Pain Management

When you are admitted to the hospital, your nurse will ask you how much pain you are willing to accept in order to move around in bed, walk, cough, breathe deeply and sleep. This is called the "goal" for pain management.

During your stay, the nurses and your doctor often will ask about your pain to make sure the pain level is acceptable. They will also ask where it hurts and how it feels. Here are some words to help describe the pain: cramp, sharp, ache, burning, dull, constant, off-and-on. Your doctor and nurses will compare your pain goal and the way you describe pain to decide what type of medicine and other pain relief methods to use.

When you leave the hospital, your nurse will talk with you about safe ways to take care of the pain at home. Do not be afraid to take pain medicine when you need it, following the directions on the bottle. Short-term use of medicine is not addicting. If you are worried about this, ask your doctor to explain.

You are the only one who knows how much pain you feel and what makes you feel better. Be honest with the nurses or doctor. Do not worry about being brave or bothering the nurses. Taking care of the pain is an important part of taking care of your health. Remember: It is very important for your nurses or doctor to know if the pain medicine doesn't help or if your pain suddenly changes.


Everyone feels and reacts to pain in different ways. How you feel pain can depend on what happened to you in the past and how worried you are about what is causing your pain now. The two pain scales above are ways that the nurses and doctors can understand how you're feeling. The scales mean the same thing, but the first uses words, and the second uses pictures. The scale starts at the left with "0", or no pain, and goes up to "10", the worst possible pain.