Pain is subjective; it is whatever the person experiencing it says it is. But to effectively treat pain, it helps to quantify it, which is why medicine came up with pain scales. Learn all about them in this classic episode.
AI Summary
# Stuff You Should Know - Pain Scales Episode
Josh and Chuck dive into the surprisingly fascinating world of pain scales, exploring how doctors have struggled for decades to accurately measure something that's completely subjective. From bizarre 1940s contraptions like the dolorimeter (which literally burned volunteers' skin to compare their pain to labor contractions) to modern self-reporting charts and the adorable Wong-Baker Faces scale that kids actually help draw, this episode reveals why quantifying pain is way harder than it sounds. Along the way, you'll discover why the elderly refuse to talk about their discomfort, what universal facial expressions all humans make when in pain, and why some babies get rated on a system called CRIES (spoiler: it's depressing but important).
"Each episode will rival the feeling of taking out the cartridge from your Game Boy, blowing on it and popping it back in. — Game Boy is referenced in the Hey Dude 90s podcast ad as a nostalgic reference to the 1990s."
House of Pain
1995
1h 20m
★ 3.0
"House of pain. The TV show and the group. I didn't know this is a TV show. — Chuck mentions House of Pain as a Tyler Perry TV show while discussing pain-related topics."
— Chuck
Mama's Family
1983
TV-PG
★ 7.5
"I think it's kind of like Mama's Family a little bit. I didn't watch that either. — Josh compares House of Pain to Mama's Family in terms of production quality and style."
— Josh
Poltergeist
1982
1h 54m
★ 7.2
"Do you remember AOL Instant Messenger and the dial-up sound like poltergeist? — Poltergeist is referenced in the Hey Dude 90s podcast ad to describe the AOL dial-up sound."
The Carol Burnett Show
1967
★ 7.7
"I love the Carol Burnett show. Yeah, this is a pretty far cry from that. — Chuck mentions loving the Carol Burnett Show while comparing it to House of Pain."
— Chuck
This American Life
2007
★ 8.7
"I heard him on This American Life, he was talking about a new drug the kids were doing. — Josh references hearing Kamal Yanjani's joke about heroin and Tylenol PM on This American Life."
— Josh
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