A better way to track your attack disability. Pain scale helps to stratified medication choices based on headache severity and how you feel. But it should take into account not only pain level, but also how disabling an attack.
Why do your need to track pain severity and attack disability? To create your treatment plan you and your doctor need to determine how to treat. Migraine is not just pain.

Traffic light of Headache

Traffic light of Headache is the system of three tiers. It based on the associated disability of the migraine attack:

🟢 I can still GO headache — green light. Meaning I can function — “I have a headache but I’m going to work” or “I’m going to look after my kids”

🟡 I have to SLOW down headache — yellow light. This tier means — I’m slowed, i.e. “I better take it easy or I might not make that meeting later. I have to be cautious.”

🔴 I have to STOP headache — red light. I cannot function — i.e. “I have to stop what I’m doing, go home from work, go lie down, I can’t look after my children”

Why to use traffic light system?

When using 1-10 rating scale, people have different criteria for defining pain. While one who report 10-out-of-10 pain can sit in a bright office, other who has 6-out-of-10 headache might be bedbound. Traffic light system is an easy tool that allows to get rid of the subjective assessment. It helps people to measure disability of an attack more intuitively. A major plus of the traffic light system is that it takes into account all migraine symptoms.
References:
  1. "The Migraine Brain: Your Breakthrough Guide to Fewer Headaches, Better Health". Carolyn Bernstein, M.D., and Elanie McArdle, 2010
  2. "Managing your Migraine.", Dr. Katy Munro. 2021