How do you rate your pain on a scale of zero to ten?

Answer 1

That's always a tough one, since everyone is different. My pain scale is likely a lot different than yours, and vice-versa. I've lived with high levels of pain for so many years that most of what I feel normally would likely be at least uncomfortable for most people, excruciating for others.

The easiest way is to chart it on scale, and I've added some links below to help you out. Figure that on the scale, Zero is no pain, and Ten is you're either climbing the walls in so much pain that you can't function or move, or you're screaming your head off.

Of course not everyone reacts the same way to higher levels of pain. The key I use for a 10 is when a I get pain that's strong enough that it leaves me barely functional, e.g., unable to walk normally, move, eat, breathe, etc.

Pain tolerance also increases as you experience higher levels of pain for longer periods, so the scale is relative to your own pain tolerance level. As I said, what's excruciating for some people is just an irritant to me or others. What you need to do is to think of the worst pain you've ever experienced, and note that as your "10" for the pain scale. Any other pain you experience, rate it against that. If you've never had any major injuries or pain, you're lucky, but everyone has some level of pain that they've experienced. Again, use your highest level of pain that you've experienced as your personal "10" for the scale, and adjust anything else accordingly.

Later down the road you'll likely experience something worse, and that becomes your new standard for the upper pain scale, and everything else should be judged against that.