Swearing helps relieve pain

By David Liu

An interesting study published in NeuroReport suggests that women in childbirth have a reason to scream curse words at their husbands.

The study found students better relieved pain they experienced when sticking their hands in buckets of icy water by repeating a curse word than a neutral word.

Richard Stephens at Keele University's School of Psychology and colleagues conducted the test to see if there is any difference in terms of pain relief between saying a curse word and a neutral word.

The study of more than 60 undergraduates showed students repeating a curse word could hold their hands in the icy water longer and felt lesser pain than repeating the neutral word.

It is unknown why saying a curse word could help relieve pain.

Swearing does not have to be the only way to relieve pain. Exercise is one good alternative.

A study published in the Sept 2003 issue of Clinical Rehabilitation showed that regular exercise or aerobic exercise three times a week helped women with migraine better manage the pain they experienced.

Narin S. O and colleagues from Dokuz Eylul University in Izmire Turkey said that regular long-term aerobic exercise reduced migraine pain severity, frequency and duration possibly due to increased nitric oxide production.

It has been observed that physical activities like jogging or love-making can reduce tooth pain.