The Pain Scale

We are indoctrinated with it but also think that one of the silliest things that has come down the pike for nurses is the pain scale. "On a scale of one to ten, how do you rate your pain?" we ask our addicts who have been yukking it up in the day area one minute before approaching the med window with an expression of suffering. When they reply, "It's a ten," I feel like smarting off with, "You haven't been through eight hours of back labor have you?" But then I don't deal with the usual medical - or dental - patients, one of whom I was today, and I must admit, my pain reached a ten.

When I was of childbearing age and as we young women told our labor stories, a few would say that they had rather have a baby than a root canal. At the time I didn't agree but now I see where they were coming from. The endodontist today said that my scenario was one of the most painful: an infection, the fact that I can't take epinephrine, and having to drill though an existing crown. I tightly gripped the handles of the chair, said the 23rd Psalm over and over to myself, but eventually the tears started rolling down the sides of my stiffly reclined head. I was embarrassed and tried to explain. Through the gadgets attached to my teeth and the rubber stretched across my mouth I mumbled, "It hurts."

"She said it hurts," the dental assistant interpreted for me. I was impressed. But the work had to go on before the quick acting anesthetic wore off. I have had them before but this one was the root canal from hell.

Eventually I stumbled to the check out desk. "That will be $950 for today." Talk about pain! Another ten. Since the abscessed tooth was not even the one that had broken, I see more financial pain in my future.

My eyes were red and wet, the side of my face was swollen, and I was still shaky when I got to the drive through window to drop off my prescription for more Augmentin. "I had a painful dental procedure," I whimpered through little sobs. As I drove off, I tried to give myself a pull yourself together pep talk, and I think it helped.

Yes, it was a ten today in my mouth, on the right side, not over my whole body but a small part of it. Maybe now it is a seven. Not bad enough to keep me away from my blogging but bad enough to make me want to go to bed as soon as I finish.

Thanks for listening.