Aside from the level of pain there are many different forms, sharp pain, stabbing pain, numb pain, nagging pain, throbbing pain, and so on, and so forth.
No pain at all is obviously not that hard to imagine, but what is unbearable pain? Is that when you faint? And what if you don't faint that easily? If you've never had that much pain it is quite hard to label pain.
Sometimes people try to compare it to different types of injury. I've often said sometimes 'it feels like I've been stabbed with a knife', but.. I've never been stabbed. So, how would I know?
This is not only something patients do. By medical professionals the dislocation of a rib is sometimes described as feeling 'like a heart attack'. But how would they know? And how should I? (Now I've had dislocated ribs, I can tell: it feels like shit).
But in all this ambiguity, the assessment of pain is incredibly vital for the treatment of this pain. The worst thing any medical professional can do, is give a patient the feeling that they aren't being taken seriously. Because no matter the source of pain, as insignificant as it may be, pain is real and scary.
Part of treating pain is, understanding what causes it. Because not knowing the source of pain can make you fearful, which makes you tense, which in turn generally increases the pain.
The one advice I would like to give is, be your own agent. If you are in pain, and you feel you do not get taken seriously by whatever medical professional you are dealing with, press on, explain that you will feel better if you know what causes the pain if it gets explained to you. And if need be, do not be afraid to seek help from another medical professional. They are all human, they make mistakes, sometimes you just have a bad connection, the most important thing is that you put yourself first. After all, no one knows your body as well as you do.
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