can your pain *really* be a 10??
I'm not saying that you can't be in horrible pain/the worst pain you ever experienced, but can you really go up to 10? 10 for me would be passing out for the pain, crying etc... can it happen with migraines? Just because of the pain, not related neurological symptoms. it never did to me, maybe I'm just lucky.
The most painful things I can think I experienced in my life were IBS cramps and tooth pulpitis/infection, and I'm pretty sure there are more painful things to have.
Like I said, maybe I'm just super-lucky.
On the other way around I can understand why the scale starts at 1. Sometimes you can have a migraine without headache, so it makes sense.
Hi chiaragtl,
Everyone experiences pain differently and it sounds like you have been lucky not to experience a "10". I haven't either and hope I never do. There are people who do feel like they've had a "10" I'm sorry to say.
This is a great article by Kerrie Smyres on pain scales you may find interesting; https://migraine.com/blog/second-guessing-the-severity-of-migraine/.
Nancy
Hi Chiaragtl,
Absolutely yes. And I don't say that lightly. My pain tolerance is pretty high (I'd rank natural childbirth at about a 4). The worst thing for me about extreme pain is not the pain itself. Once the pain hits a 9 or 10 I lose all common sense and the ability to think rationally. This interferes with my getting the help I need. Hopefully I have enough awareness now that if the worst migraine ever hit I would know how to get help before things escalate out of control.
Migraine is complicated. Sometimes a mildly painful migraine can be quite debilitating due to all the other symptoms that go along with it.
Best wishes!
It's also helpful to remember that a lot of people use a personal pain scale. Because it's impossible to rate everyone's pain on the same objective scale, a personal scale looks at the range of pain that person has experienced. Your 10 will be different from someone else's 10. I never rated my pain at a 10 until one particularly bad spell. Even then, I only rated the pain that high for a handful of attacks. Five years later, that's still the only time my pain has been that high, but I'm confident it was a 10 for me. Whether or not it would be a 10 for someone else is unknowable.
Take care,
Kerrie
