A new method for scaling pain.

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Abstract
An algesimetric technique using 60-cycle AC as the stimulus and the tooth pulp as the site of contact is descr. By this method 24 male and 21 female subjects successively bisected pain intensities. For both sexes curves plotted for successive bisections against fractions of fractionating range have the same shape regardless of the actual size of the range being fractionated. Reversing the order of stimulus presentations and the direction in which the subject changes the size of the stimulus, reverses the direction of acceleration of the curves. Compensating for differences in fractionating technique indicates that the relation between the intensity of the stimulus and the estimation of its painfulness approximates a straight line with a slope fairly close to 1. It is concluded that: (a) within the range of intensities employed in this study there is a 1:1 relationship between the intensity of the stimulus and the estimation of its painfulness; (b) there are no sex differences in pain scaling behavior.

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