Handy back pain chart

Posted by cookierockwell @cookierockwell, Feb 14, 2023

I really don't like the 1 - 10 pain scale, so I keep a copy of this back pain chart in my tote bag. When a medical person asks me my pain level on a scale of one to 10, I whip this out and show them what I mean by the number I choose.

Thought I'd post it in case someone else might find it useful, too. It's in both JPG and PDF file format.

Best wishes,
Cookie

Shared files

back pain chart PDF (back-pain-chart-PDF.pdf)

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 14, 2023

This is great, @cookierockwell. I hadn't seen this before. It looks like it may have been created by Florida Surgery consultants, so I wanted to link to the original source, which also includes more explanation in the blog post:
- The Pain Scale of Back Pain https://www.floridasurgeryconsultants.com/the-pain-scale-of-back-pain/

I think other members will find this useful too.

The typical 1-10 pain scale often falls short for patients. Who's to say that my 5 would match the 5 of my doctor. This helps to describe the abilities (or lack thereof) with this additional descriptors.
Cookie, how has this improved communication between you and your providers?

cookierockwell | @cookierockwell | Feb 14, 2023

In reply to @colleenyoung "This is great, @cookierockwell. I hadn't seen this before. It looks like it may have been..." + (show)

Thanks, Colleen. It's been an improvement with more than one doctor. PAs and RNs even asked for a copy.

I just say, "Let me show you something to make sure we're both talking about the same pain level." Now I know that when I say "3", or "5" or "9", my doctor or other health professional knows just what I mean.