#PainScale #ChronicPain #PainManagement #Healthcare #MedicalEmergency
🩹 Have you ever experienced excruciating pain that rates a 9 or 10 on the pain scale? If so, you’re not alone. Many individuals have encountered severe pain due to various reasons, ranging from chronic conditions to unexpected injuries. In this article, we will delve into the causes of such intense pain and how to effectively manage it.
## What is the Pain Scale?
The pain scale is a tool used by healthcare professionals to gauge a person’s level of pain. It typically ranges from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable). When someone experiences pain at a 9 or 10 on this scale, it often indicates severe and debilitating discomfort.
## Causes of Extreme Pain (9 or 10 on the Pain Scale)
1. **Traumatic Injuries** – Accidents such as car crashes, falls, or sports-related mishaps can result in severe pain due to broken bones, spinal cord injuries, or deep lacerations.
2. **Chronic Conditions** – Conditions like fibromyalgia, endometriosis, or neuropathy can cause relentless and intense pain that ranks high on the pain scale.
3. **Medical Emergencies** – Events like heart attacks, kidney stones, or severe infections can lead to excruciating pain that requires immediate medical attention.
4. **Surgical Complications** – Post-operative pain, especially in complex or extensive surgeries, can reach a 9 or 10 on the pain scale as the body heals.
## Managing Severe Pain
When dealing with extreme pain, proper management is crucial for improving the quality of life. Here are some effective strategies for managing pain rated at 9 or 10 on the pain scale:
1. **Seek Medical Help** – If you experience sudden and severe pain, especially if it’s out of the ordinary, seek immediate medical attention to address the underlying cause.
2. **Medication** – Prescription pain medications, such as opioids, may be necessary for managing acute pain. It’s important to use them as directed by a healthcare professional to avoid dependency.
3. **Therapies** – Physical therapy, chiropractic care, or acupuncture can provide relief and aid in the recovery process for certain painful conditions.
4. **Lifestyle Adjustments** – Maintaining a healthy lifestyle through regular exercise, proper nutrition, and stress management can help reduce chronic pain levels.
5. **Support Groups** – Connecting with others who are experiencing similar levels of pain can provide emotional support and valuable coping mechanisms.
## Seeking Long-term Solutions
While managing severe pain is important, it’s also essential to seek long-term solutions to alleviate or minimize pain. Here are some approaches to consider:
1. **Medical Interventions** – In some cases, surgical procedures or minimally invasive treatments may be necessary to address the underlying cause of severe pain.
2. **Pain Management Programs** – Many healthcare facilities offer comprehensive pain management programs that incorporate various modalities to address chronic and severe pain effectively.
3. **Embracing Holistic Approaches** – Practices such as yoga, meditation, or massage therapy can complement traditional medical treatments and provide additional pain relief.
4. **Collaborating with Healthcare Providers** – Open communication with healthcare professionals is vital for exploring all available options and creating a tailored pain management plan.
## Conclusion
Experiencing pain rated at 9 or 10 on the pain scale can be overwhelming and distressing. However, by understanding the potential causes of severe pain and implementing effective pain management strategies, individuals can regain control and improve their overall well-being. If you or someone you know is dealing with extreme pain, seek professional medical guidance to address the issue and explore viable treatment options for long-term relief. Remember, you don’t have to endure such intense pain alone, and there are resources available to help improve your quality of life.
Got an IUD inserted…twice
Kidney stones.
Ovarian cyst burst.
Fractured my hip and had to keep rucking 12 miles with 65 lbs on my back. I bawled my eyes out the whole time and another person was lifting the back of my ruck up to help take the weight off but it is still the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced
Male, in my 30s. Young and inexperienced female nurse had to insert a foley catheter in me while I’m fully awake. My manhood couldn’t take it, both anatomic and figurative, and little Robbie was waffling from a reactive boner to turtle head shrinkage and retraction. I was biting the bedrail.
Multiple gall stones.
I had an infection in the tip of my thumb that was cured pretty easily with antibiotics. Worst pain I’ve ever experienced.
For comparison, I’ve also broken my back from a 12 foot fall and shattered my knee-cap so badly that when I reached down to grab it, half of it was up near my thigh and the other half was at the top of my shin, needed emergency surgery.
Neither of those things hurt anywhere near as badly as that thumb infection that didn’t look like much of anything.
I have no ability to estimate pain on a 1-10 scale. I have chronic pain and I’ve lived every day of my life in some level of pain. It’s actually hard for me to tell if I’m getting sick because I’m so used to hurting. I’ve broken bones and would only give that a 6 or 7.
I have been having an issue with my left knee that I suspect is arthritis. Sometimes, it hurts if I’ve been in one position for too long. That pain is so bad I can’t function at all. Thankfully the pain is intense but only lasts 30 secs or so.
I have a brain disease, so I’ve been a 9 or 10 a few times in my life. It’s the worst pain ever, but it went away after a bit because I went essentially comatose every time after a little bit.
Ovarian torsion that lasted three days. Also, CSF leak after a spinal tap
Sheared off the end of my index finger between two steel beams. It hurt like hell but what was too much was when the dr started trimming the bone without waiting for the nerve block to kick in.
Tooth ache closely followed by kidney stones.
Meningitis. I just passed out.
Took a flight with a blocked nose…
Had a CAT scan at 36. They gave me IV contrast fluid. Told me I might feel like I had to pee, no big deal, make sure to hold still. Put me in the machine. Within a minute I started feeling warm. As they started the scan I started breathing heavily. Then I started screaming. It felt like my entire body was on fire, every nerve. They were confused and freaked out. Got me out and sitting up, but it wasn’t until a nurse gave me a shot of Benadryl that I started feeling better.
Turns out I had a full body *internal* allergic reaction to the contrast media, which contained iodine. Never happened before. Worst feeling of my life.
Hit by a car leg got pinned in front of the wheel and it basically ate away my ankle. First sobering moment in my life when I picked up my leg and my ankle went at a 90degree angle. I was 9 at the time and knew I had fucked up big time. 11 surgeries 2 months in the hospital 8 months bed rest later I can say I still have my leg….most of it.
Chronic migraines & a bursted ovarian cyst
ripped off a fingernail while farming. pulled the hand off the ground and it made a 90-degree angle from the base, Mysight and mind came and went for like ten minutes as if to pass out, and my whole hand was throbbing.
Ruptured large intestine. Morphine helped a lot.
Hemorrhoids.
Was in constant pain for 3 days and could not sit, stand, lay down or do anything without the pain. Couldn’t even shit for 3 days.
For the most part I was laying and sleeping in a bath tub just to have the weightless feeling to not be in pain
Root canal. Worst than wisdom teeth removal by FAR. I was literally high, dizzy because of the pain.
Rheumatoid arthritis. My knees had been so inflamed that I wasn’t able to bend them for about a year. Had to learn to use the toilet standing up, even number two.
Anyway, one day I started to stumble, and I caught myself by automatically bending my knee to stabilize and not fall. It was like a gunshot. I passed out and woke up in a puddle of vomit. No idea how long I was out. Thankfully I was on carpet and didn’t hit my head in the way down.
I’ve had two children and I’ve passed three large kidney stones. This pain was beyond all that. But it didn’t linger. Worst I ever felt, by far, but only for seconds.
I have thankfully been exceedingly lucky in not gravely injuring myself. However, the most egregious amount of pain I’ve ever been in was getting stung by a stingray. Wasn’t paying attention and moving quickly through shallow ocean and felt a slice. I thought I’d stepped on glass but by the time I got out of the water the pain was so intense I couldn’t even think. Felt like someone put my foot in a blender. I got treated quickly and thankfully did not go through the peak of it.
For future reference, submerge affected area in the hottest water you can stand without burning yourself.
Molar infection, the pain was so intense i had to control myself to just not curl in a ball and cry. I had to take antibiotics for a week and then extract the tooth. Its like the most intense nerve pain ever, but it doesn’t stop. No thinking, no sleeping, only the pain. Now i say i no longer am afraid of death, since death can be a release from pain lol.
Hysterosalpinography test… aka HSG test.
Initial tests to see if my uterus and/or fallopian tubes were okay to have a baby since my husband and I had been trying for a year without anything.
Contrast dye sent straight up the uterus/tubes and then the cramping started happening. Enough to have me curl into a little ball on the exam table and cry.
I have no idea how women give birth.
And this is coming from a girl who gets demobilizing migraines with nausea.
Contractions.
Perforated colon with sepsis. Worst pain I ever felt.
Miscarried, blood clot blocked my cervix, I was in agony. They gave me 10mg of morphine until the pain subsided enough for me to go home.
Tried to give birth vaginally and after hours of labor, and hours of pushing, something felt horribly wrong. Then it felt like the worst pain imaginable. Ended up having an emergency c section but something went wrong with the drugs and I could feel the incision. My uterus had literally burst. After closing the doctor was checking to make sure my uterus was solid and it had multiple other tears. I almost bled out. The doctor cried telling my boyfriend what had happened.
Bacterial Meningitis. My brain felt like a contained explosion that was trapped reverberating in my skull but it wanted out and constantly let me know about it.
Sleeping and both my legs spazzed out at the same time. Like the entire leg. Calf, quads, hamstrings, feet tendons, everything . Lasted like 20 minutes straight and it’s probably nothing compared to some of these things under the comment but the best way I could describe it is it was like my body just randomly decided to tear off my leg’s muscle one by one, piece by piece, little by little and for no reason.
The worst of it was when I got the math wrong purifying water with bleach on a backpacking trip. (WAY too much bleach. I should probably add that a guy with us was allergic to iodine, and this was provided by an MD as an alternative.) A close second was when I was getting a lumbar puncture and the ER doctor ignored me telling him that I’ve got abnormally narrow intervertebreal spacing. It took him eight tries and a whole lot of grinding around on my spine with that big ass needle before he gave up with it. (Had that happen at least five times. Same ER. Guess what? It wasn’t viral meningitis, it was migraines.) Those were both solid nines.
The absolute worst, by far, of all, is this weird nerve reaction I get when I sunburn. It’s not pain, it’s an absolutely awful itching that will not stop, like you’ve got poison ivy under your skin. That one, (the same ER) refused to do anything until a specialist got there, and ended up calling security after I was on my way out the door to the parking lot. “Where are you going?” “There’s a gun in my car: dying is better than this is.” Turns out the third option was enough morphine that I passed out and a psych exam many, many hours later when I woke back up. They never did have an answer about what that actually was. That…wasn’t a 10. That was whatever “I would seriously rather be dead, and am on my way to make that happen.” ranks as. Pain I can deal with; that itching, Jesus fuck that was something else entirely.
2 herniated disks.
I didn’t know what it was for years but I woke up one morning in high school and couldn’t move my neck even a millimeter without rocketing pain overtaking my entire body. Found out later that I had Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and probably subluxated a vertibra.
I had a blood clot in my brain and it literally felt like my head was going to explode.
Gout attack. I am in my 20s and female, by all accounts it’s not “supposed to” happen in my demographic, but my Dad has it and apparently genes outweigh all that.
I kid you not I woke up one morning and would have sworn to you I had broken my foot. It hurt so bad and if I tried to stand, it felt like it would just break worse over the next few hours it got the the point I couldn’t stand or put any sort of pressure on it at all. Shoes wouldn’t fit. Couldn’t even stand trying to put them on that foot.
Anything so much as a sheet brushing on my skin was pure agony. The best part was my mom telling me not to be dramatic and cry when I went to walk and nearly fell.
Migraines are close behind because it always gets to bad I puke.
I perforated my intestine and decided to wait like 12 hours to go to the hospital. Was literally screaming at the top of my lungs by the time I got there by ambulance. The nurses wouldn’t give me anything for the *longest* time and just kept telling me to stop yelling. I’m sorry, but *fuck you*
Penile foreskin got stuck in my pants zipper. I was about 5 years old and had forgot to wear my underwear beneath. After taking a quick piss, I zipped up in a rush not putting my penis inside fully. Outcome was the most painful pain I have ever experienced. The worst part was when I was taken to the hospital. No anesthesia was given and doctor simply pulled that shit out of the zipper with brute force.
they told me it was normal for women.
my organs are gluing themselves together. 1 in 10 women experience this. endometriosis is a bitch. fuck adenomyosis too. these ruin our lives and the medical field really doesn’t give 1 let alone 2 shits.
Trigeminal Neuralgia
It feels like every bone and tooth in my face has been crushed and shattered. I’ve got a high pain tolerance from a lifetime of nerve damage from scoliosis, but TN pain had me truly wishing for the relief of death. Absolutely nothing gave me any relief whatsoever and I was begging to just be sedated.