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Touch Therapy: The Latch Of A Lover Lessens Pain?
15 Comments | Posted by Sarah in Uncategorized
Evidently, the touch from a lover lessens pain in women. And I guess only in women, too, because those were the only findings this study reported. Okay.
The study, conducted by psychologists at the University of California, stated that if a woman is in physical pain, her perception of pain awareness changed upon holding hands with her romantic partner or even looking at a photo of them. The women studied were burned to a very minor degree and then shown a photo of their lover. The subjects stated that their pain had lessened while gazing upon the sacred photos of their sweethearts. The women were college-age and claimed to be with their significant others for a period of six months or more.
Come on, man. By six months, you should know that the honeymoon phase is over, right? That’s when all of your SO’s irritating habits come out and also where the stray back hairs get noticed – and it bugs you. You can’t tell me that a person in any amount of pain is going to be so lovey with their lovey that their nervous systems are going to start firing off pain-protecting rays of sunshine?
The researchers state that these findings may also explain a woman’s sense of “calm” in the delivery room in instances where their significant other was present. If any of you have been blessed by the experience of painfully grunting a child out of an enlarged hole in your body, you’ll know that there’s no pervading sense of “calm” to speak of in the delivery room. Regardless if the other parent of the child were in the room. Psst… Hint? Sometimes that even makes it worse.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being nit-picky tonight, but in my modest opinion, the silly study’s sillier findings make we women out to be swooning, drooling idiots.
Official Study Verdict? Bogus. And weird.
“in my modest opinion, the silly study’s sillier findings make we women out to be swooning, drooling idiots.”
………..
Sorry, I was frozen in incredulity for a minute there.
Did you SERIOUSLY just compare women who feel comforted or calmed by thinking of their significant others to “swooning, drooling idiots”?
I recently had to have a painful dental procedure done. It hurt like hell during and after. To distract myself, I thought a lot about the man that I am very much in love with. Guess what? I felt a LOT better. Whether or not the pain was actually less, I don’t know–but I certainly felt able to handle it better, and I was definitely more calm. Was I drooling or swooning? No. Well, ok, maybe a little drooling–but that was because of the dental procedure!
I agree, Sydney. I think the comparison is quite a stretch. While I WOULD like to know WHY the study was focused on women alone and SOs only as a factor, its findings aren’t really that surprising.
If you’re going through something unpleasant, and you think of something pleasant, it generally helps. It doesn’t HAVE to be your SO, that’s just what the study focused on (again, wider context may or may not explain the reasoning for it). Sometimes I think of my fiancee when I’m in pain, other times I think of my mom, other times of my wonderful kitty cats, and sometimes about that awesome video game I’ve been wanting to try. It’s a coping mechanism that distracts your brain from the pain signals it’s getting from the rest of your body, and I dunno… I’ve been with my guy for almost 3 years so far, and we’ve been living together for the past 4 months, and just because I’ve started noticing his nose hairs more doesn’t mean I don’t still feel some level of warm and fuzzy when I think of him – what kind of a shallow bitch would I be if it did?
Hell, it works with non-pain-based stuff too. If you eat while surfing the ‘net/watching a movie/doing something engrossing, you tend to overeat, or at least eat more than you would have without the distraction. Your brain gets distracted and doesn’t receive the “stomach filling up! danger, will robinson!” warnings from your stomach as quickly as it would if you were paying attention to the eating process.
When I get trampled by a moose,it helps if I think of Sarah Palin.
My thoughts exactly. I’ve pushed a baby out of my nether regions, over 9lbs nonetheless, and there were times during labor that the only thing getting me through was holding my hubby’s hand and looking in to his eyes. Knowing that you’re not in it alone is an enormous comfort and it helps with the pain a great deal.
I had my daughter and my husband with me during labor when I had my son, and they helped. The love I was feeling for them, and our growing family, kept the pain at bay for a long time.
Of course, near the end that didn’t come into play so much. But for hours it was very helpful.
If you showed them a picture of their dog or a cute puppy it probably would have produced the same results. These studies are such bs.
Let’s see, the University of California conducted a scientific study and your ‘verdict’ is solely based upon your personal opinion (the epic ‘bloom is off the rose’ theory) that it’s bogus. Wow, I’m totally convinced, Sarah. Don’t, ya know, come up with any legit reasons (sample group, age, lack of other stimulus, etc.) why we might doubt the veracity of the study. Thanks for the insightful commentary.
In case you were unaware, my point in being here is to incorporate my opinion on news-worthy issues, not convince readers to support or disprove the validity (or lack thereof) on a topic. As far as I’m concerned, objective conquered. I read, I retold, I judged. End of story.
Sarah, didn’t you know that your word is being submitted to the Nobel committee for review? :)
It’s not anywhere on the site, so you might want to add ‘purveyor of vapid opinions’ to your byline so we’re all clear. Are the other editors in charge of insightful commentary?
“Purveyor of vapid opinions.”
I like it. It’s got a certain ring to it. Maybe I’ll print business cards and enter for free lunches with them.
Haven’t read the articl yet but that banner pic has shrivelled my uterus.
No wonder the poor woman in the picture is screaming in pain — she’s flat on her back holding her legs up in the air while giving birth…pretty much the worst and most painful position to be in!
As for whether being touched helps those coping with pain — a lot of stuff I’ve read affirms this. Teething babies are comforted by being held by a caregiver, even if the caregiver can provide no actual pain relief. A laboring woman is likely to report reduced levels of pain if her birth partners physically touch her and reassure her. It can be a husband/partner, midwife, doula, nurse or friend but for most women, being touched provides something (be it a mere distraction or a more philosophical “we’re in this together” kind of thing) that helps with their ability to realise that the pain will eventually subside and that they aren’t alone. It makes perfect sense, really, because a lot of pain (particularly in childbirth) is rooted in fear because you tense up, become anxious, etc.. which makes it much worse. If you’re able to remember to take a deep breath and relax your shoulders or ground yourself in reality again, it can help hugely.
I had my husband and best friend at my son’s birth and they both held each of my hands. I *needed* to hold their hands to get me through it towards the end. At one point they both kept letting go to get my drink when I asked for sips and I lost it a little, told them to let someone else get the drink because I needed those hands holding mine! I literally felt lost without them and when they were holding me up and touching my head and rubbing my back, things were so much more bearable.
Why so cynical? How is it bad that thinking of someone who loves them makes women feel better?
Touch is proven to help those in pain. Massage especially, even preemies who are given massages gain weight 45% faster than those who are not. Touch is key both mentally and physically when experiencing pain. Being touched releases hormones which dull pain. I don’t know why this study would even be interesting, unless you look just at the looking at pictures part of it. being touched has medical benefits which Americans often lose out on, we are such a non-tactile society. Puerto Rican lovers touch around 180 times in an hour in a public setting whereas Americans touch 2 times. We don’t touch our lovers, our children, our friends- it is so sad.