Let The Barbie Go

danathepaina:

wieldingwordsandsmiles:

heathersday:

Have you ever had the feeling someone thought you were just a wimp when it came to pain? Like you just can’t handle pain like most people? Maybe, in some of our weak moments (i.e., heavily drugged, still hurting and unable to sleep at 3 a.m.), we even think that about ourselves.

It’s true that those of us with fibromyalgia feel pain when other people don’t. However, we also deal with more pain than other people do, and we generally deal with it better than they do as well.

What’s at work here is the difference between pain threshold and pain tolerance. Here are the definitions:

• Pain Threshold: the point at which stimulus (such as pressure or temperature) is reported by a person as pain.
• Pain Tolerance: the amount of pain a person can withstand before breaking down, either emotionally or physically.

So yes, our pain threshold is incredibly low. When confronted with stimuli other people’s bodies consider harmless, our nervous systems sound the alarm, sending pain signals to our brain, which then over-reacts and turns up the volume on pain.

When it comes to pain tolerance, though, we can blow most people out of the water! I had a good friend who recently was laid out by an ingrown toenail. Sure, it hurt, but does it really warrant constant complaining, stopping your life and spending a few days on the couch? Meanwhile, we deal with so much pain that it becomes just another part of who we are. For me, it’s like, “I’m a Mom, I’m short, I wear glasses, and I hurt.” I work in pain, I socialize in pain, I parent in pain. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do those things at all. It takes a heck of a lot of pain to break me down, physically or emotionally.

So when someone looks at you as if you’re weak for being in pain, look back at them with all the strength it takes to live with pain as your constant companion and ask, “Who here is stronger?”

THIS. People always tell me I’m a whimp. So yeah, this is awesome. Because it’s SO true, yeah little things hurt me that don’t hurt other people, but seriously most people I know would be at the hospital screaming if they were in as much pain as I am daily!!

Thanks so much for writing this.