That must have hurt

I have to admit that one of the biggest issues I have with my health is to quantify just how much pain I am in when someone inquires about it. Usually it is someone at the pain clinic and, while many of the doctors or assistants there take one glance at my facial expression and remark that I must be in a lot of pain, it is still difficult for a positive person like myself to put a number on it.

One number that tells a lot is my blood pressure. When I am in pain or maybe not hurting bad at that precise instant but have been batteling with it all night then my BP will be elivated. While I have always had ideal blood pressure at or near 120/80, the last visit to the pain clinic (one week ago) found my BP at 176/97. Despite tht billboard screaming that I was (or had been) in a lot of pain they still ask me to rate it on a scale of 1-10.

Every time they ask that I can't help but recall the joke about the three friends that were discussing the most painful thing they had ever experienced.

The first guy told of a time when he got his hand caught in a piece of machinery and it not only took paramedics hours to free him but resulted in multiple surgeries and months of painful rehab in order for him regain use of his hand and fingers. His two buddies agreed that that must have hurt a lot.

The second guy told about a time when he forgot to put out his cigarette before siphoning gas out of his car and the fumes exploded, leaving him with 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over his chest and face. It took months in the hospital burn unit and several surgeries and skin grafts before he recovered. Everyone agreed that that experience must have hurt a lot.

The final guy told of an Alaskan hunting accident when he was tired from hiking through snow all day and went to sit down beneath a large tree. He did not realize until too late that the fresh snow covered an open bear trap chained to the tree and the jaws of the trap slammed closed on either side of his butt. The first two guys agreed that his experience probably hurt the most. One of them said, "Dang! I bet that really hurt!!"

His response was, "It sure did, but not nearly as much as when I tried running away and took the slack out if the chain!!"

The point I an trying to make is that, even when I an in a lot of pain, I tend to low ball the numbers because it would hurt much more if I had my hand caught in a machine press, was suffering from extensive burns, and had just taken the slack out of that chain.

I finally found a pain scale that works fir me, however. I will post it in the next blog entry.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]