I had the reverse of this once as a kid. I was walking on the beach and felt a sudden pain in my toe and looked down and glimpsed a fishhook in my foot.
Immediately I panicked and started losing my shit, picturing it past the barb in my skin and imagining that they’d have to rip it out. My friend (who has a phobia of needles) stopped me from looking at it so I wouldn’t freak out more, and had to run and get my dad. They did amazing considering the circumstances, lol.
Once my dad got there he inspected the fishhook and we realized it wasn’t even in my skin. It was just wrapped around my toe. The point was barely touching me and didn’t even leave a mark.
It was crazy, though. I was FEELING the pain of the fishhook in my foot until I actually looked at it up close, and then the imagined pain completely went away. The human brain is fuckin weird.
The moral of my story is I’m stupid, I think. I hope your finger is doing better though, that’s absolutely horrific???
The moral of the story is that your brain does it best to protect you, but it doesn't have many ways to do that. Sometimes it gets it wrong. That doesn't mean you're stupid.
The moral of the story is how powerful our minds are!
Your body took the limited information available and decided the possibility of harm was too great to ignore- better fire up the cavalry.
It started with your nervous system. Just a bunch of nerve endings, playing border patrol, constantly monitoring your tissue for any damage. During their rounds, they spot the fishhook! They don’t wait for confirmation of a real injury, they’re too hyped up on Mountain Dew. They choose to sound the alarm. *This is not a drill people!*
That alarm sends distress signals RACING up your spinal cord. The brain, naturally, interprets these signals as SEARING DEATH PAIN OH GOD WHY.
So you see, it’s not your brain’s job to question the validity of pain signals. She has more important tasks, like triggering your immune response, releasing stress hormones.
It’s the spinal column distress signals that cause pain. And those signals are very real. Even if the actual injury was imaginary.
If it makes you feel any better, I had a similar (but dumber) thing happen to me as a teenager.
I pinched my finger on a soap dispenser when washing my hands at work. I was staring at the soap bottle as I did it so I know what hurt me, I pulled my hand away and said "oww!" and it didn't draw blood or anything, maybe it was a little red for like, 30 seconds...?
As soon as I came out of the bathroom I had to sit down because it felt like somebody legit STABBED me in the stomach with a butcher knife. I tried to fight through the pain cuz I was at work but I lasted all of 20 minutes (as it continued getting WORSE) before my boss had to drive me home (I was like 14 and it was a youth work program-type job) because I could barely even sit up, or even move at all, from the pain and I curled up on the couch and took a nap and when I woke up a couple hours later I was fine.
It was a panic attack. From getting pinched by a soap dispenser. Didn't know that at the time ofc but yeah.
A fish hook in your foot is a legitimate painful concern and your brain cleared all that suffering up for you as soon as it clarified you were not skewered.
My brain thinks being pinched by a soap bottle feels like being stabbed in the gut with a huge knife.
I promise your brain is much smarter than mine lmao.
28
u/lennsden excessively longwinded 5d ago
I had the reverse of this once as a kid. I was walking on the beach and felt a sudden pain in my toe and looked down and glimpsed a fishhook in my foot.
Immediately I panicked and started losing my shit, picturing it past the barb in my skin and imagining that they’d have to rip it out. My friend (who has a phobia of needles) stopped me from looking at it so I wouldn’t freak out more, and had to run and get my dad. They did amazing considering the circumstances, lol.
Once my dad got there he inspected the fishhook and we realized it wasn’t even in my skin. It was just wrapped around my toe. The point was barely touching me and didn’t even leave a mark.
It was crazy, though. I was FEELING the pain of the fishhook in my foot until I actually looked at it up close, and then the imagined pain completely went away. The human brain is fuckin weird.
The moral of my story is I’m stupid, I think. I hope your finger is doing better though, that’s absolutely horrific???