Pain Scale for Migraine Pain
No Pain
Mild Pain Level / Pain Score
Does not interfere with most activities and is easy to manage both physically and psychologically. You can adapt to these levels of pain with low doses of medication (eg. acetaminophen), dietary changes, or bed rest.
- Non-migraine headache
- Dehydration related headache
Your mobility and activities of daily living are in no way impacted. You feel no need to seek treatment or medical attention.
You are aware of the headache pain but it is very easy to ignore.
Uncomfortable but tolerable level of pain in your head that is noticeable but easy to forget or ignore over time. You are able to continue daily activities and your quality of life is not yet impacted.
Uncomfortable Pain Level / Pain Score
Interferes with many activities of daily living and requires changes to daily lifestyle to manage pain symptoms. Migraine pain is more noticeable and it becomes increasingly important to seek treatments.
- Extreme fatigue and body soreness
- Hypertension
- Moderate migraine
- Hormone-related headache
This level of throbbing head pain that is constantly on your mind. Over time and untreated, this level of pain will impede your ability to live a normal life. Pain that has started in your head and may be moving down your neck.
Piercing migraine pain that makes it difficult to manage your activities of daily living. The pain becomes consistently noticeable and you become more anxious and psychologically impacted by your pain symptoms. You may experience weakness, blurred vision and radiating pain in your neck and head.
Intense migraine pain that controls your mindset and psychological outlook on your body's ability to recover. At this pain score, you are likely seeking clinical expertise for a diagnosis and treatment regime.
Severe Pain Level / Pain Score
At this stage you are no longer able to engage in normal activities and seeking support from a caregiver, stronger medications to help improve your ability to function independently.
- Fatal drop in serotonin
- Severe migraine headache
- Severe temple pain
- Whiplash
- Wry Neck
The level of radiating head pain is completely dominating your mindset and outlook on recovery. You are reaching a point where your pain level is impeding your ability to operate daily functions and cognitive thinking. Management of this level of pain requires more medical expertise, prescription drugs, and the level of severity has you considering expert treatment and stronger medications.
Your pain is so intense that you can no longer think clearly and are experiencing personality changes. Your head and neck are experiencing shooting pain that results in numbness, tingling, and extreme discomfort where it impedes your ability to be mobile and active.
This level of excruciating pain is so intense that you are unable to tolerate the level of pain and are seeking stronger medications and emergency psychological intervention to manage the pain.
This unimaginable level is so intense you may go unconscious. This type of pain is likely incurred during a severe accident (eg. head injury) and your body is unable to recover on its own. Emergency treatment is needed.