On my travels on the internet recently, I came across an article about how men may have a weaker immune response which is why they're bigger babies when they get sick.
I can't say that's true in this household. I think these days, I get sick more than anyone, certainly more than my husband. And I don't get rid of it fast. When my daughter first started daycare, I came down with every bug known to man. I had to be on antibiotics for something called tracheitis (my trachea hurt).
I do think I have a fairly high pain threshold though, as evidenced by the fact that on multiple occasions, I've voluntarily gotten hairs ripped out of my skin with hot wax. I also stayed at work for about five hours while having labor contractions, so there's that.
If my experience is any contribution, it took me 7 days to recover from the swine flu back in 2009, whereas my girlfriend only took 5.
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting... my boyfriend can be the biggest baby. But I also deal with almost constant allergies, so being sick is not a big deal for me.
ReplyDeleteWhen my oldest child was in the NICU they commented that males tended to be less hardy.
ReplyDeleteMy ex was constantly picking up bugs around the hospital, he was routinely sick (and slow to recover - aka a big baby about it) whereas I have had one cold in the past 4 years and didn't miss a day of clinical stuff for it. That's an n of one, for sure, but y'know.
ReplyDeleteI guess that would explain their higher propensity for autoimmune disorders. But I think the real test of strength is a kidney stone.
ReplyDeleteOh no! don't say you have a high pain threshold -- as an ED doc, "I have a high pain threshold" = "I likely have a very low pain threshold and will whine and complain during the entire work-up/procedure" or "I am hoping that you will take me seriously and perhapse provide me with some narcotics".
ReplyDeletenewmd: I think I have a somewhat high pain threshold b/c I've had a few procedures where I was given narcotics for after the lido wore off, but I never even remotely needed it.
ReplyDeleteYou likely do have a high pain threshold -- I think I'm just reflecting on my own experiences interacting with patients in the ED. Whenever a patient says that, I brace myself for a longer-than-usual procedure/work-up, so i've developed this pavlovian response to the term 'high pain threshold'. I've even told my mom not to describe herself as having a high pain threshold when seeing a physician. :)
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