ekkentros free thoughts - pain

Dr.Md.Abdulla: From time immemorial Pain has been an unsolved entity in human suffering. It starts at birth and ends at death. It continues as an inseparable companion of life. As such scientists have classified pain into different categories like Physical pain, Somatic pain, Neural pain, Mental pain etc.
Whatever be the type of pain or the source of pain, as far as human beings are concerned, perceptions of pain differ from person to person, and from occasion to occasion. The variations are more mainly in mental pain than in physical pain. To be precise, pain is an individualized phenomenon of which the beginning and end are not predictable.
The Forum has already discussed almost all aspects of pain. To recall, they are,
Physical pain, Mental pain, the subjective aspect of pain, the objectification of pain in great Plays and Drama, Fear of pain, Expression of pain, Spiritual aspect of pain like that of Moksha or freedom from mental and physical pain, and the Pathways of pain viz. the neuro-physiology of Pain.
Thus most of the aspects of pain have already been discussed or mentioned here. My thought therefore shifted to loss of pain and thus to anaesthesia. Anaesthesia is primarily an induced insensibility to pain, and generally the loss of sensibility to pain. It is the process of blocking the perception of pain and other sensations. Anaesthesia is of several types.
1.General anesthesia is loss of consciousness that is reversible.
2.Local Anesthesia is loss of sensation only, again reversible, in a small part of the body by localized administration of anesthetic drugs at the required site. And,
3. Regional Anesthesia is loss of sensation, and possibly movement, reversible, in a region of the body by selective blocking of sections of the spinal cord or nerves supplying the region.
As regards the history of Anesthesia, Hypnotism and Acupuncture have been in use for long for purposes of blocking pain and sensations. In China, the Taoist medical practitioners developed Acupuncture as a means of creating anesthetic effect. Chilling tissues with ice was also used in the past to produce effects of anesthesia locally.
From historic times, the most important substances in use for anesthesia were the herbal derivatives like opium and hemp. They were either ingested, or burned and the smoke inhaled. Alcohol was also used in olden times for the purpose of creating some anesthetic effect.
The development of effective anesthetics in modern times started in the 19th century. The first was Ether. It was used by the British, especially by the surgeons and Dentists in Britain till Chloroform was discovered in1846. Chloroform was found to have lesser side effects than Ether. It got royal approval in 1853 when Dr.John Snow gave it to Queen Victoria during the birth of Prince Leopold. The ‘Etherdome’, the surgical amphitheatre at Massachusetts where this happened exists to this day.
Other local anesthetics are, Procane, Amythocaine, and Cocaine used in spinal anesthesia or Epidural Techniques. In current practice, Theopental, Curare (for neuromuscular blocking and paralysis), Halothane, Synceryl Choline. Gaseous vapors and volatile agents used are Halothane Isoflurane, and Nitrous Oxide. The most long lived and successful anesthetic was Nitrous Oxide. Ether, Chloroform and Nitrous Oxide remained the main stay in Anesthetics for 80 long years till in 1950 when Fluroxene was introduced, but it did not last long having been withdrawn in 1975.

Now a thought flashes into my mind about the abuse of pain and anesthesia, which I choose to call by a newly coined term ‘The Criminology of Pain’.
From ancient times people had been using or rather abusing the sensation of pain as a means of punishment, the most common and simplest example being the infliction of pain on children by parents and teachers to punish them. This being a universal phenomenon nobody has ever bothered about the abuse or the criminal aspect of it. A more intensified version of this is the punishing of criminals and war prisoners by lashing. Often the sufferers of punishment are innocent suspects or victims of intrigue. A striking example and an authentic evidence of the Criminology of Pain is indeed the Crucifixion of Christ. His suffering of pain and agony was of the utmost degree that any human being could imagine. The cruel sport of ancient Romans in making errand Gladiators fight lions and tigers, open handed, is another example.
In the modern society the police often abuse Pain for extracting truth or confession of crime from the accused. Suspected terrorists are said to be tortured by methods like introducing pins under their nails or through their urethra. The now notorious ‘Uruttal’, rolling an iron roller along the legs and body, is another means of inflicting extreme pain, said to be used by the police.
The criminology of pain will not be complete without mentioning the pleasure that a lot of people get out of seeing a boxing punch. We can see an entire mob in ecstasy when an opponent is punched out of the ring.

Kunhikrishnan: Pain is often unavoidable in this Life. When it is inevitable it has to be endured. The capacity for endurance is either inborn or is cultivated. To some, extreme faith gives tremendous capacity to suffer pain. Ideological beliefs also create such a capacity. Suicide squads are examples.
There are some good aspects also in suffering pain or anguish. One is, as already mentioned, that pains function as a warning system to protect the body. The second is that suffering of pain builds up the capacity to understand the pain of others, and thus develops compassion in the sufferer. Understanding, compassion and empathy are more in those who have suffered physical or mental pain than in people who have not undergone such suffering.
And the third and the most important aspect of pain is that it can actually help in the understanding of ones mind in its totality. A little practice can open the gates for revelation of the mind’s functioning. Suppose you have an ache in your stomach. You feel it, and you are aware of it constantly till it is alleviated or disappeared. That feeling of it and awareness of it, is the way of ‘seeing’ the pain or being conscious of the pain. If one goes on seeing the pain without agonizing it one understands the pain. From such understanding comes the wisdom of witnessing.
Once you are able to ‘see’ acute aches and pains, you will slowly become aware and watchful about smaller pains also. Watchful here means only aware of. and not watchful to avoid it as in the normal course. This practice can give one the capacity to watch and see any movement in one’s body including one’s thoughts. One can feel one’s thoughts. and one can feel one’s emotions arising in the mind. Slowly the capacity to understand one’s own mind develops. This is part of meditation although one need not call it by any common name lest it be misunderstood.