Pain Tolerance

I was asked today what the story was behind my name change , and it hit me that I could post something useful in relation to it.

For those not versed in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Jacen was the son of Han and Leia. To make a long story really short, Jacen was captured and tortured. During this time he learned how to let his pain become his strength.

Think of a broken bone. Unendurable, certainly, for the novice. But as you face that pain, when that bone heals, it will be stronger at the break. You see, sometimes pain is in service of our destiny.

I was in a horrible car accident in 2005. I experienced more pain in a few months than I had in my entire life. But it did not destroy me or weaken me. I became unbreakable.

What you will not learn here is how to avoid pain or block it. Personally I find that to be a futile exercise. We experience pain for a reason, not just because the universe has a horrible sense of humor. So I've found it useful to EMBRACE pain. How? Well there's no "technique". It's more of a mind set.

For example, most people hate getting shots at the doctor's office, or getting into a fight and knowing you're going to get hit. I remember the first time I had an IV in my arm, I actually vomited. Now? It's meaningless. I do it once a month and it's effortless. So, if you were to go about one of the uncomfortable situations I mentioned, how would you approach it? Nervously? Fearfully? Perhaps even trying to distract yourself from the pain?

Instead, absorb the pain. Allow it to flow through you and fill you. In other words, EMBRACE it. Treat it like an old friend. Take strength from it. And then finally, when you have accomplished this, pain will travel through you "like light through empty space", and you will have become unbreakable.

At the very core is a simple concept: flow with what is. Sometimes you can't change your future, and so you have no other option but to face it.

I don't think embracing pain makes you unbreakable. Pain teaches us many lessons and using techniques to block out pain while useful, is not a way of life I would choose. You don't grow if you never experience pain and you never gain the skills that enable you to relate to others emotional or physical pain. Empathy, is sometimes learnt through your own pain.
Your future is in my opinion not set, you change it with every decision you make.

What makes you unbreakable in your view, sets you apart from others who are dealing with pain. In my opinion

Unbreakable as I'm understanding it through reading.

Elizabeth- This idea comes from a book named 'Traitor' from the star wars universe. You might understand the idea better if you read the book to better understand the hopeless-ness state of the character knowing everyone who he loves think him dead and hopeless in his in-ability to stop them inflicting pain upon him for no comprehensible reason by his hostages. It turns out they are trying to 'teach' him. And he 'learns' from the pain, after which he is put into a new arena.
I realize a similar reading can be found in the 'Wheel of Time' Series where a woman commits a crime (for that society, (They are several within the story)) and learns *not* to stop crying out in agony as she is hurt, but rather to face it without fear and can stop crying immediately after the punishment. Some people are broken by the process of pain, and start to rotate around their fear and avoidance of pain but others develop something like resistance and can move without the fear deciding their lives. Something reminds me of something a little like what you said (or Quoted),
"Fear is not real,
It is a product of thoughts you create.
Danger is very real,
but fear is a choice"

Going through the process of pain can often make people either Fearful or Fear-less..
It might be like as you embrace the pain, you stop fearing it and accept it therefore making you resolved and 'unbreakable'. Does that make more sense to you? Still- if you can, read the book for a better idea..

If you ignore a signal, then a logical action for a signal is to increase its intensity. So I agree conscious acceptance of the pain signal can reduce its tendency to fight for recognition by the conscious mind - after all it's purpose is to signal, get attention, and provide some information.

One thing pain seems to do is influence ones perception - it seems to occupy some 'bandwidth' of mental awareness when it occurs. In this way it is usually considered a distraction, but its by design obviously.

If a pain is understood and not going to cause harm or risk requiring your action, such as a doctor/dentist appointment, its interesting to just experience and accept it - to just go and 'enjoy' it. Obviously it's not about pleasure, but instead just releasing fear and using it as a opportunity to understand a pain experience without freaking out and trying to fight it.

But, as pain increases past a certain point though, it tends to make me feel more and more occupied by its presence, eventually at much higher levels basically transforming the conscious experience to one of focusing on more survival orientated mindsets. Heavy breathing being one example where amplifying basic survival mechanism's is like an effort to anchor the body and mind into some plateau of normality (when faced with an onslaught of unstoppable pain). At higher levels I'd think it quite probable that stress levels could cause shock and other system failures such as with the heart etc.

I'm only talking about physical pain, and not things such as anguish or fear which could be considered mental or emotional pain and probably a different kettle of fish.

I don't disagree on any particular point

"Fear is not real,
It is a product of thoughts you create.
Danger is very real,
but fear is a choice"

I think this was from After Earth. Just saw it last night and I'm pretty sure that was a line used toward the end of the movie.

Actually that line was used twice in the movie...early on when they were talking about "ghosting" then towards the end....but it is a true statement and it is false, in the sense that fear is a survival instinct...of course instinct can be over ridden...

My methods in dealing with pain vary....often rather than ignoring physical pain I focus intently on it until it becomes enjoyable once that happens I no longer feel it...another method I use is to increase the pain until the nerves become overloaded and shut down...medically speaking I have a higher than average pain thresh hold to begin with...documented in my military medical records...as well as a higher than average white blood cell count...

Yes pain is a great teacher and a terrible enemy but necessary in either case....

Sorry, but I must tell you this story about Pain Tolerance.

I was on a trip with a couple of guys from my business and this dude in the back downs like 3 2 liter bottles of soda. We get stuck in Seattle rush hour traffic and this dude really has to go. He is back there moaning and groaning like he is about to die because he has to pee so bad. This van pulls up next to us and in the dust on the side, it says "Dear God" a bunch of it is wiped off and at the bottom it says, "balls deep." By this time the guy in the back is sweating heavily, like he is going into labor. The driver and I started laughing so hard. We were crying because we were laughing. The guy in the back looks over and starts chuckling and moaning and laughing harder and clenching himself and moaning louder. Finally, after sitting there for 2 hours and driving about 500 feet, we get a turn off for a hotel.

The dude walks to the hotel like he is pregnant, feet spread apart, leaning back and walking slowly. He comes back out and gets in the van and says, "Man, that was harsh. I normally have a high pain tolerance unless I have to pee really bad or get a hang nail or when I get a head ache." We started laughing again and I said, "Man, that is the definition of a LOW pain tolerance."

Now we make the jokes like, "I have a high pain tolerance, unless I stub my toe with my shoes on and then I have to crutches." Or "I have a high pain tolerance, unless I sneeze too hard, then I get a head ache and my day is shot."

Just thought I'd share this with you.

MTFBWY.
~Randall Silvermane

LOL That's funny

I get what you're saying though. But I think we can have high tolerance for certain things and low for others. We can't say it's black or white across the board, know what I mean? In general I can take pain very well, but when it catches me off guard I might jump a little, but then take control of it if I concentrate. It's all mental.

This may work very well if you are training yourself to endure said pain. But no two painful experiences are the same, thus, we cannot be fully prepared. I have been shot before, and no matter how many times I have been cut open or stabbed, I could not fathom the wrathful pain of a piece of lead burying itself into me.
In a controlled, self-induced environment, I can see this work for certain. But life has ways of throwing you a curve-ball now and then. I will tell you what is worse than a bullet wound though; negative emotions. Those things crawl inside you, eat away at your intestines, then when they are done there they crawl inside your chest and consume your heart. Negative emotions are the number one worst pains I can think of honestly. And I know of no sane man that puts himself through that, thus this practice of absorbing pain, in my opinion, is fruitless.

All I could think of reading this was a world-known quote by Nietzsche,

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

It's something I try and live by, and it seems like in a sense, you do too.

Haha the quote I could thnk of was the Bene Gesserit litany against fear

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain

(from Frank Herbert's Dune. Good series. First book was amazing)
Oddly enough, Paul (The main character) used this mantra quite a bit against pain and the fear it brings with it.

Perhaps I'm the same way, but in my words I listen to my pain. I don't take pain killers unless my work or sleep is inhibited by it. I feel that by taking pain killers I'm dulling my sense of the world. Or that I'll become intolerant to pain if I pop it at the first sign that something may happen lol. I figure, by experiencing pain, if the time comes, I will be ready for that moment when pain canNOT matter to save my own life or that of another.

I went through a motorcycle wreck a few years back. (I was not at fault! ) even hyped up on pain killers my body was nearly passing out from the pain. It took six months of physical therapy to get me back up in running condition again. Six months where I pushed my body past its current limits and into pain. Pain and I are good buddies. He tells me when something is wrong. Or I'm doing something wrong. I've started running in minimalistic toe shoes about two years ago and pain taught me to run properly. (and now I'm without pain when I run most time ..at least joint pain haha) Now put me on the four-mile treck we have and I'll be hurting at the end but I can make it LOL.

My lower back is a wreck...a slipped disk, a compressed disk, and sciattica all between lumbars 4,5,and 6...I'm supposed to take vicodin(pain killer) and flexoril(muscle relaxer)...I never take the painkillers because they do nothing for the pain and just make me sick, and I seldom take the muscle relaxers as they put me to sleep...most of the time my will power and focus is all I need to get through the pain...and once I've experienced a pain I won't notice it the next time...I used to get a persistent hangnail...had it surgically removed 3 times...finally I just started removing it myself... I went 3 days with a perforated appendix and thought it was just stomach cramps...even played tackle football on day 2...

I don't like to talk about my weaknesses. I've been living with the muscle & joint pain along with muscle weakness and cramps for about 10 years and it has grown worse every year.. The Dr finaly said it's fibromyalgia due to cronic stress. (but that's another thread)

Pain is no stranger to me. I live with it and fight back. I win some battles but am unsure if I'm winning the war, proabably not but I won't stop trying. I'll be changing my tactics as necessary to deal with it.

If you met me in person you'd never know. I'm vigorious in my outdoor activities and am considered a successful business person. I have a wide spectrum of interests I pursue.

Why am I saying this?

Because you just can't give up trying!! You can sit and do nothing and feel pain or you can go live you life and feel pain. I choose to live my life. Heck it's only pain.

I can't complain too much. (no one really likes to here complaints anyway) There are people that are worse off then me. Blind, deaf, no arms, no legs, paraplegics.... They do lots of stuff. (Who's that real smart guy in a wheelchair?) Who am I to complain?

I'm just going to do the best I can and keep moving.

So can you.

Stephen Hawking. One of the smartest, if not THE smartest man alive. Hawking has a motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). (This is pasted from Wikipedia). He is in constant pain every day and only he knows how it feels as pain is different to each person.

I agree though. People are able to handle some pains and cower to others. I have been able to endure blowing both my knees out, getting stabbed, having reconstructive knee surgery. But when my gall bladder got infected and had to be taken out, it was the most pain I've ever been in. I couldn't breath, couldn't sit, couldn't lay down, couldn't move around. It was a constant pain that literally took my breath away and left me in agony. Not something I care to feel again. My real pain weakness though, my mouth. If I get a sore in my mouth or bite my cheek/tongue. I hate it. And don't even get me started on the Dentist...

Everyone is different on this one. I suffer more from emotion than physical ailment. Physical is just something I accept...emotional seems somehow more oppressive.

Emotional pain is much more difficult to deal with. Physical pain sources can usually be identified and delt with. The source of emotional pain is intangable. Can't see them in a x ray can you. I think the worse thing we can do is ignore our emotions. Out of sight is not out of mind. Repressing them concentrates them like pressure in a bottle. Our emotions are both a cuurse and blessing. .

Physical pain is an interesting mechanism. While the science would tell us it is the result of electrical impulses being fired across neurons, I can't help but think there has to be something exclusively mental about it as well.

I'll give you an example. My step-sister had her leg removed above the knee after she was in a skiing accident and the x-rays revealed a cancerous tumor. For quite some time afterward she continued to "feel" her missing foot and experienced an emotional longing for it. Not a longing to be able to walk again, but a desire to feel whole.

Once she was fitted with a prosthetic, the physical pain she experienced in her "phantom foot" disappeared and she felt emotionally connected to the metal and plastic piece that technically wasn't a part of her.

Even though both her missing foot and the prosthetic foot were incapable of sending pain signals to her brain, she experienced physical and emotional pain as well as relief from the pain none the less. It lives in her mind, and the mind can be a powerful and mysterious thing.

I havent been through something as bad as a car wreck, or a big accident. I think the worst Ive been through before was a horribly ingrown toenail, one Ive had removed many times and had kinda learned to take care of on my own till it got worse. My next doctors visit they had decided to remove my toenail entirely... it was becoming to badly infected. My big toe was completely red and swollen, and the points where both sides of my toenail were ingrown were purple on either side of my toe... I learned to deal with pain and decided to procrastinate my doctor visits for a long time, causing this infection. I was really nervous to get it removed and knew it would be painful. The pain kills the doctors have always used on me never have worked to well. But I finally decided to get it done, and to be short and no so graphic, it was successfully accomplished and my toenail is on its way to growing back. I always thought of myself to have high pain tolerance when i was younger... almost like I was impervious. As I get older i find pain not to be a thing of tolerance, but to be humbling. Reminds me Im human like everyone else. And that its a part of life, and sometimes we have to suffer/stand up to it to get better or reach our goals. I guess in a sort, and slightly off topic, from this I also see Procrastination as pain. Procrastination of any sort only hurts yourself more, mentally and physically.

Malcolm Serenity wrote: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

I prefer "That which doesn't kill me had better start runnin'."

As for pain tolerance, I'm a walking male stereotype. You could probably cut my arms off and I'd whine a little, but if I get a tummyache or the sniffles, I demand a My Little Pony marathon and some chicken soup and to be waited on hand and foot because ITHURTSSOBAAAAAD!.

Or, at least, that's how *I* see it. Other people see some of the stuff I've been through and flip out. Crowbars to the back of the head make me angry, my first concussion left me giggling, and both my dentist and my chiropractor thought it was a miracle I could walk around without downing a bottle of pain pills every day, much less do some of the other crap I do.

When you deal with it for a while, you get used to it. One of my long-term problems was surgically fixed recently, and I never realized how much pain I was in until I wasn't anymore--kinda like how you don't realize how big your couch is til you see the empty space on your carpet after move.