I think it shouldn’t be used for chronic pain patients. It’s assuming you get “no pain”days but when you have chronic pain, that doesn’t work. A normal day doesn’t rest at 0 for us which means this scale doesn’t fit. Does that make sense? I don’t know what would replace it but I think there should be something specific for chronic pain patients

AGREED. you put that perfectly. there are no natural 0s for some chronic pain folk so it makes it so much harder

I’ve seen a modified scale- I wish I could add a pic here. But it’s 10- cannot function 5- enough pain to be restricting 1- can function, pain is not on my mind type of scale. I like that theory of it best. It puts me around a 6 most days and I feel more comfortable with that being my baseline

I've applied words instead of numbers. Most days are uncomfortable but background noise. Medium days? Grumpy and noticeable, irritated and loud. Bad days? It's a f*ck you kind of day. It is loud and all I can focus on. An understanding physical therapist helped me come up with it. How's this motion? It hates you and wishes you would die. Oh! So we shouldn't do that. Got it. What about this? Grumpy but doable. And then it changes slightly with who I'm talking to, depending on our relationship and how much they understand

A more helpful metaphor I’ve been using to describe it to people unfamiliar, and even to my doctors is a house on fire. The conditions most pressing are often the ones that have been “on fire” for the longest amount of time. But some are more important because of how closely they impact your functioning- ie if your house is on fire, don’t worry about what’s in the closets, is the front door still functional? Does this pain make it so I cannot walk (front door collapsed in) or is it walkable but with some pain? (Smokey but functional?) As a spoonie I sit at a 6/10 on a good day. And a bad day is 8/10 and up. The margin for error is so small… this scale doesn’t leave much room for improvement for folks with chronic pain.

I hard agree. I can go into the ER saying I’m at an 8 and they think I’m crazy, but it’s manageable because me base is a four. It just doesn’t work for chronically ill people

I can’t stand the rate your pain on a scale of 1-10!! So nice to know I’m alone in the confusion and animosity with this scale. Like you I also just usually say between a 4-6 but I too feel it’s wrong. Reading these comments helped a lot!

Perdue Pharma created that chart when they were selling OxyContin, in order to push MORE oxy on their patients. For some reason the health care system never stopped using it. It’s really not a medically valid scale.

I couldn't agree more lol. it's one of the most useless things, and it really complicates my doctors understanding of my wellbeing

I use it with my Dr just because we both know what it is.

I would say Im at an 11 everyday.