provided as a courtesy by 
The Risk Communication Institute 
www.riskcomm.com   |   (352) 377 - 2142 

 
 
The Pain Scale for Professionals™

The Pain Scale for Professionals™ is sold as a pocket-sized plastic slide rule that is usually operated by the patient in the presence of the doctor.

This pain scale has been extensively researched (see evidence) and, unlike most other methods of rating pain, has been shown to provide accurate measures of ratios or proportions of pain intensity, as well as discriminating small differences in intensity.
 


Instructions for use of the Pain Scale for Professionals™

Accurate pain ratings critically depend on following these instructions in using this device and obtaining more than just one rating whenever possible. This is also true for the Pain Scale for Patients™. Research has shown that the average of two to three ratings provides more accurate information than a single rating.

 

Pain Intensity and Pain Unpleasantness Scales

Unlike our simple on-line version, the Professional version actually contains two scales that separately measure the intensity of painful sensation and pain unpleasantness.

The distinction between these two aspects of pain might be clarified if you think of listening to a sound, such as that coming from a radio. As the volume of the sound increases, you can rate how loud it sounds or how unpleasant it is to hear it. The intensity of painful sensation is like loudness; the unpleasantness of pain depends on its intensity and other things, such as its meaning, that may influence your estimation of unpleasantness/disturbance.

The Pain Scale For Professionals has two scales for measuring each of these two aspects of pain. Although some pains may be equally intense and unpleasant, there are some circumstances wherein it is informative to rate these two aspects of the patient's pain separately.

 

To use the Pain Scale for Professionals™

The basic procedure is similar to that used in our on-line version

The patient is told to slide the middle sliding part of the device to the right and left and to view the amount of red as a measure of the pain sensation. The arrow at the extreme left means no pain sensation at all and the arrow at the extreme right indicates a pain sensation intensity that you imagine is the most intense that you could possibly experience. Thus, mild, moderate, and intense pain sensations would be represented by ratings near the left, middle, and right portions of the scale respectively. To read the pain rating, the doctor simply turns the device over as if turning a page in a book and reads the number on the back to the nearest 0.2.

Similarly, the sliding part of the device is moved on a different axis for the unpleasantness scale. The arrow at the extreme left means not at all unpleasant and the arrow at the extreme right represents pain that you imagine is the most unpleasant you could possibly experience. In this case, mild, moderate, and intense unpleasantness can be represented by ratings near the left, middle, and right portions of the scale respectively. Again the device is turned over as if reading a page in a book to read the unpleasantness rating.

 

GOAL FOR DOCTORS: PAIN CONTROL

These valuable measurements from the Pain Scale for Professionals™ can show doctors a lot about how their patients' pain is responding to treatment. With this device, doctors can:

  • Monitor subtle or major changes in pain over time.
  • Provide a salient visual display of the present status of a patient's pain, similar to the visual display of other vital signs.
  • Measure the effectiveness of specific medications or other therapies in treating pain.
  • Increase the sense of partnership with their patients through working together to share a simple tool.

The prime purpose of this site is to help patients and not to sell products to professionals. However, we have received so many inquiries from clinicians and clinical psychologists and physical therapists that we offer the original mechanical versions of the tool, while stocks last.

 

ORDERING OPTIONS:

Quantity
Shipping

For customized versions over 200, please write to painscales@riskcomm.com for quote.

 

 
 

 



This service is dedicated to all those who are suffering and is provided free of charge by
DecisionAidsOnLine, a division of The Risk Communication Institute
www.riskcomm.com