This scale was sent to me in email, without any attribution. If anybody knows where it came from I will cheerfully obtain the appropriate permissions to post it here and add an attribution as needed. It seems to be a very good scale though (as a person living with severe chronic pain, I can relate to the levels), although a lot of the drugs seem to be brand names from the USA and won’t make sense to people in other countries.
Please note also the comment from Lois Randall at the end of this page.
- 0
- Pain free
- 1
- Very minor annoyance – mild aches to some parts of the body. No pain medication needed.
- 2
- Minor annoyance – dull aches to some parts of the body. No pain medication needed.
- 3
- Annoying enough to be distracting. Over-the-Counter pain relievers (such as Naproxen Sodium, Acetamonophen, or topical treatments such as Absorbine or Arthritis Pain relieving rubs) take care of it.
- 4
- Can be ignored if you are really involved in your work, but still distracting. Over-the-Counter pain relievers remove pain for 3-4 hours.
- 5
- Can’t be ignored for more than 30 minutes. Over-the-Counter pain relievers help somewhat (bring pain level from 5 to a 3 or 4) with pain for 3-4 hours.
- 6
- Can’t be ignored for any length of time, but you can still go to work and participate in social activities. Stronger painkillers (such as Ultram) relieve pain for 3-4 hours.
- 7
- Makes it difficult to concentrate, interferes with sleep. You can still function with effort. Stronger painkillers (such as Ultram) are only partially effective. (Stronger pain killers bring pain from a 7 to 4-6.)
- 8
- Physical activity severely limited. You can read and converse with effort. Stronger pain killers (such as Ultram) are not effective. (Narcotic pain killers do bring this pain down to a level 3 or lower.)
- 9
- Non functional for all practical purposes. Cannot concentrate. Physical activity halted. Panic sets in.(Narcotic Pain killers bring the pain level from 9 to the 4-6 level.)
- 10
- Totally non-functional. Unable to speak. Crying our or moaning uncontrollably – near delirium.
Hi Ricky, Someone is circulating this as “Randall Pain Scale, Adapted for use in Canada” with my name in the title and (with inaccurate copyright attributes) I’m named at the bottom as the author. Drug names mentioned vary on different versions that I’ve seen. So far I’ve tracked it down to a Facebook page (posted by a “Monica”) and on other internet sites as well. I just wanted you to know that I didn’t write it or give permission for the RCPS to be used in such a way.
Hope this finds you happy and well,
Lois Randall,
author of the Randall Chronic Pain Scale (RCPS)
http://www.infomin.org/index.html
http://www.infomin.org/painscale.html