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Physiotherapy vocabulary · Assessment and Examination

Pain scale

Meaning in physiotherapy, with examples

nounCore term

In physiotherapy, pain scale means: A simple tool that asks patients to rate how strong their pain is, most often as a number from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worst pain imaginable).

In Turkish: ağrı skalası, ağrı ölçeği

How it is used

Used at the first visit and at every follow-up. The 0–10 version is the numeric rating scale (NRS); the visual analogue scale (VAS) uses a 10 cm line. Physiotherapists ask 'On a scale of 0 to 10, how bad is your pain?' and record answers such as 'NRS 6/10 at rest'.

Example sentences

  1. On a pain scale of zero to ten, where would you put your pain today?

  2. Her score on the pain scale dropped from 7 to 3 after two weeks.

Common collocations

  • on a scale of 0 to 10
  • pain score
  • numeric rating scale
  • visual analogue scale
  • rate your pain
  • assessmentThe process of collecting information about a patient's problem through questions, observation, measurement and tests, in order to understand it and plan treatment.
  • outcome measureA standard test or questionnaire used to measure a patient's condition at the start of treatment and again later, to show whether things are changing.
  • subjective assessmentThe first part of a physiotherapy assessment, in which the patient describes their problem, symptoms, history and goals in their own words.

More terms: Assessment and Examination

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