Ever wish you weren't so sensitive to pain?

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I sure wish I wasn't. A bump that is a simple "ow" for most people is something different for me.

I've got a low pain threshold, I think I'm in the minority compared to most aspies because we're supposed to have high thresholds. But I am the oppisite.

I had a very low pain threshold when I was a kid. When telling my family about it, I actually used the words "low pain threshold". All they told me in the response in that I was walking nonsense, and what I really had was a "high propensity to whining".

I'm not sure. Sometimes if I hurt myself I'm like that... other times I'll burn myself and most people run to water or scream or do something-- and I have a really late reaction or don't do any of those things. Otherwise I like mild pain as long as it isn't unexpected.

Physical pain doesn't bother me much, it's emotional pain that bothers me more to be honest. My feelings get hurt rather easily and it annoys the hell out of me.

I'm the other way round. I have a very high tolerance for pain, and it's caused me many problems. For example, I broke the toes in my left foot when I was a kid, and it was six weeks before I was taken to the doctor for the resulting limp. By then they had healed crooked, and he said they'd have to rebreak them to set them straight. I declined.

Then again, my left foot, I've broken it three times since then, and it looks quite knotted. I am always late getting it seen to, and that hasn't helped. It never seemed to hurt badly enough for me to go to the doctor... or even if I did think it really hurt, there was always something else I could concentrate on instead. I've only broken my right foot once, and the same thing happened. It took them eight months to realise that I'd cracked my coccyx in labour, which has caused lower back pain, and I've walked around with an abscess in my tooth for so long that I ended up in hospital with blood poisoning. Most people wouldn't let it get that bad.

So I wish I had less of a pain thresh hold to be honest.

When I've been attacked physically it's helped though. Men tend to expect women to go all girly and weak when they're hit. Because it doesn't hurt I've given as good as I've got, and I'm sure that's saved me on a few occasions from a much worse beating.

But in general, I wish I did feel pain more like other people do.

Also, there are some pains I like. I'm going to have terrible arthritis, because when I've broken fingers and such, I keep cracking them, which as you can imagine means everything takes longer to heal. It's not right to like the pain you have in fractured phalanges.

my reactions to minor wounds, etc., seems to vary. for some, i seem to have a high threshold. it takes me a while at times to notice i've cut myself. i'm forever finding bruises whose origins are a complete mystery to me.

on the other hand: toe stubbing? ouch!! !! sudden loud high-pitched sounds? ouch!! !! !! ! the odd thing is, even though something really hurts (the toe stubbing, shin barking types of things), i'll often have kind of a delayed reaction. it takes me a moment longer than usual to cuss or say OW.

not sure what that's about.

I usually dont feel pain as bad as what I expect it to be, but I'm far more sensitive to things that tickle/ irratate...like uncomfortable clothing, labels, people unexpectedly brushing against me (hate that one!).

The bruises thing... gosh, yes, I'd not thought of that. My legs are always bruised, I look like a seven year old boy as far as scrapes and bumps are concerned, and I have no idea how I get any of them.

My son's father was once accused of beating me, because I had so many bruises, and I was so ashamed for him, since he hadn't ever hit me. Of course, nobody ever believes a woman when she says she walked into a door... you know sometimes it's true?

Just imagine how much worse it is to say, "I bruise easily... no I don't know where the bruises came from..." That sounds like you're not even trying!

I think it's mainly walking into things that does it.

YES, YES, YES!! ! I just underwent a serious surgery, and on top of it, I'm allergic to painkillers. Right now I'm having migraines and jaw pain and all I can take is acetaminophen, and I have a verified low pain threshold (at least, the doctor said so).

Physical pain for me is quite rare. But touching in an affectionate manner can be anything from extremely gross to so painful I have panic attacks. But I could beat myself up and not feel any pain. Just depends on whose doing it & what it is for me.

I have an extremely high pain threshold, I literally do not feel anything when I fall over, or when I'm tackled. Me and a friend both went to kick a football, and kicked each other in the shin very hard, and I shook it of in a few seconds, while he was limping for the rest of the match. I've also been hit full force in the...stones, I shook it of and all I felt was breathlessness and nausea Burns still hurt like hell, and bone pain can be agonising. I shake it off, but it really does hurt

I wouldn't mind being less sensitive to physical pain in some ways...
I would never decide to be less sensitive to emotions...

Being insensitive pain is no fun either. When I was 11 I had a ruptured eardrum from an ear infection that went untreated (it was discovered when I was at the doctor for something else). Also, my parents said that when I was a baby they would only find out about ear infections when I was at the doctor for something like diaper rash.

Then, when I was 12 I had a ruptured appendix that went untreated for a week- until I was barely lucid from dehydration and fever, which is what prompted my parents to bring me in. Even after I went into the hospital, it took them nearly three days to figure out the problem because apparently I didn't tell anyone I was in pain. What could have been a simple overnight stay for an appendectomy turned into a month-long hospital visit followed by several weeks of intravenous antibiotics at home. True the whole experience wasn't as bad for me as it would have been for someone who was hypersensitive to pain, but being so sick for so long was still not very much fun. Not to mention the fact that I could have died. So, being hyposensitive to pain has drawbacks as well.

I am another with an exceptional tolerance of pain, and this has also caused me problems in the past. Over time, I have learned that if I go to a doctor with an injury and he asks me if it hurts, I should not say no! I had one serious injury initially go untreated because of this.

From this limited sampling so far, it seems that more autists might be unusually tolerant of pain than unusually susceptible to it.