How do you react to pain?

[Darius Brogan]

I'm pretty sure most people here have been injured at some point in their lives, whether it be a larger than average cut, a mild fracture, or a full-on broken arm/leg/ribcage, so I'm curious as to how individuals react physically when in a large or great amount of pain.

Over the years, I've met:
1) People who basically ignore pain, no matter how severe it is.
2) People who break down and cry when they stub their toes.
3) People who claim to feel nothing more than a stinging sensation when they nearly break all their knuckles.
4) People who only really feel the pain for a few seconds after being injured.
5) People whose bodies seize up to varying degrees, depending on the severity of the injury.
6) People who enjoy the feeling of pain, because of how unusual the pain is for different injuries. (No he doesn't self-inflict)
7) People who become VERY angry when injured, for no apparent reason.
8) And even people who experience such a strong surge of adrenaline they basically become machines until the adrenaline wears off.

I'm pretty sure there are more ways to react to pain, but these are the ones I've been exposed to.

I fall into a couple categories, one of which is category 5, but only if the pain is immediate, unexpected, and involves heavy blunt trauma. My body goes into auto-pilot and I quit functioning until my brain can interpret whether or not any serious damage has been done. It's very strange.

The other category I fall into is 8, for any pain that one can consider 'severe'. I believe it's caused by the intense reaction my body has to a sudden surge of adrenaline, but I more or less become a machine if I let the adrenaline get that far.
If I don't give in, I get a migraine so bad I can't focus. Kind of like a counter-pain. It slows me down, and doesn't produce an adrenal reaction.

For most pain, however, it's more or less ignored. I have an unnaturally high pain tolerance for the most part.

How do YOU react when you're in pain? Mild or severe, it doesn't matter.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Up to a certain limit I simply don't react. After that I usually wince but try to go about my day.

 

[Gammayun]

I break down crying screaming for my mummy

 

[Sexy Devil]

If it's insignificant it's usually a wince followed by not caring. If it's fairly hurtful (like walking into a 10kg computer chair with sufficient force to kick it across the room) then there will be copious quantities of cursing for a few minutes followed by not caring, as with when my arm broke. Not sure how I'd react to real pain.

 

[Kae]

I ignore it but that's just because I'm so used to it that it's just a minor annoyance, I mean I'm so clumsy that I can't go a week without bleeding be it from falling from the stairs (which happens way more often than it should) or just walking around the street and tripping. So yeah I just ignore it because I'm way too used to it.

 

[Richardplex]

Generally with the word "ouch".

 

[Jamster003]

I've broken my arms 8 times, aside from the first 2 (I was very young), I didn't react much. I basicially laughed it off, sure it hurt a bit but I can ignore pain and jokingly get a hold on the situation.

When I was hit by a car I reacted on pure adrenaline and couldn't feel a thing and was shaking for an hour because of the adrenaline.

Sometimes I do get angry when I get hurt, but that's usually when it's self inflicted due to stupidity, i.e running into a lamppost at full speed because you were looking in the wrong direction. But again, it's met with laughter.

So for me it's a combination of laughing the pain away, high pain threshold, adrenaline and small bursts of anger.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Generally, I don't react much. I became much more pain-tolerant after a spinal operation a few years ago. I was slightly allergic to the morphine, so I was put on the less effective one. Hurt like buggery, but is seemed it had a small effect.

 

[StrixMaxima]

If there's one thing I've learned in life, you don't ignore pain. You can pretend to ignore it, but nothing delivers such a clear, urgent message as pain.

Of course, different people have different thresholds, but even then, pain is pain.

 

[Captain_Fantastic]

a mix of 1 and 3 trying to use humor to dull the pain unless its very very bad then it gets a bit of 7

 

[spartan231490]

I've had most of those reactions at least once, but generally, I react to pain like this. If it's minor cuts or scrapes, I hiss once and then ignore it. If it's a little more painful, like a stubbed toe or a jammed knuckle, I'll curse once or twice, and then whine every time I feel pain in the injured area. Anything more sever than that, like a broken arm, the area locks up as all my muscles tighten involuntarily for a time, longer if it's more painful, usually just a handful of seconds, during which time I curse like a sailor, and then I ignore it.

 

[similar.squirrel]

It depends. If I'm expecting it, it doesn't really faze me. Even relish it sometimes.
If it's unexpected, however, then a couple of profanities will be uttered under my breath.

 

[Dimitriov]

Depends on the type of injury for me. Sometimes I yelp with surprise lol though not from pain. Generally I have a very high tolerance for pain. Often I discover I have hurt myself sometime after the fact.

I broke my thumb once, but I didn't know about it until maybe a month later when I noticed it was kind of bumpy and weird at the joint. I went and got it x-rayed, and apparently a piece of the bone had been broken off and reformed. Still don't know exactly when I actually did it.

I frequently discover small cuts, bruises, and the like and have no idea where they came from.

Only other thing I can think of is the two times I got grease burns. The first time I accidentally dunked my finger into a deep-fryer when reaching after something I had dropped. It was a bit of a surprise, but I just rinsed it in cold water for a few minutes then wrapped it myself and went back to work.

The second time I was cleaning out the deep-fryer (ah memories of working in fast food) and a hose wasn't sealed right evidently, because it sprayed hot grease into my face. I went to a doctor for that one to get cream so I wouldn't be horribly disfigured, but it really didn't hurt.


On your list I guess it would be 1, 3, and 8. My brain honestly just seems to shut off my awareness of pain after the first second or so, and sometimes even sooner.

 

[Miles000]

7) People who become VERY angry when injured, for no apparent reason.

I'll give you a damn good reason... THE PAIN!

Yes. That is my main category...

 

[Sonicron]

Judging from past incidents, I can live with pain, but I react with varying degrees of irritation (based on severity and duration of pain); basically, I still try to get whatever work I have done, but if the pain is really bad, heaven help anyone who so much as throws a smart-alecky look my way.

 

[Piorn]

I get rather angry when I hit my head on a low ceiling, sometimes resulting in a mood swing that even surprises myself, but it stops after a few minutes.

 

[loc978]

Depending on severity...

The worst injury I ever received caused me to grunt and slump over for a moment (I was seated in a vehicle at the time), while the worst pain I've ever felt caused me to clench my teeth and hold my breath for a moment. I suppose that puts me at number five on your list.
More often than not, though, I simply don't react... or I react with a sharp intake of breath, generally when the pain surprises me. I suppose that means I have a shading of number one.

 

[RGman]

I usually react by cursing realy fast, one time, one word (or more as I often go for a good'ol "son of a *****!"), then i proceed to be very quiet while performing an improvised "go away pain" dance (if I'm able to move that is). And I tend to get very, and I mean very, pissed when someone keeps asking me questions right after I've been injured, it's in my top three rules of getting along with me:
1 - Do not ask me questions while I'm eating;
2 - Do not ask me questions if you know for a fact that I am pissed;
3 - Do not ask me questions right after my pinky toe has gone kamikaze on the table's foot sharp corner... of death!

For major injuries I tend to go with the adrenaline rush, then some heavy doses of wishfull thinking and improvised dances, if I'm able to move that is.

 

[CrustyOatmeal]

1 of two things

1) i get supper pissed and just let out all the frustration in 1-3 seconds and then im fine

Ex: a fold-able table unfolded while i was putting it in the back of my brothers truck and fell right on my big toe (i wasnt wearing shoes). when i looked down it looked like a small balloon full of blood had popped on the cement. i yelled for about 2 seconds and then walked back into the house calmly and bandaged it up and then got back to work... with shoes on this time


2) i have an adrenaline rush and dont feel anything at all

Ex: i was working outside cutting wood with my dad and somehow a branch snapped and flung across my arm and gave it a big gash. i didnt even know until i got back inside the house and my mom told me my arm was covered in blood. lucky for me i was going to take a shower anyways

 

[Zhukov]

Usually with a soft grunt. Nastier cases can elicit an, "Oww, fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!"

Exact results depend on severity. I dislocated my kneecap once, that had me rolling around on the ground hissing profanities for a minute or so.

Sometimes I don't feel anything when I really should. For example, on the few occasion where I've been punched in the face the affected area just instantly goes numb. I'm not sure if that's normal, or the effects of adrenaline or whatnot.