When it comes to pain, we often find ourselves stuck in a cycle of comparison. “My headache is worse than yours!” or “You’re being dramatic, it’s just a little sore.” But the truth is, pain is highly subjective – and that’s okay.
Think about it like this: when you’re experiencing pain, your personal opinions and experiences come into play. Your individual pain tolerance affects how painful that pain feels compared to someone else’s experience. It’s not about who has “worse” pain; it’s about how each person perceives their own suffering.
Take the example of an ankle break. Two people could have the same injury, but one might rate their pain as a 9 out of 10 while the other rates it as a 5. Why? Because pain is subjective. It’s like trying to describe a color – everyone sees it differently.
When we compare our pain to someone else’s, we’re ignoring the complex factors that make each person’s experience unique. Chronic pain, additional health issues, and even mental attitude all play a role in how much we can tolerate. And let’s be honest, our pain tolerance can fluctuate depending on what’s going on in our lives.
I know this firsthand. As someone who’s lived with chronic migraines for almost 12 years, I’ve had to adjust to a new normal. Adding fibromyalgia to the mix has been a wild ride. But over time, my personal pain tolerance has increased – not because the pain itself has changed, but because I’ve learned to cope and adapt.
Here’s the thing: our pain tolerance doesn’t always increase with age (although it often does). What matters is that we each experience pain in our own way. So, let’s ditch the comparisons and focus on our own journeys.
As the CEO of Morphic Therapeutic so wisely puts it: “Your pain tolerance rises and falls depending on what’s happening in the rest of your life.” It’s a reminder that our experiences are unique, and that’s something to be celebrated – not compared.
So, the next time someone says, “My pain is worse than yours,” or vice versa, we can smile knowingly. We’re all just trying to navigate this subjective thing called pain, one day at a time.
