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On Pain

Elemental

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I wondered what folks here might think about pain management & experience? I recently found out from a shoulder x-ray that aside from a developed Frozen Shoulder, I likely have something called Calcified Tendonitis because there is some calcium deposit around the far right of my collar bone / shoulder & I suspect, from how my body feels sometimes, that this tmay be true in other areas of previous bone trauma.

I get prescribed anti-inflammatory 'meds, which I'm wary of taking because of side effects (headaches, upset belly) already & also pain killers because of damaged discs in my neck - I unwittingly dived into the shallow end of a pool & concussed myself for a couple of days, twenty years ago. I rarely use the pain killers though because I'm ultra-aware of the shift in my head cogs from them, which I dislike & also, I find that my already lacking patience at some things can get massively increased. Plus, I don't know if they really lessen the actual pain or just minimize the caring about it, so I'll basically use them if I've really had enough, for a day or two & then I just try to ignore any persistent discomfort again, which generally works ok as an ongoing cycle. Keeping occupied with stuff like my coloring helps too, like any absorption.

What I do wonder about is whether on AS we feel pain more acutely, in the way that all sensory stuff can be experienced as exaggerated but paradoxically, whether we also have a higher than average tolerance of pain levels?

After losing my balance & cracking my ankle, I walked on it using a support for 5 days thinking it only sprained except when I did get medical attention, I left hospital in a plaster because the bone had actually fractured. It didn't help that I removed the plaster after ten days due to the impracticality of it but that itself is another example of misguided thinking & the collateral damage, I feel, AS has brought me over the years.

Not just the accidents themselves, through poor balance & lack of co-ordination but also an apparent inability to act on the pain afterwards, in a more responsible way. I never sought attention for my concussion either.

Since actively trying to accept & accommodate my AS into daily life & self these last two years, I try to be more responsible & have a more precautionary attitude to myself. I am prescribed daily exercise at home, which can be a chore to remember or actually make the time for to do although I actually do very little but I am trying hard because of restricted shoulder movement that I want to improve. I'm also supposed to use a public pool but I'm still trying to work up to this, for all the usual uneasiness-feelings that such planned stuff & public environments make me feel.

Anyways, it's all ongoing & I just wanted to put that out there & ask for others' opinions & experience, Thanks :)
 
In general I don't feel as much I guess. I often end up with bruises and don't even know they're there until someone tells me.

However, I feel like my nerves are a bit closer to the surface, which means that when I feel something, I really feel it. For me it's a mixed bag because of this, but I can't really say there's any regularity with my pain perception. Perhaps one of the main things for me, that actually hurts me and I really can't deal with; I can't really tolerate hot water beyond 20 degrees celcius (68F)... it just stings and no matter how long I try to tolerate it, it doesn't get any better. The upside however is that I can deal with wearing shorts or just a short sleeved t-shirt without a jacket when it's freezing and it doesn't bother me as much... perhaps it's just a temperature thing.

As I'm writing it, I'm still suffering from a badly bruised right arm (my left wrist is pretty much healed up) from when I made a swandive to the concrete 2 weeks ago but slowly it's recovering. I always felt I recovered fairly quick from injuries, so it actually makes me wonder if the pain I had was normal and if other people recover just as fast or if I"m just a big baby... of course, the other thing can be true as well, maybe the pains I had were way, way worse but I didn't register them as the extremes.

I will say, that usually, when I'm in actual pain I'm not really functional, since it's like my brain just reminds itself there's a feeling around that doesn't regularly belong there. It's like my brain just keeps telling itself "here, enjoy some agony". But how much "agony" it is, I don't know... perhaps my kind of physical pain would be unbearable for some, but like I said, I might just as well be a bit of a baby and it's not that bad.

I've found that I often take other cues to when I've injured myself and don't register the pain impulses as such. Last year, at the gym I fell backwards of the rowing machine and while it didn't hurt a lot (and probably looked hilarious) I did hear my back crack. To me that's a sign to take it slow and give my back some rest. It's not really that I was in pain, but I rather not mess up my spine over something like that.

Similarly, out of anger, I've punched things in the past. I've always noticed that the upper skin on my knuckles usually tears and I've ended up with bloody knuckles in the past (because hey... let's punch concrete walls, lol), feeling some of my knuckles I wouldn't be surprised if I fractured a few (looking at it, the knuckle at my right pinky looks weird) in my life, but I never felt pain there. Perhaps it's part of adrenaline flowing and just not registering pain, but I'd expect some pain when you're done raging... which for some reason wasn't the case.

So my pain receptors... are all over the place... some of the time they're on high alert, some of the time, they're probably on extended leave...
 
I've had my share of fractures and other injuries, some requiring surgery, and many of the physicians I dealt with were surprised that I wasn't in more pain. I've been offered pain relievers that I refused, and some prescriptions I filled without using them all.

My work exposes me to a lot of opportunity for minor burns, cuts, splinters, so I'm also used to having some kind of pain somewhere on my body, usually my hands and fingers.

I am over aware of the side effects of medication, as well as the addictive possibilities, so when I've accepted the pain meds, I've been very careful with dosage, when and how much I take.
 
Not sure if there is a generalized tendency about pain tolerance with Aspies. Can kind of see it going both ways.

I have one injury from a car accident that will never heal totally and have been on meds for it 8+ years.
I take:

Naproxyn (anti inflamitant)
Nexium (prevents upset stomach from above med)

Haven't had any problems with it so far. Doesn't effect my brain in any way I can tell and haven't had stomach problems so far.

I don't really like pain killers either (hate the fog and weird feelings), and try to use natural methods to counter, mostly lie down rests, but also mild exercise/walks or physical work, as being too sedentary seems to hurt rather then help in the long run. Also distraction (video games, films).
 
The last really painful thing that happened to me was I slammed the car door on my middle finger, honestly I thought I broke it I was in agony went to the hospital next day and they had to drill through my nail to let all the blood out yuk!. Apart from that and having my kids I've never been to hospital for anything else. I'm not sure if I have a high pain tolerance, I guess everyone's threshold is different anyway and I'm used to walking into door frames and things. I damaged my jaw when I was a child can't remember how though, every time I opened and closed my mouth or ate it would click in and out of place but I don't remember it being painful, now as a result I can't open my mouth more than an Inch. I never told anyone because I don't like being fussed over.

The only time I take a painkiller is when I have a headache, I absolutely can't stand having headaches.
 
Yep, I've got some physical disassociation, more so if I'm overwhelmed/foggy/in a shutdown.
I do not feel much pain until it is at the crisis stage. Then, I am suddenly surprised, confused, panicky. Beforehand, I simply feel a vague, insistent sense of increasing distress/anxiety regarding my body-- "Something's wrong." Then, whammo, the pain knocks me on my butt. Hah! :D

I use affordable community acupuncture for pain control. (vertebra out of place in my spine) You don't get private individual treatment, rather you're in a room with 3 other people who are all happily snoozing away. The needles do not hurt, and they only go in arms, hands, legs, feet, ears, head... no torso... so you can remain in street clothes. The cost is $15 - $20 per treatment. Acupuncture treatment is cumulative, so be patient.. it takes a few treatments for the body to go back into balance in managing it's own pain, inflammation, etc. Full-body acu is more expedient, but far more costly.

I am wishing you wellness! :herb:
 
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I experience very much what Warmheart so eloquently said. I tend to successfully ignore most pain, (even broken bones) though it will at times suddenly be overwhelming and then I have to take some sort of painkiller. I always feel like I am doing something wrong for my body and mind when I take a painkiller.

Hope your shoulder gets better. (Mine are both messed up.)
 
It's pretty common for people on the spectrum to have unusual pain receptors. Some things we are aware of much more acutely than others, some things we are oblivious to. Generally, we are able to take more deep pressure and do worse with light pressure.

I am good at taking large hits, like when I was waitressing I scooted a table over several inches because my spatial reasoning ain't that great, and while it did hurt a bit, it didn't hurt enough to me to be worth the massive bruise I got on my thigh within a few days. But when I got a little 5mm splinter in my toe recently, oh boy, I could have recorded the soundtrack for a jungle movie!
 
I've had my share of fractures and other injuries, some requiring surgery, and many of the physicians I dealt with were surprised that I wasn't in more pain. I've been offered pain relievers that I refused, and some prescriptions I filled without using them all.

My work exposes me to a lot of opportunity for minor burns, cuts, splinters, so I'm also used to having some kind of pain somewhere on my body, usually my hands and fingers.

I am over aware of the side effects of medication, as well as the addictive possibilities, so when I've accepted the pain meds, I've been very careful with dosage, when and how much I take.
This is me. I have multiple spinal fractures and I have suffered three skull fractures. I've never taken more than half a Vicodin for pain (wisdom tooth removal...realized I didn't need it!) and I've never needed surgery for any of my injuries because I was so "good" about working through the pain. My fractures never healed, but I try to routinely do stretches and core-strengthening exercises. I'm not always so great about the flexibility exercises I'm supposed to be doing though.
 
This is me. I have multiple spinal fractures and I have suffered three skull fractures. I've never taken more than half a Vicodin for pain (wisdom tooth removal...realized I didn't need it!) and I've never needed surgery for any of my injuries because I was so "good" about working through the pain. My fractures never healed, but I try to routinely do stretches and core-strengthening exercises. I'm not always so great about the flexibility exercises I'm supposed to be doing though.

Wow. With that many head injuries are you a Viking or something like that?
 
Wow, sounds like you are in a very similar boat to me. I experience chronic pain, and managing it on a daily basis has been a really difficult, more like near impossible challenge. I attended a program in NZ called CHOICES that dealt with ways of coping day to day with the pain, and I found it amazingly helpful. I learned some really practical ways of managing the pain and also the hows and whys of chronic pain. I also met some really amazing people. It probably saved my life.

Learned some mindfulness techniques to help control breathing and minimize the anxiety/fear when the pain is ramping up which really helps to endure the pain. Pacing jobs, heaps of really useful and effective stuff

I had a motorbike crash when i was younger which left me with chronic pain. Before and after that I have had many many many bad knocks to the head including my favourite, head split with machete.
 
What I do wonder about is whether on AS we feel pain more acutely, in the way that all sensory stuff can be experienced as exaggerated but paradoxically, whether we also have a higher than average tolerance of pain levels?

Yeah, i see what you're saying. Its ironic but 'small stuff' like sensory issues and things like being tapped on the shoulder would bug the hell out of me yet i have a fairly high pain tolerance. I remember when i was a kid i sprained my wrist a lot, and the first time we waited a few days before getting it checked out cause it wasn't very painful to me. Another time as a kid when i played softball for a little big, an idiot pitcher hit me in the side with the ball (she'd hit other kids, too) and i didn't flinch i just ran to first base and kept going till i was back on the sidelines. Had a pretty good bruise from it if i remember right, they were worried it coulda hurt a rib but it didn't.

Another time an asshole PE coach made the class run laps for the whole class and i ended up with strained muscles in both legs for a week, walked on them without too much of an issue. Fractured a toe once stubbing it on some furniture and i just splinted it for a day or two and was fine after that. Even then i only splinted it cause the bone felt off, not cause it hurt lol. I end up with bruises and scratches and have no idea where i got them most of the time. Idk if its related but ive noticed i cant stand 'light' touch but i love and actually find comfort in 'deep' touch - like bundling up in way more blankets than necessary at night or a tight hug from the two year old i babysit. I would wonder if the whole light vs deep touch thing is a factor in pain tolerance. Granted, my ten plus year history of self harm probably does contribute to it as well.
 
Thanks for the responses here; we have quite a catalog of accidents between us it seems & varied responses to them. I'm interested to see the acupuncture reference because I experienced absolute pain relief from an Achilles tendon injury from that & the needle in my calf really felt like it was drawing something out? Honestly, I felt like my leg was being lifted in the air, it felt so light after days of really heavy dragging pain & limping about but the effects are temporary.

"A lack of temporal-spatial recognition" (to quote my diagnosis report) is responsible for many accidents & I see poor co-ordination & accident-proneness mentioned quite often on the site here, so it's clear that it's not uncommon on AS & that many of us are prone to it.

I'm sensing a lot of resilience amongst us too :)
 
I used to have a very high tolerance for colder temps. I live in Texas so we don't have that too often but when I was working at place that had a drive through window I would volunteer for it on cold days so no one would get sick. Then a couple of years ago I got sick and everything changed. It took me a year and a half to gain back any of my lost body weight and I got cold very easily. Don't worry though, I've gained all of it back and then some. Darn it.

Other pain has always been hit or miss for me. Mostly, I have a low tolerance as far as I can tell. Dental work has always been a big problem for me and the anesthetic didn't seem to work. They had to knock me out whenever possible or I would moan and even sometimes yell. I bump into things all the time and have bruises and cuts that I don't always know about until my wife asks me "How did that happen?" I would sometimes know but usually I don't.

It is possible for some Aspies to also have an incredibly low tolerance for pain. I just did a search and found that. I seem to have both.

I want to get a tattoo some day but can't figure out if I can tolerate it or if I'll jump out of the chair as soon as they make contact with my skin.
 

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