I found this other pain scale that is pretty good. I think the kip scale should be updated to add more details. .

Level 5, a "pacer" is undefined

Level 6, "dancing" is undefined.

Level 9, The "Why me" syndrome is undefined. It probably starts to set in for most people at about level 7.

Level 10, depression probably starts at about level 7. Suicidal thoughts probably start at level 8 or 9.

Kip scale was probably great for many years, but it should be updated I think to add more details to people who are newly diagnosed or who are looking for answers to their questions. People shouldn't have to dig through old forum posts for definitions.

---

Hey BoomBoom!

Thanks for posting the pain scale. This subject seems to be perennial around here. I used to post about the subjective nature of Bob Kipple's observations on CH pain. Pain is very relative with CH, and even CH pain vs other types of pain--or even male/female responses. Even your scale stops applying to me after PL-2. So it's almost an intellectual exercise to come up with a standard. "Kip" was an early member of this forum, and his scale (and permanent link on the side list) is an artifact of decades ago. Still, it's a start for newcomers.  I personally just use "PL" and a number between 1-10 for pain level if I need to describe it in a post. Hopefully most people will get the general idea.

Take care,
Patti

Our Kip scale was only ever intended as a guideline, as mentioned in the intro, rather than as a set of rules.

The only known truth around Cluster Headaches is that no two ClusterHeads are the same so the Kip scale serves us well.

Yeah.  Kip was in on the first ch meeting in Drummer's garage.  In fact, his wife died and was revived at that meeting.  I think we kept his "Kip Scale" more to honor him than anything else.
For me, my ch were either a 0 or a 10.  No in-between.

Mine were always on a pain scale of 10+ if there is such a thing, within minutes of the first sign of the beast paying me visit.

Cheers Hoppy