Whenever I see a doctor or nurse about a painful problem they always ask me to rate the pain from zero to 10. Is that the only way to measure pain?

Pain is a subjective symptom meaning it's something the doctor or nurse can't see or measure directly. Giving it a rating from zero to 10 helps make it more objective. This method is actually called the Verbal Rating Scale (VRS).

The VRS has been used in clinical studies for the last 30 years. There are other ways to measure pain such as the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). In this pain measure the patient looks at a 10-cm (about 2 1/2 inches long) line and marks the place that shows his or her
pain. The line starts at the left with 'No pain' and goes to the far right for 'Worst possible pain.'

The VAS is more sensitive for change than the VRS or other pain measures. The VAS shows change sooner. Sometimes health care workers and researchers combine the two scales asking patients to rate their pain from zero (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain).

Either tool is simple and easy to use. Pain can be measured this way in children and
adults.