[FRIAM] A Question For Tomorrow

[Steven A Smith]

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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