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Burning, Crushing, Stabbing: How Words Affect Pain

Nov. 9, 2021
By Cameron Walker

The pain showed up a few years ago — first slowly, then all at once. My right hip burned, my back ached. I went from running with my kids to not being able to walk down the block. I saw doctors, I did tests, I ranked the pain on a scale of one to 10, which felt like pulling a number — mine was seven — out of a hat. No illness or injury appeared, only the physical erosion from multiple pregnancies and age.

Instead of a number, the pain seemed more like a failing dam against the rising flood of pain. Or something like that. It’s hard putting a feeling that’s abstract, yet all encompassing, into words. But, aside from often-ambiguous 1 to 10 pain scales, words are the main tools we have when people ask how we’re feeling. And what we say — to them and to ourselves — matters: Several studies suggest that the words we use when talking about pain can make us feel it more keenly or take the edge off.

Consider cursing. Whether you’ve slammed your finger in the door or stepped on a stray LEGO, a choice profanity can provide a colorful form of pain relief. In a 2020 study, British scientists found that using real swear words was more of an analgesic than fake ones (like “fouch” and “twizpipe”) or a neutral word, though their effects wear off with overuse.

There are no magic words to make pain disappear, but pain experts say that paying attention to the words we use for pain might help shape how we experience it.