The Pain Chart

If you have ever been to the ER or have stayed in a hospital room, you may have noticed a chart on the wall with faces on it. The smiley faces start off happy and progress to anguish. Often there are numbers underneath the faces. This chart is a scale that exists to assist someone in communicating the level of pain they are experiencing without words.

The medical staff needs to know how bad the pain is within a patient. This is important to provide the correct dosage of medicine and to record how frequent the pain ebbs and flows. They need to know if the treatment is working. The patient may not be able to accurately describe the level of hurt but can provide a ballpark.

What a relief that in our hospitals people are seeking to understand our pain and offer healing. Yet, it is not always physical ailment that hurts. There are people everyday suffering and not only do they not know how to express it but it seems no one cares or notices. What about you? Where are you at today? If you are a one, then it’s good times. If you are a five, there would be a reason for concern but not an emergency. We all have bad days. Any day pushing a ten is serious.

Unfortunately, some people are very good at hiding feeling very bad. The only way to know is if we ask them. Only when we know them will we press when they aren’t honest with us about their depth of anguish. I have had days of grief that seemed like an 11. Without relationships with people that give a darn, tipping the pain scale would be tough to navigate and terribly lonely.

Some people don’t want the help. They push away the medicine. Does that mean we don’t try to help? Do we stop the pursuit? It’s tricky. We must respect them as an adult unless it leads to more harm to back away just because they push away. As a community of people that have experienced the hardships of life, we want to know where you are in this season. Are you a 2 or are you closer to 9? Maybe it’s time to hang out with people that really want to help. Let us know what you need. We would be glad to meet you right where you are even in your moment of trial.