A book and a pain scale

Happy holidays everyone! Although I’m bleeding heavily and have been on Tylenol 3 and Motrin since Wednesday night, I’m trying to make the best of my situation.

Every moment between the pain, I continue to read a book I got recently – it’s the best book yet on Endometriosis, because it tackles the emotional side of having Endo.

The book is called Coping with Endometriosis: Sound, Compassionate Advice for Alleviating the Challenges of This Chronic Disorder, by Robert Phillips and Glenda Motta.

In the book, I found the Mankoski Pain Scale, which I’d like to share with you.

In the past year, I’ve had my GYN or the E.R. ask me to rate my pain on a scale of 1 – 10, but they never explain to me what each number of the scale stands for.

So I’m left, in a state of debilitating pain, to try to remember what each number on the pain scale represents!!! And often I under-rate my pain, and am therefore not treated accordingly. 🙁

So I wanted to share the scale with you. I’m going to print it out and keep it with me at all times, like I do for my emergency contact card and my pain meds.

When doctors ask you to rate your pain from 1 – 10, ask for the pain scale if you don’t have it on you! They should always have a scale handy.

Mankoski Pain Scale

0 – Pain free

1 – Very minor annoyance – occasional minor twinges.

2 – Minor annoyance – occasional strong twinges.

3 – Annoying enough to be distracting.

4 – Can be ignored if you are really involved in your work, but still distracting.

5 – Can’t be ignored for more than 30 minutes.

6 – Can’t be ignored for any length of time, but you can still go to work and participate in social activities.

7 – Makes it difficult to concentrate, interferes with sleep. You can still function with effort.

8 – Physical activity severely limited. You can read and converse with effort. Nausea and dizziness set in as factors of pain.

9 – Unable to speak. Crying out or moaning uncontrollably – near delirium.

10 – Unconscious. Pain makes you pass out.