pain

Growing Old Is Not For Sissies

by RDavis | Health

As we age our bodies, with few exceptions, start wearing out. Every creature lives and dies and in between those two ends they age. Some of us are able to accept aging better than others but no matter our outlook, we all have to deal with bodily changes that annoy and pain us.

As parts wear out such as knees and hips it can become a matter of choosing the right time to replace them now that we have the technology and expertise available to us. Most people that choose to have new knees and hips are happy with the outcome and they are able to get on with their lives much easier with less pain and greater mobility. Those are the relatively easy aging body parts to deal with.

Eliminate The 1-10 Pain Scale

by RDavis | Health

Anyone experiencing pain who has had contact with the health care system has had one of the most meaningless and offensive questions posed to them. “On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst pain you have ever had, what is your pain now?” Nurses are often the ones asking the question. Asking that question makes life simple for nurses, but it is not fair to patients to ask them to characterize their pain that way.

In the 1990’s health care professionals started to pay more attention to pain. I was working as a nurse then and accepted the 1-10 scale as gospel, as did most nurses. But I was never entirely comfortable with this rating system and I always tried to ask more questions of people experiencing pain.