Swear Away to Deal with Pain

Just go ahead and &*^%!

Cursing May Reduce the Perception of Pain

Wow! When I broke my toe yesterday (true story) and was busy screeching "Don't touch me; don't even look at me!" maybe I should have been diving into the sailor-style vocabulary. A new study suggests that swear words might help you deal with pain, and the results were really surprising.

Researchers at Keele University's School of Psychology recruited more than 60 undergraduates to stick their hands in buckets of ice cold water as long as they could stand-- 2 times. The first time, they repeated a swear word, but the second time, they said an everyday word instead.

Since the subjects could stand the icy water longer while swearing, the researchers think that curse words might elicit a fight or flight response, as evidenced by elevated heart rates.

When you're feeling pain, why not try this technique, provided there are no young kids about?

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