PAIN METER’S ORIGIN STORY
It’s Time To Start Listening
WHAT IS THE PAIN METER?
The Pain Meter is a simple handheld, squeezable device that reads the patient’s tenderness to palpation through a metered 0-100 point scale — communicating to doctors in real-time. This helps both the practitioner and the patient to discern a normal response, an exaggerated response (hyperalgesia) and/or an abnormal response (allodynia)—placing appropriate context to the clinical encounter.
IN THE NEWS
The Pain Meter will be presented as a poster at the upcoming International Association for the Study of Pain (World Congress of Pain).
EXTRACTING PATIENT INFORMATION VS. READING MINDS OR EYEBROWS
Patients tend to be nervous, shy, or do not know how to accurately communicate their pain levels to health care professionals. The Pain Meter allows doctors to put themselves in the head of the patient without trying to read a patient’s behaviours or facial expressions.
HOW IT WORKS
- Teach the patient to squeeze the bulb when they feel something change (sensitivity)
- Read pain levels in real-time
- Increase accuracy with anatomical specificity
- Improve reputation & patient happiness
- Assures patient that they are being listened to
- Encourages involvement and self-awareness
The Pain Meter was primarily designed for those professionals that use palpation during a musculoskeletal evaluation. The doctor’s touch and varying pressure are used to determine tissue sensitivity — helping them understand the associated mechanical sensitivity of the tissue. This process helps encourage a more accurate diagnosis of the patient’s pain level during an anatomical investigation. It is extremely intuitive and easy to use, providing new real-time sensory feedback.
Who Is The Pain Meter For?
- Pain Interventionalists
- Chiropractors
- Dentists
- Medical Doctors
- Osteopaths
- Physiotherapists
- Massage Therapists
- Nurses
- Health Care Professionals
- Hospitals Triage
- Psychologists
- Special Schools
- Personal Trainers
Listening = Better Care
Patient-centered care must start with great listening. The Pain Meter re-inforces to patients that the doctor/therapist IS carefully listening on all fronts. It reassures while providing a subtle sense of ‘control’ knowing that if something is too sensitive, this can easily be communicated and acknowledged. It also allows for the investigator to discuss in real-time why particular anatomical structures may be sensitive. And if clinically appropriate, help establish a better sense of self-awareness for the patient.
BENEFITS OF PAIN METER:
- Easy communication
- Better specificity with diagnostics
- Patient feels heard
- Real-time readings
- Affordable Pricing
- Simple to use
- Creates happier patients
The Pain Meter has been developed by Dr. Jerome Fryer to extract more detail during the patient encounter. Determining the palpatory sensitivity of different anatomical structures helps in the accuracy of the diagnosis and assures the patient that the investigator is paying close attention.
Jerome Fryer, Pain Meter Inventor
Jerome Fryer is a chiropractor and spine research expert that invented the Pain Meter. Jerome developed Dynamic Disc Designs Corp (DDD), a dynamic spine modeling company to improve the communication between doctors and patients.
The idea was a success and thousands of DDD models have been sold and are currently used around the world to improve spine education. Now, the Pain Meter is Jerome’s next ambitious project.
Jerome focuses on outcomes and hard results. Jerome came up with the Pain Meter while working directly with patients. There was a need to improve communication between patients and medical professionals. Jerome was going about his regular practice day when an idea struck.
He thought, “What if I could feel what the patient feels when probing and investigating the particular anatomical structures of interest?”
Jerome knew he was onto something when he combined his doctor/patient detective skills with a curiosity to extract the most information to diagnose patients in an approachable way.