Reading About These Familiar Minor Injuries Is Giving Us All Sympathy Pain

It's time for some pain synesthesia.

Elana

• Published in Funny
• April 24, 2022

If you're unfamiliar with the term synesthesia, allow me to briefly explain:

"Synesthesia is a phenomenon that occurs when sensory information in one cognitive pathway causes a sensation through another cognitive pathway. Pain synesthesia is a form of synesthesia that causes a person to experience pain when seeing pain empathetic eliciting stimuli."

To put it more simply, it's sympathy pain. Feeling physical or psychological symptoms of pain or discomfort while witnessing or reading about someone else's pain or discomfort.

I am sure a few ideas spring to your head quite quickly, examples of times when someone was kicked in the crotch or got a gnarly paper cut and every fiber of your very being cringed as if some part of your brain must have lit up and went, "me too, I feel that, too," despite the fact that you most certainly did not feel that pain, too. That doesn't necessarily sound like a great way to spend one's time, but we tend to be gluttons for punishment and more curious than cats.

Reddit user lawyeratyourservice turned to the r/AskReddit community to ask one heck of a question: "What minor injury hurts like a MF?" In other words, it hurts more than it ought to.

I'm sure you can already imagine where synesthesia comes into play now, right? Let's go.

1. Plantar Fasciitis

As one of the most common causes of heel pain, plantar fasciitis is when the thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of each foot, connecting the heel bone to the toes, becomes inflamed. Science is unsure exactly what causes this condition or why it's so excessively painful, but things like your occupation, age, weight, and even hobbies can increase your risk factors.

2. Getting hit in the ankle with something you're supposed to be having fun with.

3. Gas pains

4. Pinching your finger in the door.

5. Hitting your shin bone... on anything.

6. That specific ingrown hair

7. The pinky toe pain is real.

8. Leg Cramps

NHS says:

"A leg cramp is an episode of sudden pain in the muscles of the leg caused by an involuntary contracting (shortening) of the leg muscle. Most leg cramps occur in the calf muscles and, less commonly, in the feet and thighs. Cramps can last from a few seconds up to 10 minutes. Thigh muscle cramps tend to last the longest."

9. Hitting your head on the cabinet door.

It always happens at the worst possible times, too.

10. Funny Bone

That not-so-funny, funny bone.

The ulnar nerve is located near the ulnar bone, but most people are unfamiliar with the term. It's so easy and common to injure because this nerve is the largest in the human body unprotected by muscle or bone!

If you hit this nerve while your elbow is flexed, you will experience an electric shock-like sensation.

11. Heartburn

12. Hangnail

13. Clipping your nail too short

14. The smallest shards of glass in the worst places

15. When nobody laughs at your joke.

16. Biting your tongue, lip, or cheek.

I'm totally not chewing on my cheek because I bit it a week ago as we speak. Definitely not.

Anyway, that was way too much synesthesia for some of us, but not quite enough for others. Everyone enjoys passing the time in different ways. Were you surprised papercut didn't make the top 16 upvoted comments (because I was?)

What are your thoughts about things that shouldn't cause pain but definitely do? Let us know what's on your mind in the comment section.

Elana