Pain scales may be used during admission to a hospital, during a doctor visit, during physical activity, or after surgery. A person usually self-reports their pain using a specially designed scale. Doctors use the pain scale to better understand certain aspects of a person’s pain, including pain duration, severity, and type. A person rates their pain on a scale of 0 to 10, where zero means “no pain” and 10 means “the worst possible pain.” Do you think this is the best way of assessing pain severity? Why, or why not?
