Pain comes in different forms. There is acute pain, chronic pain and intractable pain. Your pain tolerance/intolerance is the amount of pain you can handle. Your pain threshold can have impacts on your mental health and cause issues like depression and anxiety.
Having a high pain tolerance
Pain tolerance is different for each individual, some have a lower tolerance while others may have a higher one. Your tolerance depends on how your brain and nervous system interact with each other. Those with a higher pain tolerance can eventually end up with serious damage, this is due to not listening to your body and ignoring the signs your body sends you. We see this with elderly people, if an elderly person has a high pain tolerance they tend to ignore issues which are serious and eventually cause more damage. Some serious health issues can also go undetected.
Your body gives off pain signals to let you know something is wrong, choosing to ignore this can cause other sorts of health issues which can cause fatality. You may see fatalities in some athletes due to them not listening to their bodies signals. Your age, gender, chronic illnesses, stress and past experiences can influence your pain tolerance. A very young person will have a much lower pain tolerance compared to an adult.
Gender plays a part in your pain tolerance, a woman has a lower pain tolerance, although her body will go through much more painful experiences like periods and labour. Women are more Intune with their body and will report issues, compared to a man who will just ‘suck it up’. Women are believed to be weaker because of this. Chronic pain will also higher your pain tolerance, suffering with chronic pain like lasting back pain will increase your pain tolerance. This is due to living in pain on a daily basis. Increased stress levels will cause you to suffer with pain more than when relaxed. Past experience and traumas can
cause you to develop a higher pain tolerance, this is because you learn to live with your traumas and the pain they have caused.
Having a lower pain tolerance
Those that suffer with a lower pain tolerance are also more likely to develop mental health issues like depression and anxiety. There are different factors that play a part in your lowered pain tolerance. Insomnia, weight, smoking and medication can all play a part in lowering your pain tolerance. Lack of sleep can lower your tolerance due to the changes in your nervous system, this then creates an oversensitivity in your nervous system. Being obese can also lower your pain tolerance due to health complications involved with being obese. Arthritis, type 2 diabetes and fibromyalgia are all health conditions that are linked to both weight and pain. Smoking lowers your pain tolerance, this is because smoking increases your heart rate and blood pressure.
Depression and anxiety can come from a lowered pain tolerance. Living in constant pain or feeling higher levels of pain can cause both depression and anxiety, living in fear of feeling this pain for the rest of your life or an overwhelming sadness because of the pain you suffer from. Counselling and medication can be used to treat depression and anxiety. however, physical conditions need to be treated first.
Treatments for pain intolerance
There are treatments out there for pain intolerance, and they can vary from person to person. You can attempt to increase your pain tolerance on your own. Yoga, aerobic exercise, vocalisation and mental imagery can all be ways to increase your pain tolerance. Yoga mixes physical postures, breathing techniques and mental training all together, so as you practise yoga more you also develop the skills to gain a higher pain tolerance. Aerobic exercises also increase your pain tolerance, this is because doing exercise releases endorphins, which can help you to not feel as much pain.
Using breathing techniques as a way to increase your pain tolerance can be beneficial, breathing techniques relax your body and a relaxed body can tolerate more pain than a stressed one. This is proven when women give birth, they are told to use breathing techniques to help ease the pain. When you are in pain shouting ‘ow’ can lower the amount of pain you are in. When you use your voice to show the pain you are in, it can shorten the length of time you are in pain by around 40 seconds.
Different types of pain
Although people have different pain thresholds or tolerances, there are still different types of pain acute, chronic and intractable. Depending on the person, there is different treatment options. You can also experience pain differently.
Acute pain is mild to moderate pain. It can be dealt with by over-the-counter pain relief, this type of pain lasts around 3-6 months. Sprains, cuts and headaches are all classed as acute pain. Normally, acute pain has a purpose, as it is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong.
Chronic pain is more severe pain that needs extra attention. Migraines, slipped discs and irritable bowel syndrome are all types of chronic pain, these will not subside with over-the-counter pain relief and you will need prescribed medication to deal with the pain. Sometimes it can take longer than 6 months for these types of pains to go away.
Intractable pain is pain that is difficult to manage and is sometimes incurable. Doctors will try to manage your pain with opioids, nerve blocks and maybe even surgery. Opioids are a kind of medication that can be highly addictive and can eventually be counteracted. You can believe you are in more pain due to opioids. The addiction you develop makes you believe you are in more pain than you are. This is so your body gets more.