Pain Management
Pain relief is an important part of your care. Pain that continues or is not relieved is not good for you. The staff taking care of you will try to relieve or control your pain as much as possible.
Just before your operation, the anesthesiologist or the doctor who will put you to sleep will visit you and discuss different anesthesia and pain control methods that can be used. He or she will also help you decide what pain relief method is best for you.
During the time soon after the operation, the nurse will often ask how much pain you are having. Unless you are receiving pain medication continuously through an intravenous or by other methods, you can have pain medicine every 3 to 4 hours, depending on how often it is ordered by your doctor. The nurse may offer it regularly, but do not hesitate to call the nurse if you need it. It is important that you let the nurse know if you are having pain before is becomes severe. It is easier to control mild pain. It is harder to reduce or relieve pain once it is severe.
If you are going to have a procedure done or perform an activity that will cause pain, you and your nurse can decide if having pain medicine before the activity or procedure would help.
After you receive your pain medicine, the nurse will ask you whether or not your pain is gone or how much pain you are still having. Sometimes pain medicine does not take away the pain completely. It is important to let the nurse know if the pain you are still having is too much for you. Other ways to make you more comfortable may be used. This may be as simple as changing your position or changing your pain medicine and/or the way you receive the pain medicine. But remember, at times, not having any discomfort at all may not always be possible. Your nurse will ask how much pain or discomfort is okay for you and that will allow you to do everyday activities or simple things like getting out of bed, walking to the bathroom, or even just taking a deep breath or coughing.
The Pain Scale
The feeling of pain is different in every person. The nurses taking care of you cannot guess how much pain and what type of pain you are feeling. In order to better understand your pain, a pain scale is used to help. This pain scale is at the bottom of the page. The nurse can explain the scale to you and how to use it.
Your pain is what you say it is, not what others think it may be. Help your Nurse in helping you to be more comfortable and make your hospital stay a much better experience.
0 - No Pain
1 - Very Mild Pain
2 – 3 - Mild Pain
4 – 5 - Moderate Pain
6 – 7 - Severe Pain
8 – 9 - Very Severe Pain
10 - Worst Possible Pain