FitPTwithJess

One day, in my hostel I watched an episode of “Legend of the Seeker”, yes! I like series like that and it is an excellent series might I add, but that’s not our topic of discussion for today. While watching, one of the characters said something that drew my attention. She said, “Pain is common to all living things. It keeps us all bonded.” A sadistic statement, but true.
Our topic for today is still pain (well an aspect of pain). Looks like we have started a pain series. Why?
As much as possible, we will discuss pain in layman’s terms in this article. Also, pain is one of the major reasons patients seek physiotherapy. I mentioned in my previous post how especially in this part of the world, it is almost a norm for people to manage whatever pain they are experiencing at home until it becomes unbearable and prevents them from carrying out their basic daily activities. We have already established that this is wrong. This is especially true if the pain lasts for months. Your body is trying to tell you something. Please listen to it and get the right medical care instead of self-medicating.
Today, we will look at pain classification based on intensity. I believe we can all agree that no device can measure an individual’s pain so you are the only one that can describe the level of your pain. Therefore, when you meet with a physiotherapist for treatment, you will surely hear this question, “Can you please rate your pain for me on a scale of 1-10?”.
This “1-10” scale is called the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS). Medical professionals use it to measure pain intensity in their patients.

CLASSIFICATION OF PAIN BASED ON INTENSITY.
Pain in this category is divided into 3 groups namely;
Mild pain (represented as 1-3 on the pain scale).
Moderate pain (represented as 4-6 on the pain scale).
Severe pain (represented as 7-10 on the pain scale).
Looking at these three groups, you might think it’s all pretty straightforward. However, let’s dive a bit deeper and define what they mean according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

MILD PAIN.
Refers to a nagging, annoying pain that doesn’t interfere with basic daily activities. This pain is barely noticeable. You can get used to it and adapt to it, so you don’t have to think about it so much. It usually passes away without therapy or with over-the-counter medication like aspirin etc.

MODERATE PAIN.
This pain is more severe than mild pain and can interfere with your day-to-day functions. You may be able to ignore the pain and keep moving about your day, but it will only go away and not come back when the proper treatment has been administered. This pain will require stronger medication than mild pain.

SEVERE PAIN.
This pain is the most painful type there is. It will interfere with your day-to-day activities like interacting with people and sleep. As a result of how bad it feels, you may have to lie in bed or rest in a chair for a long period of time. It typically doesn’t go away and usually requires treatment that lasts for days, weeks, months or even years.
Now, you will notice that I didn’t write the name of any medication for moderate and severe pain. This is because while some of these drugs can be bought at your local pharmacy and relieve pain, they can only help you temporarily. Don’t you want a permanent solution? , the only way to achieve this is to treat the underlying condition (i.e. the main issue causing the pain). Don’t get me wrong, taking these medications is part of pain management but shouldn’t be the only thing you do.

Another thing I want to emphasize is that pain intensity can be influenced by anxiety, stress and depression so please take note. Don’t allow your pain to frustrate you before you get help. Life is already stressful as it is. Please don’t add pain to it.
In the next post, we will talk more about pain (it is a broad subject, and this is a series after all). I hope you have learnt from this. Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with pain in the comment section. See you next time.

Ciao!