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“Since we all have varying degrees of tolerance for pain, and have equally varied experiences with different types of pain, it makes the scale feel kind of meaningless -- especially when you consider that the person trying to ascertain how much pain a patient is in, when she says it's 'worse than a broken leg,' but not as bad as childbirth,' is still only going to be able to guess what that means based on his or her own experience -- and perceptions -- of pain.” — Abby Norman
Since we all have varying degrees of tolerance for pain, and have equally varied experiences with different types of pain, it makes the scale feel kind of meaningless -- especially when you consider that the person trying to ascertain how much pain a patient is in, when she says it's 'worse than a broken leg,' but not as bad as childbirth,' is still only going to be able to guess what that means based on his or her own experience -- and perceptions -- of pain.