A lot of us don’t need an excuse to start swearing. From general conversation to venting out our anger, swearing comes pretty easily.
However according to a recent study by Keele University, swearing could be the latest solution to dealing with your pain.
And no we are not joking…
Asked to place their hands in ice cold water for 40 seconds, researchers discovered participants who repeated a swear word throughout the entire process were able to hold their hands in the water for longer than those who repeated a general word.
Can swearing really reduce my pain?
It would seem so, although researchers did find that 9 out of the 67 participants who swore didn’t experience any pain relief. Yet researchers have a theory about this too.
Commenting on their study, they revealed people who normally swear more than 60 times a day, wouldn’t see as many benefits as those who normally don’t swear as they are uttering these words without an emotional response.
By injecting emotion into your curses i.e. aggression, this can trigger ‘stress-induced analgesia’ which can provide you with short term pain relief.
So can I throw the painkillers away for good?
We’d recommend keeping a hold of your painkillers for now, especially if you are suffering with chronic pain or arthritis, as the problem with swearing is the pain relief is only temporary. Over the long term you won’t experience the joint pain relief you are looking for.
Although, we have to admit, it may be worth giving swearing a try the next time you stub your toe to see what happens…
Other forms of unusual pain relief
Surprisingly, swearing isn’t the only unusual form of pain relief available to you. There are many other interesting therapies which can also offer you natural pain relief.
Here is a selection of the more unusual to come onto the market:
• Bee Venom Therapy – also known as apitherapy, bee venom therapy is often used to relieve arthritis, tendonitis and gout by injecting the venom directly into your skin.
• Hypnosis – this technique is often used to relieve acute pain by giving the patient a hypnotic suggestion. Unfortunately this technique only really works on those who are easily hypnotised.
• Oxygen Therapy – this is mostly used for injuries, chronic pain and headaches, by administering high oxygen into a hyperbaric chamber.
• Biofeedback – now this type of therapy is quite controversial but usually entails taking measurements of your skin temperature, sweating, muscle tension and brainwaves in order to teach you how to reduce symptoms associated with pain and then how to avoid emotional situations which can trigger this pain.
Whether you are interested in offering your body a more conventional method for treating your pain or not, there is no denying that looking around for alternative treatment forms can open many doors to you.
Just remember to do your research and make sure any therapies you sign up for can offer you proof of their claims first, to ensure you are not exposing your body to anything risky.
