Posted by Todd (216.199.4.17) on January 08, 2000 at 17:12:30:
In Reply to: The Pain! posted by El;aine on January 08, 2000 at 10:57:14:
Let me present a minor adaptation of the Kip scale, or perhaps addendum is a more accurate word.
Up to about a 5 or so, the pain is strictly the classic redhot railroad spike through my temple and into the back of my eye.
As the K-Level increases, the pain expands. It first drops down to what feels to be the bone structure surrounding and below my eye. Crank it up another notch and the affected nostil goes from being totally blocked to feeling as if some sadistic ENT has decided to re-create the old 'how many college kids can we stuff into a VW' using my nostil and those little tubular cotton dealies. My best guess is that a 7 or 8 accomodates about 9,534 of those mini-tampons.
Somewhere between an 8 and a 9, the upper molar on the affected side suddenly develops all the symtpoms of a woefully neglected abcess. The pain now seems to originate in both places...my temple and my tooth. Sort of like long-lost twins desparately seeking a reunion, they shoot toward each other.
As for my skin, it doesn't really hurt, but rather becomes 'sensitive'. Touching the very few remaining hairs on the front portion of my skull triggers a sensation that I would not call real pain.
One more that I haven't yet seen mentioned is THE SPOT. It is so close to the vein that runs through the temple that it may be one and the same, but I can't tell. I can say that that small area is directly attached to the railroad spike. Touch it and we're talking instant 10. Fortunately, it seems to be recessed and direct contact requires placing the balls of your fingertips on just the right spot (or f**king up the placement of the ice cubes in the washcloth I use as one of my distraction techniques).
Hope this adds to the database. Great question, Elaine.
KTSSU,
T