Pain Tolerance

O

Orleander

OH JOY!!!!
Valued Senior Member
Have there been any studies done as to whether men or women, certain races, certain body types have a higher pain tolerance?
Right now, I'm thinking its Japanese men.


TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- A Japanese biker failed to notice his leg had been severed below the knee when he hit a safety barrier, and rode on for 2 km (1.2 miles), leaving a friend to pick up the missing limb.

The 54-year-old office worker was out on his motorcycle with a group of friends in the city of Hamamatsu, west of Tokyo, on Monday, when he was unable to negotiate a curve in the road and bumped into the central barrier, the Mainichi Shimbun said.

He felt excruciating pain, but did not notice that his right leg was missing until he stopped at the next junction, the paper quoted local police as saying.

The man and his leg were taken to hospital, but the limb had been crushed in the collision, the paper said
 
Orleander said:
Have there been any studies done as to whether men or women, certain races, certain body types have a higher pain tolerance?
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What do you think? Of course there have! Mechanisms of pain sensation and treatment of chronic pain is a major area of medical research.

The only one I know anything about is with regards to a rare genetic disorder in children called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis (CIPA). CIPA is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by anhidrosis (ie. the inability to sweat) and absence of reaction to noxious (or painful) stimuli. This inability to feel any pain or temperature sensations is due to the absence of a specific subset of PNS sensory neurons that normally detect these tissue-damaging stimuli. More specifically, it is due to mutations in the TRKA gene. This gene codes for a neuronal cell-surface receptor for Nerve Growth Factor (NGF). NGF is a survival factor, so without the ability to detect NGF signaling through the TRKA receptor the neurons in question die off during development.

It all goes to show that although no one likes acute pain, it does serve a very important purpose in letting us know when our immediate environment or activity is damaging our body. These poor CIPA children have no idea when they’ve broken bones, gashed themselves open, burnt themselves etc. and will often continue the activity and cause even more damage. They require constant supervision and daily medical inspection to ensure they’re not hurt in some way.
 
I only know of a Danish study, in which male and female pain reception was compared. Apparently the tolerance is lower in females, though it was argued that psychosocial and physiological factors also played a role.
 
Orleander said:
Have there been any studies done as to whether men or women, certain races, certain body types have a higher pain tolerance?
Right now, I'm thinking its Japanese men.


TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- A Japanese biker failed to notice his leg had been severed below the knee when he hit a safety barrier, and rode on for 2 km (1.2 miles), leaving a friend to pick up the missing limb.

The 54-year-old office worker was out on his motorcycle with a group of friends in the city of Hamamatsu, west of Tokyo, on Monday, when he was unable to negotiate a curve in the road and bumped into the central barrier, the Mainichi Shimbun said.

He felt excruciating pain, but did not notice that his right leg was missing until he stopped at the next junction, the paper quoted local police as saying.

The man and his leg were taken to hospital, but the limb had been crushed in the collision, the paper said
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He was using steroids! I knew that those cyclists were into drugs and this proves it! :p
 
Orleander said:
Not in adults? So they outgrow it?
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That’s an interesting question, actually. I have a developmental neurobiology background so my previous passing interest in CIPA was purely with respect to the defects in embryonic and early post-natal nervous system development that causes the disease. I don’t recall what happens when CIPA children grow up. I doubt they would “outgrow” it, so I suspect it’s a lifelong disability. I suspect there would be a range of other neurological problems associated with a NGF signalling defect, so perhaps they die before they reach adulthood. (?) Dunno.


Orleander said:
And pain tolerance is different than not ever feeling pain.
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Well, yes and no. “Pain” is a result of nervous system function. So at one end of the spectrum people feel no pain because the specific components of their nervous systems that detect/transmit pain are missing (eg. CIPA). At the other end are people who experience excruciating pain because the specific components of their nervous systems that detect/transmit pain are hypersensitive/overactive. In between is an almost infinite variety in levels of pain sensation that result from variations in nervous system functioning.


Pain is a very widely studied area of biomedical research. Here are just some of the journals devoted specifically to the subject….

Acute pain
The Clinical journal of pain
European journal of pain
The journal of headache and pain
The journal of pain
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Journal of pain & palliative care, pharmacotherapy
Molecular pain
Pain
Pain management nursing
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2329313.stm
I think this is crap. I think they have a harder time going under, not for pain reasons

People with red hair are more susceptible to pain, according to doctors.

Research carried out in the United States suggests that redheads need 20% more anaesthesia than people with other hair colour.

Doctors believe that genes which are responsible for red hair also have a role in managing pain. In a nutshell, redheads are likely to experience more pain

They said the findings could have important implications for patients who are undergoing surgery.
 
Well I was told numerous times in my life I have high pain tolerance. Since the day I was born actually. The doctor who retrieved me from uterus pinched me real tough, and all babies scream when they get pinched, but I just waited it out.
 
Orleander said:
How can you not notice your foot is gone!? Must have been a crotch rocket where no foot shifting was involved.
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The blow could have numbed his painsensors. I have heard stories like that before.
What i dont get is how he peddled with only one leg, i mean.. i know it can be done but it takes some effort and the realization that his leg was missing.
Couldnt it be an embellished story ?

Edit: Oh crap i failed to notice he was riding a motorcycle.. lol
I thought he was riding a bicycle... Sorry, my bad. ;)
 
LOL, I was wondering how you thought he could possibly peddle fast enough to shear off his leg.
 
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