[Make it Lady (OP)]

Has anyone found a way of compairing pain. I always argue with my husband that childbirth is more painful than being kicked in the balls. Is there a way of proving who is correct.

[Simulated]

Ah. I don't know the answer to that one. But the genitals hurt a bunch if hit just right let me tell you that. Ha. I'd like to see some answers to this one

Good topic

An of course it does depend on the persons pain tolerances. You can wack me across the face and it won't hurt me that bad. Some other people they just break down and cry cuz of it. While on the other hand I'm very very emotional, expecially when it comes to love..

[DoctorBeaver]

A kick in the fundamentals is almost as painful as a beaver bite  []

[another_someone]

Firstly, you have to ask whether you are asking about a particular instance of childbirth, or childbirth in general.  No two child births are the same, even for the same mother, and some can be very painful, while others can to totally painless, and all shades of spectrum between.  Some women just think they have a slight stomach ache, and next moment they have a baby in their arms, but others can experience hours of agony.

Pain is totally subjective, so there is no easy way to compare.  One way you can try (although I am not sure how practical this is with childbirth) is to dose people up with painkiller, and determine how much painkiller you need to dose up on before the person says they no longer feel the pain.  Even there, there is the problem that different pain killers work in different ways, and a painkiller that works for one person, or in one situation, may not work in another, while  different painkiller might be better in the second situation but useless in the first.

[JnA]

I often question the whole pain of childbirth thing... I've been in worse pain than childbirth.. but maybe that's because of the type of pain.. we can do childbirth because we know the reward at the end (and that it does end) while other types of pain we have the element of the unknown.. what is it? and when is it going to end?

People tend to 'get used to' chronic pain..

I think it probably does hurt to be kicked in the genitals.. it is a highly sensitive area (like the mouth) but there is also a certain element of mental convincing that it hurts also.
The penis and genitals are *very* forgiving organs... you can do a great deal of manipulation to them without much actual physical damage.

[Make it Lady (OP)]

Well JnA, all the men are steering well clear of you now incase they get....manipulated!

As for painless childbirth! The only painless childbirth I had was after an epidural. Everyone should hove one, marvalous things.

This still doesn't answer the question. Will there ever be a way to compare pain.

[DoctorBeaver]

Simple answer - no, there won't.

Longer answer - as George said, pain is subjective. Some people have a higher threshold, some can be trained to withstand intense pain (as is the case with the SAS to enable them to stand up to being tortured).

I've suffered a blow to the genitals, 2 slipped discs at the same time, and been bitten by a snake. Given the choice, I'd choose the blow to the genitals; not because it was any less painful (all 3 were comparable in intensity but the pain was different) but because it was the shortest-lasting. All 3 were far more painful than any bone-breakages I've suffered.

[MayoFlyFarmer]

as has been stated, everyone percieves pain differently.  You could poke two people the exact same way in the exact same place with the exact same pin and they wouldn't percieve it in the same way.  so i don't think there's ANY way that child birth will ever be able to be compared with a kick to the junk.

in the end, does it really matter???  i'm sure they both hurt!  a lot!!! 

[Make it Lady (OP)]

My son just said it would be more comparable if it could happen to the same person, so I guess I'll have to wait until men can give birth.

From pain that I have experienced I would prefer a short sharp pain to the long drawn out process of labour. Pain for a prolonged period makes you dispondant and less able to tolerate it.

How do the SAS men get desensitised to pain?

[another_someone]

How do the SAS men get desensitised to pain?

The best way of managing pain is simply relaxation, and to move your mind away from the pain (for those into such things, yoga and meditation might help).

Ofcourse, sex is supposed to release a lot of endorphins. [] (but then, for the woman, she may have to put up with the pain of childbirth afterwards - everything has its price).

[Bored chemist]

OK, nobody is in a position to directly compare being kicked in the testes to childbirth.
On the other hand plenty of people can compare childbirth to, for example, a compound fracture of the leg and also plenty can compare that sort of compund fracture with a kick in the balls.
If the consensus among mothers is that the leg hurts less than childbirth and the consensus among men is that the leg hurts more then we can answer the question.

So, you should be able to prepare some sort of relative scale of pain- say starting with a pinprick and working your way up. Many of those sources of pain will be just as aplicable to men as to women. If you could be bothered to do this you should be able to get a comparison between the two pains in the original question.

[another_someone]

If the consensus among mothers is that the leg hurts less than childbirth and the consensus among men is that the leg hurts more then we can answer the question.

If you look at Eth's response above, I think you'll find he has already answered that question (in the negative).

So, you should be able to prepare some sort of relative scale of pain- say starting with a pinprick and working your way up. Many of those sources of pain will be just as aplicable to men as to women. If you could be bothered to do this you should be able to get a comparison between the two pains in the original question.

But as has been said over an over, a comparison for one individual is unlikely to hold true for another individual.  Even such a comparison for the same individual is unlikely to hold true at two different times in their life (one's own psychological state has a major impact upon one's perception of pain).  Maybe the greatest indicator of how significant one's own psyche can be to this is the ability of hypnotists to convince people that they do not feel any pain, even in situations where without the hypnosis they would normally feel intense pain (ofcourse, some people are more easily hypnotised than others, but it is not uncommon for some people to be able to undergo dental surgery, or minor operations, simply under hypnosis).

[DoctorBeaver]

One of the nastiest pains I've experienced was when I got bitten by a hamster. Yeah, I know that sounds really stupid; but it damned well hurt.

It's teeth went under my cuticle and came out by the first knuckle. It took me ages to get the little bugger to let go!

[JimBob]

Try living with no ankle joints, just bone on bone, but walking just the same. Morphine helps.

[DoctorBeaver]

Try living with no ankle joints, just bone on bone, but walking just the same. Morphine helps.

ouch

[Carolyn]

I've been shot in the back and I've given birth twice.......If I had the choice to do either again I'd take the bullet!!