What is a pain scale?
A pain scale is a tool used by your child’s caregiver to measure the level of pain. This tool may be used in the emergency room, at bedside during a hospital stay, or in a clinic. Your child’s caregiver uses the pain scale together with physiologic and behavioral changes to check for pain. Physiologic changes may include your child’s heart rate and blood pressure reading. Your child’s caregiver may use any of the following pain scales: • Body outline tool: Your child marks an X or colors the painful area on a drawing of a child’s body. Different colors can be used to quantify the pain. • Colored analog scale: Colors are assigned for most or worst hurt, a little less hurt, or no hurt. A number can also be placed on each color. • Faces pain scale: This scale consists of 5 to 9 faces, ranging from happy or neutral (no pain) to sad or distressed. Scales may vary in the number of faces, but six faces are usually used. Your child may tell how much pain he has by pointing on the face he choos
