Children within this age range often have an excellent understanding of pain and can provide a lot of self-reported information about their pain. This better understanding also provides a further opportunity for reducing anxiety and fear around painful events. Many children are interested in science at this age and can therefore understand some of the basic mechanisms of pain and use this understanding to help cope with the pain.
School-aged children are usually very good at expressing their feelings about pain. They can be very specific with their descriptions of their pain and are more consistent with their descriptions than are younger children. They are also capable of aiding in assessment with the use of faces scales, visual or numerical analogue scales, and body outline drawing scales.
These scales are all discussed at length in the "Tools for Measuring Pain" section
At this age, boys may be less expressive about their pain than girls, and this must be considered in the assessment. Boys should be encouraged to express their pain in an accepting and friendly atmosphere. At the same time, parents should look for changes in behaviours such as eating habits and activity level that might be signs of pain.