What is the science behind pain receptors? Can we utilize them to benefit instead of hurt us? Can we improve them or make them less receptive to pain?
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Why would we want pain receptors to be less receptive to pain?
That's actually a medical problem, there's a condition where the receptors don't won't properly. People with it are at risk of injuring themselves and not even knowing it. Imagine, you're light-headed and passing out because you didn't realize you've already been bleeding for 10 mins. It's dangerous.
Their existence is a benefit. They let animals know that they’re taking some form of damage and in a sense, how catastrophic that damage is. Keep in mind, for the rest of the animal kingdom that doesn’t have the benefit of modern medicine, a cut even if not immediately fatal, can lead to an infection. Which is why you see some animals nurse wounds, in order to speed recovery and decrease risk of infection or the wound deteoriating from further physical stress.
Now if you’re referring to stuff like chronic pain/illness there’s a discussion to be had about minimising pain and these receptor can indeed seem detrimental. However, if we had no receptors if you got a bad enough cut (on the back of your leg say, or somewhere out of sight). You wouldn’t know until you, hopefully, woke up in a hospital having passed out from blood loss. Else you just wouldn’t wake up.
Pain signals are nature’s error channel.
We basically already hack them with capsaicin. That molecule in "hot" chili peppers triggers heat receptor nerves, which causes the burning sensation. Your body doesn't know there's no real damage occurring so it dumps a bunch of endorphins to mitigate the pain, which brings the euphoric feeling that chili connoisseurs enjoy.
I will never get it. I feel like that's brute-forcing the euphoria you can get with a really well-cooked, flavorful meal.
I have a bunch of friends who would dump Sriracha and other spicy sauces on everything for a quick fix of spicy. Like, fried eggs... Bruh. Salt and pepper, some tomatoes, a little bit of ham or bacon maybe, much better tasting and doesn't make your pits stain. Learn to make a meal.
Inb4 the spicy sauce crew down votes me. 😅🌶️🔥
Those are two separate biochemical mechanisms. Dopamine from a delicious meal and endorphins from spiciness. Some people enjoy one more than the other and that's fine -- you and your friends may be opposites in that regard. Many other people like the experiences together.
No they're wrong and you're wrong and I like the best things!
/s
Yeah you're probably right. 😁
Opiates.