I saw this pain scale a few years ago.

At first it made me laugh.

Then as I looked at it, I realized it might be the best clinical pain scale out there.

Pain is a tricky thing. It’s subjective. It’s contextual. And it’s very difficult to quantify.

It’s important to respect pain and feel it. But it’s also important to realize it’s an output of the brain. Pain doesn’t always equal tissue damage. And it’s sometimes important to be able to work with/through it.

This is why the medical world tries to use a visual analog pain scales (VAS).

It allows us to set baselines and parameters for exercises, manual therapy, and daily activities.

It can also help teach people how to work within their pain.

For most people I recommend keeping pain below 3/10.

For some I recommend letting it go as high as 5/10.

And for very few cases there may a need to go beyond that. But this needs to be done with great caution.

Disclaimer:

This doesn’t apply to every situation.

Especially in those with chronic pain.

Sometime this group needs to focus on other afferent input to decrease pain’s large real estate in their brain.

But that’s a much larger subject…