how is pain measured? does the pain experienced by a small child compare equally to the pain experienced by an adult?

my 2-and-a-half-year-old godson has been ill recently, and i've caught whatever it was he had - mostly he was feverish, petulant, and occasionally produced astounding volume levels from his little lungs - i'm feverish, sulky, and on the verge of tears from the pain even though i'm taking as many painkillers as i can without overdosing.

i appreciate that the same illness can effect two people differently, but is there a way to quantify the levels of pain to see whose experiences are more acute?

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Asked in illness, pain, comparisons asked on: 06/30/2008 11:57am

closed on: 07/07/2008 11:57am

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agentju90

Rank: Emmy Noether (9,567) | pain (25), illness (18), comparisons (5)

70 minutes after the question was opened (06/30/2008 01:07pm)

pain is very subjective. my sister had a very high pain tollerance. it strengthend over time too. she used to rate it on a scake of one to 100. her average day was mid 70's. i doubt very much i could tollerate it. the medical profession will use a scale 1-10 but they know it's not acurate, so i think they look at how the person is reacting to the pain as a guide. someone can have a limb severed and feel very little pain at all, another person could break a leg and be writhing in agony. they will monitor temperature, resp's and heart rate as these can show stress levels caused by pain. i don't think there's a definitive way to measure it acuratly.

i hope you heel better soon. sending waves of coolness hoping it helps. huge hug ( just don't cough on me lol).

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14489 View profile Send message rainchild Rank: Immanuel Kant: rainchild

That sounds like the most horrible flu ever!
I clearly remember the pain from acute earaches as a child, and I would pace the house crying loudly. As an adult I have had horrible ear infections, and also paced in agony, pale and shaking. It actually seems that the pain was the same level. I normally think children are in worse pain, but it could really be the same only we adults have learned not to make so much noise about it.