We can't measure pain on a scale of zero to 10

A zero-to-10 scale may work in certain situations, such as when a nurse uses it to adjust a medication dose for a post-operative patient. — TNS

Over the past two years, a simple but baffling request has preceded most of my encounters with medical professionals: “Rate your pain on a scale of zero to 10.”

I trained as a physician and have asked patients the very same question thousands of times, so I think hard about how to quantify the sum of the sore hips, the prickly thighs and the numbing, itchy pain near my left shoulder blade.