Nick -
>I
think of “pain” as a damage sensor.
I think of "pain" as a "threat" indicator. A great deal of the
pain I've experienced in my life was not really commensurate with
the damage that has already occurred.
Touching a hot stove doesn't always lead to significant damage if
you react quickly to the pain.
In my late teens, I had a dentist tell me that the "pain" I was
feeling from his drill was really from the *heat* of the drill,
not direct damage to any nerve. I had complained that the
novacaine was more disturbing than anything I felt when he was
working on me. He said "I can do it without novacaine next time,
if you prefer". He said that the time he saves not waiting for
the novacaine to kick in allows him to run the drill at a lower
speed and go more carefully/slowly and that if I was willing to
signal him if I began to feel pain by raising a hand and promised
not to panic, he would prefer that. Sure enough, It worked and I
haven't had novacaine since excepting one root canal. Most
dentists seem perfectly familiar with this alternative. The
dentist who did the root canal *promised* me that no matter how
slow she went, the process of killing and cleaning out the root
would be the most excruciating pain I ever felt without
novacaine. I didn't argue. I felt more than a little during the
deep file-plunging.
I don't associate a headache with "damage" though I do
acknowledge it as some kind of warning... often nothing more than
mild dehydration. I could pop a few ibuprofen and ignore the
pain or I could drink a glass or two of water and take the lesson
my body was offering me. A concussion or tumor or aneurism? A
different matter I suppose.
I *HATE* ice-cream headaches, even though I know they will pass
quickly if I quite gulping it down. My partner Mary doesn't get
ice-cream headaches, in her case the same class of pain settled
under one of her shoulder blades. Once again, a glass of water is
a good remedy for me...
I have never had "phantom pain" but that is another example I think of how Pain != Damage?
Glad to Frank's surgery (apparently) went well. I hope he's back on the Tennis Court soon!
- Steve
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