Pain Tolerance Level

My back still hurts, bummer. I’ll see the Chiropractor again later today.

One of the few comfortable positions I can find is sitting in bed… so, I’ve set myself up in my king sized Tempur-Pedic with my laptop and the TV remote, hey what else does a man need?

While sitting here I went to Google and typed in the word “pain”, it seemed appropriate. The first site to come up was “this”. While checking out the www.pain.com site I discovered their glossary page. I clicked on it and typed in the word “pain”. I found this definition: An unpleasant sensory or emotional experience …seemed like fairly accurate to me. A little further down the page I saw the term “Pain Tolerance Level”. They defined it as:

“The greatest level of pain that a subject is prepared to tolerate”

I would add to it …until they’re willing do something about it. Most of us are willing to endure pain (unpleasant sensory or emotional experiences) up to a point. At that point we’re moved to action.

Sometimes that action is to withdraw as in removing our hand from the proverbial fire. Sometimes that action is grabbing for the bottle of Tylenol to manage the pain. Other times that action is to seek the necessary help in order to deal with the pain. That help may come from a trusted friend. If the pain is significant enough we may seek out the assistance of a skilled professional, in my case a chiropractor. I’m sure there are other options but let’s stay with these three for now. Withdraw, manage or seek help.

What do you do when your sensory or emotional experiences become unpleasant beyond the point you’re willing to tolerate? As I discovered and addressed in yesterday’s post, ignoring the problem doesn’t work. So, how about you… do you withdraw, manage or seek help?

I suspect that we do all three. We choose what seems like the easiest option first and move our way through the options until we find something that works. Unfortunately this means we may go around the same mountain again and again until we eventually deal with the real issue. Heck, I’ve been around some mountains so many times I’m dizzy!

When you think about it pain is a blessing. It’s a sign that something needs to be dealt with. So, where do you hurt? Why? And what are you going to do about it, withdraw, manage or seek help?

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. Matthew 12:20

Copyright © Tom Zawacki 2006