Profanity Can Sometimes Be the Best Medicine, Increasing Pain Tolerance by ~33%
www.psychiatrist.com
Swearing can reduce pain by triggering a physiological response, serving as a distraction, and providing emotional and social benefits.

cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/5372002

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-03-11 01:41:19+00:00.

Original Title: TIL research has found that swearing can reduce the perception of pain (providing a measurable analgesic effect) by as much as 33%. Because swearing is processed in so many different parts of the brain at once, it’s more effective than almost anything else at distracting from pain and discomfort.

  • @[email protected]English
    5•1 day ago

    Doesn’t it only work for people who don’t swear on the regular? Assuming it works at all.

    • @WorxEnglish
      10•1 day ago

      It works better if you don’t usually swear. I remember seeing a program with Stephen Fry and Bryan Blessed a long time ago. I’ve no scientific evidence to back it up though

      • teardownthewallsEnglish
        5•1 day ago

        I remember seeing this as well. I’m much more of a Brian Blessed than a Stephen Fry, unfortunately for my pain threshold…

    • @[email protected]English
      7•1 day ago

      I swear pretty often and it still works for me, but I also use joke profanity now because of my nephews.