IMO since pain is subjective, you could be using a different scale today than what you used years ago... depending upon whether your pain is worse overall or better. What is important is how YOU sense the pain. If it is intolerable, then why would you consider rating it according to an old scale or someone else's determination?

I think making yourself your own scale is a good thing! I heard a PT tell my mother that a level 7-8 is where you are crying. I didn't argue with him, because that's HIS idea lol. I've learned that crying makes my pain feel worse (and does make me worse because I tense and move differently when I cry.) But anyway, he had to have a scale to give the patient an idea of how to use one.

What do you think?