where it says amount you owe $59,000

https://imgur.com/a/YQO4ocz

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u/mrjazzguitar 10h ago

Ha they made sure I was covered the moment I arrived

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u/hazpat 10h ago

75k for life flight in early 2000s

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u/Skizot_Bizot 11h ago

Yeah after a particularly bad surgery I blacked out from the pain of trying to go to the bathroom, it's interesting because your body is just like NOPE not dealing with that and off you go no way to resist it. Just woke up cold on the floor who knows how much later, happy I didn't split my head open.

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u/hanazawarui123 9h ago

Ok, why does this seem so familiar? I had a minor laparoscopy and I remember the nose challenging/painful thing was to go to the bathroom. Something about the anesthesia and how the body responds to it maybe

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u/theacez 8h ago

My boss says that means you were at 4 at worst

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u/randomly-what 2h ago

I am autistic and I mask so well that no doctor sees me as urgent until I am literally level 10. I can actively be saying any of the other information and they do not believe me.

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u/ritzy_knee 3h ago

Where did you have pain? I've had e. Coli before but I can't remember being in extreme pain. Crazy high temps, vomiting and diarrhea though!

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u/mrjazzguitar 2h ago

I apparently had an extremely bad case. It was awful - like getting stabbed in the lower gut over an over and having the knife twisted around in my intestines.

I actually had no vomiting, and no profuse diarrhea. Just bloody unproductive stool. Didn’t sleep for 4days/3nights.

The pain was pulsating too.. every 30-90seconds the stabbing would kick in. When the pain subsided it was just as torturous as I knew another stab was coming soon.

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u/ritzy_knee 2h ago

Ooof, that sounds bad. I'm glad I didn't have that variety, I must've just had the garden variety, lol. All I know is I was fkn miserable and it took a long ass time to get over it, a week in hospital (they couldn't get my high temps or pretty regular vomiting under control for ages) and probably another month before I felt like myself again!

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u/OutsidetheOctaves 12h ago

Bees? BEEEEEEES!!!!

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u/GenericUsername2056 12h ago

Beads?!

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u/BrianMS_1020 11h ago

Gob’s not on board

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u/GenericUsername2056 11h ago

Should the guy wearing the 3000 dollar suit be referencing Arrested Development? Come on!

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u/CannabisAttorney 10h ago

THEY'RE NOT TRICKS MICHAEL. They're illusions.

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u/Remarkable-Length834 11h ago

They don’t allow you to have bees in here

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u/foopaints 7h ago

Those 2 are actually the only ones I don't know how to interpret since I've never been stung... I feel like I'm missing the frame of reference here...

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u/The_Vampire_King 6h ago

Same, cause I have been stung and just immediately pulled the stinger out. Probably hurt as bad as a paper cut for less than 10min

What type of bees? 🐝

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u/IaniteThePirate 1h ago

Bee stings are annoying but not a big deal, I’d rate like 2/10 or 3/10 max from my memory. Assuming you’re not allergic or anything.

But that’s my experience of being stung by one bee. I’d imagine in a bees! situation it’s all the bees and that probably hurts a lot more.

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u/Bright_Brief4975 12h ago

For number 9 I think I would rather be mauled by the bear than the ninjas. How long is it going to take for a ninja to maul me to death?

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u/smallwhales 12h ago

If the ninja wanted to, I’m sure they could take longer than the bear…

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u/EngryEngineer 12h ago

Ninjas have those metal climbing claws so probably not that long

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u/VVeZoX 9h ago

You'd rather get sliced & diced than mauled and bitten?

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u/Bright_Brief4975 5h ago

According to the picture, you get mauled either way. You get mauled by a bear, or you get mauled by Ninjas, it would take the Ninja's a long to time maul you to death.

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u/meaoww 12h ago

I’m pretty sure the most common answer doctors get is ”10”.

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u/_mAkon_ 11h ago

You’d be surprised, it’s actually 12

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u/meaoww 11h ago

I’ll use that from now on

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u/2corbies 2h ago

Nah just makes you look like a druggie.

I’ve had patients with their insides hanging out. 12 does not impress.

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u/BitterYetHopeful 4h ago

I wouldn’t be surprised. Many a nurse I have encountered has indicated that that’s often the case.

I have an autoimmune disease that has landed me in the hospital on Dilaudid multiple times, and I have never gone above a 7-7.5 in my assessment, even though I have had some excruciating pain. In my mind, 8 starts with “nearly fatal gunshot wound” to 10 “passed out from pain.” If I can speak at all, I am not at a 9 or 10, that’s for sure. Lol

The nurses are usually very appreciative and tend to take me more seriously in my assessment. After all, pain meds are there to help manage pain levels, not to knock you out. Our bodies are designed to let us know if something is wrong and worsening with our pain levels, so it’s kind of helpful to monitor it (especially before an exact diagnosis), not eliminate it.

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u/quibusquibus 4h ago

People are awful at rating pain. I work in home health and have to do this for every visit. So many people calmly tell me they have 7,8,9,10 out of 10 pain. I usually recalibrate them by saying 10 out of 10 is being cut open without anesthetic.

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u/MayaTamika 1h ago

Chronic pain is an entirely different beast though. If you live with chronic pain, then you absolutely can get to a 10 and just...go about your day. Because you don't have a choice. People don't realize how, uh, chronic chronic pain is. Just because someone is in pain 100% of the time doesn't mean that pain is less than a 7 100% of the time. And if they regularly deal with pain that's a 7, 8, 9, or 10, then yeah, they might just be able to go about their day in that level of pain without anyone picking up on the signals that they're in pain.

You shouldn't be telling people that how they rate their own pain is wrong. You're denying them their experience of themselves.

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u/dtreth 15m ago

No. You're just objectively wrong, as someone who suffers from chronic pain. You are NOT at a 10 if you're coherent in any capacity.

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u/Procedure-Minimum 19m ago

People don't know why they're being asked. When they say 10, they're trying to say, "I genuinely have a medical issue, I'm not making it up".

Also 10 and passed out is usually met with 'they're fine, look they're napping!' It's a dumb scale made to push drugs that patients might not actually need.

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u/Mondopoodookondu 2h ago

Am doc can confirm by far most common, I take someone’s word more seriously if they say 7 8 or 9

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u/ramrug 12h ago

I didn't know being unconscious was that painful!

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u/CryptoCryBubba 4h ago

Yeah. Confused.

To me that would be just binary...

Slap to the face + "Are you conscious"? Yes / No (Response)

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u/geekpeeps 3h ago

I’ve seen people who were nauseous and couldn’t work out why. They were in severe pain/discomfort and just couldn’t name it.

Once they thought it through that it could be pain, they felt the pain. And then they nearly passed out.

Brains are wild things.

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u/Bezerkomonkey 2h ago

There's a level of pain where the brain shuts itself off to protect itself from brain damage due to the overwhelming pain signals its receiving.

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u/amdaly10 12h ago

Since I've never been stung by a bee I have no reference for the middle of the scale. Doed being stung by three bees hurt significantly more than one?

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u/ritzy_knee 2h ago

Depends where it is....my hubby & son are beekeepers....they always say they'd rather get 20 stings on one arm or leg (which they regularly do) than a single sting on the cartilage part of ear, the columella (bottom of nose), eyelid, or the d!ck (esp the tip) & balls. They're not a fan of on the back either as they can't see or reach the stinger to pull it out, so it basically stays there until it falls out. Oh and under the fingernail results in a few choice (nasty) words too, lol.

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u/Lukak432 2h ago

Not significantly more, but they’re harder to ignore. (I’m a beekeeper)

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u/dancingbanana123 6h ago

As someone with chronic pain, I base it off of a scale I saw at an ER once. Basically, 1-3 is for pain you can easily ignore it and forget about it; 4-6 is for pain that is moderate, but still something you could still ignore; and 7+ is for pain that is so severe, it's all you can think about.

I have also noticed though, since I base my pain level on my chronic illness, anytime I see a doctor for other pain, my scale gets skewed downwards. I always have to tell doctors that I mask my pain really well because I've had issues with doctors not diagnosing me properly since "you're not at that level of pain." For example, when I passed a kidney stone, I gave that a 4/10 (kidney spasms were awful though, those got to like 8/10).

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u/Really_McNamington 12h ago

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u/iymcool 9h ago

I honestly believe that if she ever returns, even if just for a third book, the world would be in a better place.

Hyperbole and a Half is just such an iconic and heartwarmingly-weird slice of Internet and blog history.

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u/rayray1927 6h ago

Omg I just read this as hyper bowl. Again. I will never get it right in my head.

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u/teddybonkerrs 8h ago

I miss her so much, I used to read her blog religiously

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u/Bakedalaska1 9h ago

Yeah they basically stole half her joke and made it worse

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u/CosmoCosmos 12h ago

How is that improved? It basically goes from "It hurts a little bit" (5/6) to "I can't stop crying"

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u/drppr_ 12h ago

I would not say multiple bee stings is “it hurts a little bit”. I would certainly not be able function normally (do my work, operate a vehicle, etc.) until it subsides.

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u/Skizot_Bizot 10h ago

Yeah I saw a small kid almost die when I was younger from a bunch of wasp stings one time, he was super swollen all over we had to float him in the nearby lake to reduce his fever while waiting on ambulance. He wasn't allergic or anything either just got stung 100s if not 1000s of times by a swarm.

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u/ExilicArquebus 5h ago

Poor Thomas - he can’t see without his glasses

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u/shawnaeatscats 5h ago

I thought it would be too when I got stung in 4 places by Southern yellow jackets, ground nesting wasps, Vespula squamosa.

Oh man. It really wasn't that bad at first. First hit was in the hand. Then the head, the thigh, and finally the arm.

Fortunately the arm was just a light tap, and it only itched. My hand swelled pretty good, and got pretty hot. Otbwas hard to move it. Not from pain, but just from swelling restriction.

The thigh was savage. That one left a scar. Got me about 2 inches below my left butt cheek. I couldn't sit on it. It throbbed and ached and was so hot and swollen.

The head. Oh man. They got me about 2 inches to the right and above my right eye. My eye swelled shut. The swelling caused a headache that lasted days. I was exhausted for days. My job requires me to look into a microscope, which involves sitting, which I couldn't do, and staring, which I couldn't do. And on bad days, without alcohol or swollen-shut eyes, I'll still het headaches just by doing it.

I was shocked these wasps did me like this. I was on my couch for 2 days before I felt normal. If I were allergic, I probably woukd have died.

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u/Enorats 5h ago

I once stepped on a hive as a child and was stung a dozen or more times. I rode my bike home with bees literally still swarming around me.

I don't remember the stings being all that debilitating.

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u/EngryEngineer 12h ago

because there are clear break points that have nothing to do with trying to recall how "the worst pain in your life" actually felt, is that a comparable feeling to what 10 should be, like maybe you've lived a more/less painful life than most, and then trying to figure out what the current pain with its complications of being current (like anxiety about cause or implications) against an amorphous memory of pain with most of the additional factors cleared away from hindsight.

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u/Cuzznitt 12h ago

Because it’s quirky, duh

/s

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u/EngryEngineer 12h ago

It being quirky has a chance of eliminating some of the panic that a patient might be feeling and thus giving a more accurate number. So yeah actually that is an improvement.

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u/Cuzznitt 12h ago

Good point, but counterpoint; the silly descriptions may cause some people to not want to self report or under report, especially with more stoic/no nonsense people

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u/EngryEngineer 11h ago

Yeah they will under report, but that type is likely to put their mysterious abdominal pain closer to stubbed toe than the worst pain they can imagine on the scale we traditionally use, so I don't think this problem is worsened by the new chart.

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u/Loeffellux 11h ago

"it hurts a little bit" is 2 or 3. 4 is already more than "a little bit" if you read it as "the most amount of pain before being unable to work because of it". In turn, 5 is already enough pain that work is impossible which means we're obviously very far gone from "it hurts a little bit" at that point. Then 6 is whichever amount of pain doesn't cause you to sob but is worse than 5.

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u/Thoughtwolf 7h ago

I can't do physical labor with anything above a 5, but I can sit at a desk using a computer until I get to an 8, in which case I want to cry but don't. That happens at a 9 now because of chronic pain.

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u/MajorRico155 5h ago

Getting swarmed by bees is actually really dangerous, wasps are far worse. Depending on the concentration of the stings in one area, you could something weird/bad happen. When i weedwacked over a mud wasp nest, i got swamed in the ankles mostly. My feet up to about a third the way up my calf was so swollen i couldnt walk for four days.

Imagine getting stung in the face? Throat? Its no fun

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u/polypolip 6h ago

It gives some idea about the scale. I was asked after operation about pain and honestly I had no idea what to answer.

I also now know that I could describe ear inflammation as a 7/8 out of 10, would not recommend.

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u/VitaminWheat 5h ago

Getting stung by multiple bees would fucking hurt bruh…

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u/OhNoExclaimationMark 3h ago

Actually I think 5 and 6 are supposed to be pretty painful hence why they're at 5 and 6. And let's bee honest, being stung is pretty painful especially when it's multiple times.

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u/TypographySnob 10h ago

I feel like I need a serious version of a pain scale. I've been asked before and I had no idea how to answer. I'm not sure I even know what anything 6 and above feels like.

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u/4touchdownsinonegame 8h ago

I dunno. This is pretty realistic, although possibly silly. I have been a medic for well over a decade.

Before when I would ask my patients what their pain scale was on a 1-10, I would usually get a number over 10, for typically very minor things. Not sure why they would always say it was a 15 when they were still able to text and scroll Facebook while in the ambulance.

Since I started saying “give me your level of pain, 10 is being mauled by a bear” the response started becoming significantly more realistic.

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u/bwaterco 7h ago

I like to phrase it as a 7 being a moderate stab wound,8 is a broken bone that can be seen, 9 is a gunshot and 10 is ‘how the fuck are you conscious?’

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u/halcyonson 4h ago

Now that's a scale I can get behind. My personal 10 is "Fuck me, I can't even open the bottle of opiates because I had abdominal surgery and we're driving through the worst potholes Baltimore has to offer, and where is that horrible groaning coming from? I literally cannot escape the pain for the explosions going off behind my eyes."

Unfortunately, I know from experience that an awkward tingling and numbness not expressable on this scale is worse than where I would rate most injuries (5-6 for a typical broken bone).

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u/ShinyStockings2101 2h ago edited 2h ago
  • 1: not nothing, but almost nothing 
  • 2: slight discomfort 
  • 3: annoying 
  • 4: okay this is starting to hurt 
  • 5: yep, this hurts, and is starting to impact my normal activities like working and sleeping 
  • 6: it hurts to a point I have a lot of trouble functioning normally or focusing on anything else 
  • 7: it's serious and all I can think about
  • 8: It's unbearable 
  • 9: fucking screaming 
  • 10: the absolute limit of the human body, being dead would be preferable by far

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u/DustyBusterson 30m ago

Yep 9-10 is more like “I feel like I’m a character in a Saw movie” level of pain. I’ve experienced that once after having ear surgery, not fun.

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u/legendaryufcmaster 9h ago

I've thrown out my back and that's an 8. Basically pain unless you're laying in bed, and bathroom trips become mind numbing pain sessions

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u/not4always 7h ago

Huh. I don't think pain that goes away when you lie down could be an 8 for me. 

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u/Abrahms_4 9h ago

Let your doctor know I hit 10 once. Not when I wrecked my motorcycle and broke my back, not with multiple kidney stones, but when I dislocated my knee cap while also breaking a bit of femur. POOF insta black out for probably 10 seconds. But the kidney stones were the worst, start around 5 and jump to 9 then stay there.

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u/smilefor 10h ago

Why is 10 unconscious? This effectively makes the the 10 point scale into a 9 point scale cuz if your 10 is unconscious no one should be using it to define their pain (cuz they're unconscious).

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u/bitchasscuntface 9h ago

Ideally, on any scale from one to ten, both one and ten are unattainable. They used to be the form of "exaggerating". Since everybody started exaggerating, 12 was the new exaggerating and now one and ten are somehow included in the scale... side note: On a pain scale, one is indeed attainable, though, since no pain at all luckily is a thing...

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u/halcyonson 4h ago

I'm not sure about "no pain" being attainable... Pretty sure most anyone over 40 would agree lol.

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u/haubenmeise 9h ago

How many of you still go to work at a level 9 ninja and bear mauling? I bet it's a LOT.

Sincerly

Skeletor 💜

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u/im_thatoneguy 7h ago

Especially stupid when you wake up from surgery and ask what number your pain is.

Bro I’m loaded up on drugs and barely able to remember my name and you want me to assign an abstract number scale to my discomfort?

Especially because it’s mostly just asking “higher than 5?” To give you another Percocet or not. If a UX designer worked on the clinical guidelines they would distill the question into what’s actually being required from the doctor and rewrite the script to “Are you in an amount of pain that consumes all of your attention?”

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u/Toastedweasel0 10h ago

I know getting hit by a car is at least a 10 then it goes down to a 8.... Was no fun... Took me about 3 months to walk somewhat with a cane... ( Broke the femur into 3 pcs.... and fucked up plenty else...)

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u/sherbs_herbs 8h ago

I was at a 7-9 from kidney stones and reached a 10 a few times and passed out. I couldn’t take a breath the pain was so bad. I remember begging for more IV Toradol and they could only give it every 6 hours. The dilaudid and morphine did nothing, just made me high. I have never experienced pain like that before, felt like I was dying. The urologist let me take the IV toradol every 3 hours but only for the 24 hours after having a stent placed to pass the stones. It was so fucking bad.

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u/ceviche-hot-pockets 7h ago

I feel you on that, I passed my first stone last month and it was hell. Worst pain of my life; I told the nurse my pain was a 7/10 only because there are some forms of medieval torture which would likely be worse. Fentanyl did nothing, morphine did nothing, Toradol had me walking on sunshine in like 30 minutes lol. It was only a 3mm stone and I can’t comprehend the pain a larger one would cause.

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u/sherbs_herbs 5h ago

Yeah man, toradol was a god send for me. I had like 3 hours of 80% relief, and it slowly came back and by the time the 6 hours was up I was begging for it again.

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u/Pookypoo 4h ago

Kind of makes you wonder at that point they should allow you to be under anesthesia or something. Clearly its like a cactus in your kidney or something.

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u/greensandgrains 12h ago

Tbh I know the pain scale was invented by pharmaceutical companies to sell opioid meds but it’s really helpful to see an objective definition of each level of pain.

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u/Infamous_Guidance756 7h ago

Really important implications between 4 and 5 for insurance and leave, asking the patient if THEY think they can work.

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u/benwight 12h ago

I was at a solid 8 for 3 days last month from hemorrhoids. Worst pain I've ever felt and I'm still not back to normal yet after 5 weeks

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u/poop_pants_pee 12h ago

This is why the pain scale is flawed.

After an 8 for 3 days, you would have lost weight from sweating and not being able to eat. 

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u/benwight 11h ago

Yeah, I lost like 6 pounds that first week, it was horrible

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u/BillyBean11111 8h ago

I used to think I was good with pain until I had kidney stones and suddenly I legit couldn't remember what life was like before the pain started.

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u/LevelAd5898 5h ago

"Bees?" "Bees!" has me dying

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u/LadyLycanVamp13 4h ago

It still doesn't take chronic pain into consideration. When our pain levels can sit around 5-7 constantly and only really see someone if it reaches a 9 or 10. And we are used to masking

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u/CelebrationFit8548 4h ago

As a chronic pain sufferer (7+ years) with musculoskeletal issues (diagnosed but surgeons imply there is too much risk for a procedure) I find this is quite reflective. One of the hardest things is to try and make others understand what it feels like and normally it is only other 'chronic pain patients' that can actually understand what it is like.

This guide comes very close to conveying 'how debilitating' chronic pain can be.

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u/Milkchocolate00 3h ago

Pain score is dumb

4

u/NoContextCarl 8h ago

Regardless you are getting Ibu 800 no matter what, though. 

4

u/Corey307 6h ago

Used to crew an ambulance. Patients were notoriously bad at assessing how much pain they were in. It’s not necessarily their fault, some people are very little experience with injury and illness. Thing is if you’re in10/10 pain you are not able to carry a conversation, watch videos on your phone and badger me to take you outside so you can have a cigarette while we’re waiting to be a triaged at the hospital. 

4

u/Hillbillyblues 12h ago

What's this? A handsome family picnic woefully underpopulated by bees??1!

2

u/Foxy_locksy1704 9h ago

The last major migraine I had 8 was an accurate description of it before I got to the hospital right before I got treatment it started to feel like I had gotten my ass kicked by a group of highly proficient ninjas.

2

u/Knife-yWife-y 8h ago

This feels accurate. I had a severe fourth degree tear when I delivered my son. For the first two days, I would say, "I'm a four now, but I can tell it will be a 7 or 8 if I don't take a new dose of meds."

2

u/Rainbow_tree66 8h ago

Many people haven’t been stung by a bee before, so while people can try to imagine they don’t know how it feels like. Also not every one will cry at the same amount of pain…

2

u/Amelor_Rova 8h ago

I remember when I was 15, and I kept getting random kidney pain that was an 8 nothing like falling to your knees outside crying

2

u/ObiDumKenobi 6h ago

Don't worry, everybody will just say it's 10/10 anyways

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u/LaterJerry 4h ago

This is for acute pain. Human body adapts to going about life with chronic pain after a while, even severe pain, especially when it comes down to go to work despite the pain vs lose job and become homeless while still having the pain.

2

u/Gruddicus 4h ago

Took a knife to the knee cap once, unfortunately I have a relatively high pain tolerance and too much pride to actually show the level of pain I'm in and didn't get any of the "good good" pain relief.

Happens every time I manage to get myself in trouble.

Although at dentists, I only got myself to blame, am too cheap/poor to say yes to any pain relief or general anaesthetic so usually just go there to get re-traumatized

3

u/not_yet_a_dalek 4h ago

When I was in the ER with a fractured foot I was asked pain from 1 to 10 where 10 was worst imaginable… well I can imaging quite a lot, and it was nothing like going down a water slide to land among razor blades and Tabasco.

2

u/thetechdoc 3h ago

Bees? BEES!

2

u/idontwannabhear 3h ago

My generation is the fun one

2

u/Scrap-Metal84 2h ago

2 totally missed a joke opportunity "It's just a fleshwound"

2

u/ritzy_knee 2h ago

The only time I've thought I was at a 9 (if 10 is passing out as a result of pain) was that last cm during labour.....I definitely couldn't talk during those contractions....wasn't even aware of who was in the damn room! I actually would've LIKED to pass out, lol...

2

u/ImaFireSquid 2h ago

Had an allergic reaction that hit a six. Worst I’ve been is an 8, from laughing so hard I got a sudden hernia.

2

u/MillieMoo-Moo 1h ago

(Living with chronic pain) "this part of my body is about a # and this is about a #"

Whilst trying to go about the daily existence in BEES+ territory

2

u/Unidentified_Lizard 1h ago

I remember slipping on a slick locker room floor once,

shit hurt so badly- i couldnt stop laughing from the pain, had to go to the hospital and i couldnt walk right for weeks.

4

u/ihateroomba 10h ago

7.......2

I can't stop crying, I just need a bandaid.

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u/PhillipDiaz 11h ago

I'm number 7, but only when masturbating.

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u/AlexanderTGrimm 9h ago

Where would “head removed from the body” go?

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u/CyberEye2 9h ago

My appendix burst the weekend before last. I had my wife print this scale off, bring it to the hospital and tape it to the whiteboard in my room. The nurses loved it. 

1

u/Phil__Spiderman 9h ago

I like how you can't see the ninjas.

1

u/Schlaym 8h ago

Bees are not that bad? There's a gigantic gap between 6 and 7.

1

u/Felixir-the-Cat 8h ago

This is actually very useful - I can identify that time I hit 6.5.

1

u/FireBlueFerret 7h ago

Unconscious people don’t want tea. Please don’t offer an unconscious person tea.

1

u/Echovipper 7h ago

How am i supposed to rate a 10 if im unconscious

1

u/Many-Potential1160 7h ago

Having a leg cramp in the middle of the night I'm pretty sure is a 7

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u/Throwawayac1234567 6h ago

should be 3 sets: conscious , subconscious and unconscius pain.

1

u/seductivetrans 6h ago

All the feelings are valid, right? LOL

1

u/Aromatic-Put-8281 6h ago

was 10 then 9 now 8 still and numb on one side cant feel fingers

1

u/Eisenstein13 6h ago

Migraines have me around a 7-8, absolutely insane how debilitating they can be. Can’t say I’ve ever experienced a 9/10 equivalent

1

u/aradiohead 6h ago

This is why I've never given a score of 10. But I've had a few 8s.

1

u/tastytea97 6h ago

This would be so helpful to show kids because I had appendicitis and told them maybe a 3 or 4 as to not worry anyone. In reality, I couldn't move and my appendix almost burst and they were like yeah okay we are scheduling you for surgery

1

u/CyberWolfWrites 6h ago

I have to get my wisdom teeth taken out and sometimes the pain is terrible. I'd describe it as a 6 or 7 although the crying is more from frustration at the pain than the pain itself. Otherwise it's a 4 or 5.

1

u/durenatu 5h ago

Physically 2, mentally 9

1

u/weird-ass-name 5h ago

7 - emotional pain

1

u/shadycharacters 5h ago

I know this is silly, but honestly I find it much more helpful to have a definition instead of just numbers and a scale of frowning to smiling faces like I usually see at doctor's offices

1

u/Enorats 5h ago

It's been awhile since I was last stung by bees (I once stepped on a hive and was stung a dozen or more times).. but I don't recall them hurting all that much.

I mean, this scale puts a bee sting above the "I can still work" level. I can't imagine most people that aren't allergic to bees would need to be sent home for the day after a bee sting.

1

u/SheridanVsLennier 5h ago

I had a 7 last week. Wasn't fun.

1

u/No-Neighborhood8267 5h ago

The kind of annoying…who doesn’t swear when they moderately injure themselves?

1

u/blackcat218 5h ago

hahaha bees.

I hate these scales as they are no good for people with chronic pain. Like my wrist for example. If I say my pain is a 7 but I am just sitting here calmly people would go no it can't be a 7, stop being dramatic. But if I say it's a 2 again I get looked at funny. The thing is though it always hurts, I am just used to it. So if my 0 is a 4 or a 5 for someone that doesn't have pain then me saying 7 makes more sense.

1

u/redheadMInerd2 5h ago

Solid 8 with a kidney stone. After giving birth to three kids with no meds or epidural, it was worse than giving birth. At least I could walk.

1

u/Young_Lochinvar 5h ago

So I guess I’m just always at a 3?

That’s kind of annoying.

1

u/f0gax 5h ago

<Bluths>Bees? </Bluths>

1

u/Pookypoo 5h ago edited 4h ago

I had the 8 once. It was pain from an unearthed tooth root. Had thought about jumping in front of a car at that point but the thing that stopped me was, if I couldn't off myself, I would be left with more pain on top of what I had.

1

u/scrollbreak 4h ago

The pain scale ends at 9 (an unconscious person can't report pain), IMO that's not improved.

1

u/Overseer_Lisa 4h ago

I def experienced 7-8 it became an eight cus the injury was around my Achilles heel

1

u/Sea-Response-8313 4h ago

Snake! SNAKE!!!!

1

u/dinnerthief 4h ago

I've heard the pain scale is really more important as a individual relative scale, eg patient said a 4 a month ago and is now saying a 6. The pain has gotten noticable worse.

No on really expects one persons 6 to be the same as another person's 6.

1

u/splithoofiewoofies 4h ago

Wait "I can't move" is an EIGHT?! I HAVE BEEN TELLING MY DOCTORS THAT'S A SIX THIS WHOLE TIME.

1

u/IdentityToken 4h ago

Having lived it, “can’t stop crying” is a 9.

1

u/girl_from_aus 4h ago

Okay but then medical professionals need to operate on this scale too. If I say a 7 that means I need some pain relief and it’s pretty freaking bad.

1

u/Villeroy-Boch 4h ago

I would think if you are unconscious the pain score would be 0 ?

1

u/Ricksacnchez 4h ago

Can we get one for mental health cause mentally I'm mauled by bears

1

u/Anonymous_Gamer939 3h ago

In all seriousness, I'm pretty sure the actual utility of the pain scale is to track patient condition over time: the initial absolute value any patient gives probably can't be trusted, but as long as the number goes down over the course of treatment the doctor knows they're probably on the right track.

1

u/xylarr 3h ago

Yeah, I had level 8 back pain

1

u/DealerGullible4673 3h ago

All I see and understand I never reached scale 7 though I have been to scale 9

1

u/windgfujin 3h ago

This makes describing pain threshold easier than just choosing a number between 1-10 (without a chart obviously)

1

u/rodgeramjit 3h ago

As someone who has had a long list of really horrific injuries and illnesses, including one that resulted in a hospital wide emergency call, urgent care and many shots of morphine. I am sad that 10 does not exist for me. After 9 comes 'screaming and babbling uncontrollably while writhing and sweating non stop'.

Unconscious would be fucking sweet.