Hi there - very interesting question.
Quite apart from fibro, I've always listened closely and empathized when people say a certain type of pain is one of the worst, but I register quite different bits of the body and always think: Oh yes, that's the worst. And that too. And that one, definitely. Lots of worst.
I also think your question isn't theoretical, it's very practical - at least when we are confronted with a whole lot of symptoms and not much experience how to treat them yet. Cos we then can decide what may be the most important and target that first.
Now I'm much more experienced I no longer have to choose that much, I can target the 4-5 main symptoms all at the same time, maybe varied across the day. But if several new symptoms or ideas come up, which happens often, I will research each, and each will take me at least one hour, many 10 hours, some 20 or more hours. So again it'd be a matter of priority. As ever it's best for me to switch, so I'm always working on several things at the same time. Again I then don't decide for one symptom incl. pain type over another, I target them as I enjoy researching and as I see results - if I get quick results, e.g. local pain types on youtube, I do those first, because in my experience I find something quickly.
Now getting closer to your actual question: What occurs to me first is that I seem to prefer
severe acute pain that ebbs inside of minutes or hours from 8 to 1 and stops after a while to
chronic pain that fluctuates between 3 and 5. If causing severe pain will alleviate or even only slightly decrease my chronic pain, I'll definitely immediately choose the severe pain, without a second's doubt. I'll even choose that if the possibility exists that it might help, and also if there is a risk of it increasing the chronic pain for a while. I'm sort of built that way, sort of a belief that such an acute pain might help. But actually that's based on the experience that it often does help, if done properly.
In the past few days I've been trigger pointing my right wrist, causing a pain of about 6, which ebbs to 3 when I stop. And I'm doing this altho I hardly have any pain there, however a bit when I do certain things. So I'm actually inflicting fairly severe pain in order to prevent "invisible" local problems from getting worse, to get and keep my body fit(ter), to increase the amount and type of movements I can manage. That was also the principle of the expert ear acupressure I was getting done for a year, as it is of similar treatment types: Inflict pain that is just about tolerable, often for 5 to 10 minutes, and it will usually decrease and at the same time specially targeted parts of the body will improve. Same goes for my self-applied acupressure, hardly comes without pain.
Then closer to your example: Pain in the daytime is not much of a problem, but one severe pain, like toothache can
prevent me from falling asleep more easily than many less severe pains or aches. In both cases cold showering helps, for belly ache a hot water bottle. But if it doesn't help enough, I'd prefer the many less severe pains, like Ache all over, plus a few bits 'n bobs. The last few weeks my fingertips and lips splitting were severe enough to delay sleep a little, so of course I've been targeting this. But there's another easy workaround if cold showering doesn't help: I don't try to sleep, I get up and do something nice till the acute pain ebbs or I get so tired that I can at least do Yoga Nidra well instead of sleep, the nice tinglings during that also counteracts the pains a bit.
But back to the question: One severe pain often disrupts sleep more than several moderate ones, so if that's the case I prefer those at night.
So, depends on a lot, like situations and esp. whether I'm awake vs. trying to sleep.
Ah, lots more I can say, like how facing and accepting pain reduces both one severe as well as many moderate pains, however I think in slightly different ways.... but I'll leave that now.
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