Thursday, September 20, 2007

Pain

The other day as I was watching something on TV where a doctor was taking blood samples and the patient said "I have got to look away" commented to my wife why do people do that? Her reply amazed me. "I do, because it hurts so much" Bear in mind that she has just given her 75th donation of blood! I on the other hand don't feel bothered by watching a medical professional sticking a needle in me and will quite happily watch the whole process, in fact I think it hurts less if you watch as you know what is coming.
It set me thinking about the pain score system we use. I suppose that it is a measure of how the person feels but if they have never felt strong pain then will they rate mild pain higher? Is the watch/look away thing above gender based? Is there any evidence that athletes have a higher or lower tolerance to everyday pain?

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