| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > O/T Off Topic > Topic: pain |
Topic: pain
| Author | Message |
| sue ellen mischke | Posted – 9/9/2007 5:52:01 PM | show profile How much can you handle before yelling "uncle"? Just had eye surgery. It hurt really bad afterwards, but friends who had the same surgery said they didn't feel a thing. It's quite possible I can't handle one iota of physical pain, which sucks. |
| mad fingers | Posted – 9/9/2007 6:26:49 PM | show profile Sometimes, I can be tolerant of a a fair amount of pain, other times, small things hurt like the devil. A lot of it seems to be in the mind. Never had any children, so I can't compare other events to childbirth, which is supposed to be the biggie. I've often wondered how long I'd last if I was being physically tortured, though. Probably not long. |
| Nikongirl | Posted – 9/9/2007 7:01:07 PM | show profile Sorry to hear of your pain Angela. Did you have laser surgery? My husband recently experienced a detaching retina.... well, lucky for him it had not yet completely detached, he had laser surgery to repair it and it hurt him too.... but then I know tons of peeps who had laser eye surgery to correct vision and they never felt a thing. Have you tried a hot or cold compress? If you were in Oh Canada, I would strongly recommend 222?s, aspirin with codeine, which does help with pain. I hope you find some relief soon, wish I could be of more help. |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 9/9/2007 8:37:04 PM | show profile I'm kind of a wimp too, when it comes to pain. I was just laughing over something recently _ remembering when I was in labor - really bad contractions, coming really fast - and they inserted an IV needle in my hand and I thought "DAMN! That smarts!" About the *needle.* Nevermind the 8 pound object that was about to be shoved through my vagina. Yes. I did take the epidural. :) Sorry to hear about your surgery - hope you heal fast! |
| writesonwater | Posted – 9/9/2007 9:52:58 PM | show profile | email poster Talk to your doctor. Pain isn't really that great for us, so it needs to be addressed. In addition there could be some other thing that's causing more pain than expected -- and if so, your doc needs to know about it. I think if you had a low pain threshold, you'd know that before this point in life, you know? The dentist would have said something, etc. Seriously, get it checked out. "Nurse" Writesonwater |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 9/9/2007 10:37:08 PM | show profile As a child I had an out of body experience in the hospital once, and I believe it was when I had a (very painful) spinal tap. I just needed to get out of my body for that. Nice that I was pulled out. I went through childbirth for two kids without painkillers. The first time was much harder than the first (back labor the whole time). The second time just went better all around, but that time I went into it with a plan of "going into" the pain and focusing on it completely rather than fighting it and trying to avoid it. And acknowledging that the pain was doing the work. Even still, as the baby's head was crowning for my second baby, I literally cried out "Pain... Pain... Pain...". This kind of temporary pain (especially for childbirth where you know it's just what you have to do to get that baby out) is completely different from people who have chronic pain. I'm not sure how/if I could handle chronic pain. It would become extremely depressing and I would think I'd be on a lot of painkillers, which could really change life. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 9/9/2007 10:38:47 PM | show profile Oh, and on your eye pain Angela. Trust your instincts... if you think something's wrong go get it checked out. There could be some kind of infection or something that needs a little extra work. |
| sue ellen mischke | Posted – 9/10/2007 11:59:45 AM | show profile Thank you for sharing your personal stories...and thank you for your well-wishes. I had Lasik surgery...and I was in pain after. Later I found out it was normal and some people have pain and others don't. Still, I've never had a medical procedure, so I thought I was being a big baby about the pain because small things affect me. But after that...I can't even imagine how terrible it must feel to give birth. I doubt I would ever be able to handle that. |
| sue ellen mischke | Posted – 9/10/2007 12:00:32 PM | show profile Thank you for sharing your personal stories...and thank you for your well-wishes. I had Lasik surgery...and I was in pain after. Later I found out it was normal and some people have pain and others don't. Still, I've never had a medical procedure, so I thought I was being a big baby about the pain because small things affect me. But after that...I can't even imagine how terrible it must feel to give birth. I doubt I would ever be able to handle that. |
| pob | Posted – 9/10/2007 1:20:04 PM | show profile There's no "being a baby" pain, especially eye pain. If you can feel it, it's real. If those other people who had the same surgery had the pain you experienced, they'd be saying the same things you are. I've had chronic eye pain for going on at least 15 years now. Working as an editor, it can be trying. I just try to be grateful that I still have my sight, that my retina hasn't [yet] detatched, etc. This helps put it in perspective. Distraction or closing my eyes are the only two things that have ever helped. Well, caffeine, too, to a small extent. Distractions like hanging out with other people, talking, keeping the subject off the pain can work really well for me at times. The other thing that helps is if you can understand what brings on the pain. For me, it is often the weather. A falling barometer is my worst enemy, but knowing this helps because I can be mentally prepared or have a concrete reason for my cries of "why?" I hope you are feeling better. |
| wineaux | Posted – 9/10/2007 1:42:51 PM | show profile I'd never really experienced true pain until I gave birth to my first son. It was ok until they gave me that drug Pitocin to speed up the contractions due to my son having a meconium infection. THAT was pain. My husband later told me that as the contractions came, the horrified and shocked look on my face was enough for him to lose it. I just couldn't believe how much it hurt. Indescribable. They couldn't give me the epidural until I contracted to a certain level, so I was just writhing with every contraction for a good twelve hours. Funny, with the second baby, I was in labor all day and didn't even know it. I had a desk job as an EA and worked a full day, went grocery shopping, went to Target, cleaned house and was annoyed that my back was hurting so much. I called a friend and told her about the back pain and she said, "Idiot, you are in labor, get your ass to the hospital." I gave birth shortly after getting to the hospital. To a nearly 10 pound baby, no less. So strange how different labor can be. Even with the same body, different baby. |
| Nikongirl | Posted – 9/10/2007 1:56:59 PM | show profile Editors, writers and eye strain.... I recently read about palming. It involves holding the palms of your hands over the eyes for a period of time. There are claims that it will not only relax your eye, neck, shoulders etc. it is also said to help correct vision in some cases. I have tried it a couple of times and it has indeed relaxed my eyes and eye area. It felt good, I will continue as often as I can and see how it goes. You can read about it here: http://www.seeing.org/intro/techniqs/palming.htm |
| westsidestory | Posted – 9/10/2007 3:06:42 PM | show profile Nikon, that palming stuff was fascinating. Angela, I'm glad you're feeling better. And congratulations on doing the Lasik - I'm too chicken to do it even though a lot of friends have had it done... very brave of you. |
| keltoi2 | Posted – 9/10/2007 3:18:32 PM | show profile Been lucky (I guess) to have a high pain threshold (must have been the cavity-prone childhood with a dentist who didn't believe in painkillers), but my worst were when I broke my leg in 3 places and tore all the ligaments in my ankle and they had to put my leg and foot back in the right direction (sans painkillers, or even a bullet to bite on) and years after whn I herniated a disk in my lower back (felt like someone grabbed a hold of my spine with both hands and wrung it out like a dishrag). As a guy, I'll never get to compare it to childbirth (Carol Burnett once suggested guys take their lower lip and pull it over their head to get an idea), but my hat is off to all women who do endure it. |
| sue ellen mischke | Posted – 9/10/2007 3:45:46 PM | show profile Men and Child Birth Although I am not a mom and don't plan on being a mom, my husband feels his kidney stone gives him bragging rights over women who have given birth. He calls the stone he passed "Oliver." He says Oliver was equally as painful as having a baby. So, if I ever have kids (which I won't), I will most likely get very little sympathy. |
| wineaux | Posted – 9/10/2007 4:24:37 PM | show profile Regarding Palming.............. It was suggested to me when I used to get debilitating migraines (which still weren't as painful as child-birth, but were unbelievably disruptive). It really and truly worked. I was snowboarding on a very, very sunny day, and my sunglasses, I suspect, weren't protecting my eyes appropriately. I started seeing the swirly tracer-things and the nausea kicked in, which are both my first clues when a migraine is about to erupt. I sat on a bench and did the palming thing for about 20 minutes and the migraine disappeared. Even when I take painkillers, it takes longer than that to lose a migraine, so I think it's fairly effective. |
| pob | Posted – 9/11/2007 10:05:36 AM | show profile Nikongirl, thanks for the link. I guess I have palmed when closing my eyes and didn't even know that was what I was doing. Regardless, the link you posted is extremely helpful. Thank you so much for sharing. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 9/11/2007 10:56:50 AM | show profile I've heard kidney stones are atrocious. When we were in Lamaze-type training for our first, the instructor had us clutch an ice cube in our fist -- HARD -- and see what happened. The resulting massive cramp really did, looking back, resemble labor. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to know what labor feels like. (As if anyone would WANT to know.) I had that back labor with my second, right before a C-section. THat was weird. It was me whining about a backache that sent them scurrying for the OR. The thing about childbirth is that it's productive pain. What else can you say that about, except maybe birthing a novel? ;) Sure, it's painful, but you get this lovely baby out of the deal. (Squalling, needy, demanding, lovely baby.) |
| Nikongirl | Posted – 9/11/2007 2:21:45 PM | show profile I seem to manufacture kidney stones on a regular basis. I went through two lithotripsy procedures that in the end were not worth the trouble, although the drugs were good. ;-) The first time, it only cracked the giant stone, the second time a month later, it did break it up but then it fell to the bottom of my kidney and who knows what happened after that. Three weeks before Christmas and again on Christmas day, I passed a stone; it took several hours as the pain intensified. I lay down, I stood up, I paced, I self-medicated with excellent results, over doing everything I had on hand, which really helped. Eventually it passed and I did indeed feel as if I had just given birth. I went through Lamaze classes in 1971 and had natural childbirth, no problem, I always say it was a breeze...the kidney stones, not so much! |
