Pain Assessment

Having some pain after a procedure or surgery is normal. To help your care team understand how much pain you have, throughout the day they’ll ask you how you’re feeling.

They’ll help come up with a plan to manage your pain, but they need your input by having you rate your pain on a scale of zero to 10.

A zero means you have no pain.

One to three means you have mild pain, and it’s getting in the way of your daily activities a little.

Four to six means the pain is moderate, and it’s definitely getting in the way of your daily activities.

Seven to nine means the pain is severe, and you can’t do your daily activities.

Ten means it’s the worst pain you’ve ever had.

Reporting pain as a number helps your care team know how well your treatment is working and if they need make changes. It will also help if you can talk about what the pain feels like.

If you have any of these concerns or others, talk to your care team about them. The more information they have, the better care they’ll be able to provide.