Pain Receptors

I always thought I was pretty normal on the pain scale. C4 and I had a conversation about pain tonight. I get really bad cramps during that "time of the month." I remember my best friend in high school had such terrible ones and she would stay home for a few days. She eventually went on the pill and they subsided. I never really thought that the pain was that bad. Until, I also started on b.c. because it was suggested by my obgyn. Then I had a pain free one. No 800 mg of motrin twice a day, no hot baths at 2 am to help the pain, no heating pads stuck to my stomach, and no restless nights. So when I mentioned to C4 all of this, I said, "Well they were a 5 on my pain scale - 1 being getting burned by hot water or a hot pan, 10 being a dislocated shoulder." I assumed that was reasonable. Then she said, "Mine are a 5 on my pain scale - 1 being no pain, 10 being getting burned." Okay. I just figured pain was all part of the deal. That kind of stinks. All this time I could have been normal. I think that pain is very interesting. Some people live in pain every day. I lived in pain every day for a couple of years. Every day is measured by the level of pain. A good day is not pain free, its just less painful. Maybe it means that you do not have a headache or your arm does not go numb. Maybe it means that you are not crying because it is so horrible. If you are lucky, like me, its stress related and you can figure out how to deal with it. Pain sucks.

It makes me think of that Lois Lowry book, The Giver, the people do not experience pain. Is the joy of life lost because we do not experience any pain?