Explaining pain

Hi TheCatWoman 

In respect of that pain scale they gave you  It is often categorised into: no pain = 0, mild pain = 1-3, moderate pain = 4-6, severe pain = 7-10, but these categories do not necessarily reflect patient meanings, and are poor for any assessment of change. (source: British Pain Society).

So anything that is 7 or above is saying to them you're in severe pain for example.  So maybe don't get too hooked up on comparatives - be as honest as one can be with such a strange question and go from there maybe?

Likewise saying one is experiencing leg pain of 10/10 whilst skipping in and smiling happily would also tell them something - or inspire them to ask whether they could have any of whatever it is you're taking...

Anyway, pain is also experienced in many different dimensions and as you highlight what helps one doesn't help or indeed suit all.

Pain and its experience has a significant emotional component too and  a little bit of understanding goes a long way however in a system that is based on filling in forms and protocols perhaps this gets lost sometimes.

I live with chronic pain myself from a youth where exuberance and fool-hardiness lead to a few broken bones and the arthritis they told me I'd get back then certainly came true!

The same resource of the British Pain Society says: "Chronic pain has multiple effects on patients, so outcome measures cover several domains: Pain Quantity, Pain Interference, Physical Functioning, Emotional Functioning, Quality of Life, Patient reported global ratings"

I wonder whether with a bit of imagination some help in one of those domains might be found and I wonder whether priming you for thinking in those terms might help you get the best out of your encounters with the pain clinic?

Umm, I don't know if this is helpful, but expands on the previous point.  I saw something about the Mankoski pain scale which looked really handy for actually understanding what the numbers mean. 

I remember during a miscarriage being in so much pain I got a friend to look after my 1 year old so my husband could take me to A&E. But when they asked, I compared it to childbirth and said 6, which I realise now would have been a 9 at least as I won't even normally go to the doctor, so I didn't get anything.

It's also a known thing that female pain is often ignored clincially and put down to 'probably a female matter'.  I know so many women with different conditions that went through years of pain, only to require major surgery and an 'oops we missed that'. I don't have any detailed notes to back that up though, I just remember reading it somewhere a long time ago.

Cinnabar_wing said:

  I know so many women with different conditions that went through years of pain, only to require major surgery and an 'oops we missed that'

Yes, I have seen accounts on TV news programmes and read news articles about women having conditions such as endometriosis who were missed. I think female pain was ignored more when I was younger. Nowadays with claims for medical negligence at a high, doctors are generally more careful to avoid the risk. 

We tend just to hear about the cases that go wrong, and we aren’t told of the thousands of cases that go well. 

It isn’t nice seeing someone going through so much suffering. Having an operation/s for a stoma is a big thing. My mum had an ileostomy and it was horrible seeing what she endured, although her condition had been diagnosed promptly.

It isn’t nice seeing someone going through so much suffering. Having an operation/s for a stoma is a big thing. My mum had an ileostomy and it was horrible seeing what she endured, although her condition had been diagnosed promptly.