Photo from spectrum culture.com

Twice in one shift last week, I had clients say to me after some major theatrics, like hyperventilating for six straight minutes and nearly jumping off of the table while I was lasering them, that “This is so weird, because I normally have a really high tolerance for pain.”

It made me wonder. How on Earth does someone know that about themselves?

Nothing really hurts anymore. At least not enough to be confident that you could rival Mel Gibson in Braveheart under agonizing circumstances. There are drugs for everything. Going to the dentist is more stressful than actually painful and women can’t even cite child birth these days because anyone who isn’t completely insane has an epidural or a C-section.

Unless you’ve had the distinct privilege of dozing off while being strapped to a chair and beaten with a nail studded 2X4, how many of us can really gauge our ability to withstand pain? I’m guessing not a lot, however it’s such a common claim, you would think we were still living in medieval times and half of us spent our Saturdays trapped in iron maidens or laid out on racks.

Here’s my theory: Laser hair removal can be an uncomfortable process, so if you’re bouncing all over the place while you’re having a treatment, you probably have a perfectly average tolerance for pain, yet your ability to manage said pain is less than stellar. Unless the ability to manage pain is exactly what having a high tolerance for it means, in which case you most likely have a low tolerance for pain and are probably just full of shit.