Pain Tolerance and AS

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One of the questions in the Aspie Quiz asks

"do you have high tollerance to pain (or even like some kinds of pain)?"

So, to answer the OP, yes I can bear incredible degrees of pain, as a child I burned both my elbows on charcoal fire falling on it (damn clumsy me) but I only cried out of fear not out of pain, infact a few days later the wounds had worsened and my mom noticed because I ran to her laughing because my bandage would pee by pressing on the wound... -.-"

This said, anyone liking some kinds of pain?

I admit liking some kinds of pains, weird I know, but true.

I have a high tolerance for pain - to the point where it worries me.

I once severely dislocated my ankle the day before Christmas almost without noticing it. I only noticed at Christmas Eve when my foot had swollen to grotesque size.

I also suffered multiple large abrasions from falling/crashing in my childhood. One of my teachers was baffled by the fact that I did not even flinch despite suffering wounds that would make most kids cry like hell.

A paper cut will make me cry for mercy within a second, however.

Occasionally, pain also translates into pleasure for me. I sometimes sprain my right ankle (running on stairs = s**t happens), which releases a ridiculous endorphin kick. No BDSM jokes, please...

This encourages risky and self-destructive behaviour, but I have so far been able to avoid such impulses.

A door broke off my toe nail, I didn't even cry and I was 7, but it still did hurt. Plus all the spankings I got from my dad certainly increased my pain tolerance to where I challenged him at one point at age 8.

despite my high pain tolerance I don't like playing rough

This is an interesting thread!

I had never before made any sort of connection between my unusually high pain threshold and my AS. However, I know I do indeed have a high tolerance to what others consider to be physically 'painful'.

Just the other week, while using an air nailer, I managed to drive a one-and-a-half inch long finishing nail straight into the end of my forefinger such that it protruded out the base of my fingernail at the cuticle. Sure, it stung a bit, but I just took a pair of pliers and pulled it out... no big deal. I sterilized the holes with alcohol and applied a couple of Band-Aids tightly over the wounds to stop the bleeding, then went back to what I was doing. The finger only felt (what I would call) 'a bit tender' for the next two of days, and then it was fine.

Two years ago, while re-shingling my roof, the scaffolding gave way and I fell about fifteen feet to the ground. I heard my leg snap, but after getting a splint and crutches at the hospital (X-rays showed two fractures with some displacement at one of the breaks), I was walking on the leg about a week later. It ached a bit, but not seriously enough to stay off it. The orthopedic surgeon's jaw dropped when, two-and-a-half weeks after the incident, I walked into his office, splint in-hand, and returned it to him saying I hadn't worn it at all for the past week.

A few years ago, while having a wart removed from a fingertip, I asked the doctor who had applied the liquid nitrogen if I could re-apply some more - "just to make sure I got it". He consented, but became somewhat alarmed after I'd held the applicator on my finger for what was about three times longer than what he had done. That was a mistake, because what I had effectively done was burn a hole deep into the flesh, which looks normal but remains void of any sensation (and warts!) to this very day. Still, it didn't "hurt" at the time.

Is there a connection with AS? I don't know.

However, when my appendix ruptured, I thought I'd been run through with a red hot sword. It was the worst pain I'd ever experienced! All I could do was lie on the floor whimpering and moaning while I awaited the ambulance. So, I know I can and do feel pain - even excruciatingly so.

I don't have high tolerance. In fact I think it might be lower than average. A little paper cut can bother me a lot. Although I've noticed my knees and lower legs are not very sensitive to pain. I always seem to get bruises and they don't bother me.

I've written in other threads on this subject, so in a nut shell, I have what you might call incredibly high pain tolerance, or the ability to "disconnect" from the pain when it's something I'm accepting. Such as surgery, or anything which normally causes a lot of physical immediate or acute pain. It's a whole different story if I don't see it coming, though. I cannot "disconnect" from pain that is coming as a surprise, such as when someone might punch me from behind, or if a doctor doesn't tell me exactly what he/she is about to do.

I've had surgery on several occasions without sedation or anesthesia (other than local numbing shots, which hurt on their own in many cases). No problems at all, which shocked two surgeons who said they didn't believe I'd be able to do that.

Charles