Feeling pain? Let the F-word take the edge off

THE next time your GP asks for €50 to treat a minor injury, feel free to unleash a list of profanities in his direction – new research says it is the best form of pain relief on offer.

The psychological affect of swearing has a soothing effect on physical pain, according to a new study from Keele University in Staffordshire, Britain.

Researchers asked 66 volunteer students to submerge their hand in a tub of ice-cold water for as long as was tolerable while repeating a swear word of their choice.

While the researchers had to put up with the air turning as blue as the freezing participant, they concluded that allowing the individual to express their feelings verbally meant they were able to endure the exercise for longer.

At the start of the experiment, participants were asked for “five words you might use after hitting yourself on the thumb with a hammer” and were told to use the first swear word on the list.

The study – which has not explained exactly which words were used – was then repeated, but instead of swearing the students were asked to speak from the much duller list of one of “five words to describe a table”.

Researchers found that volunteers were able to keep their hands in the water for significantly longer when they swore as it helped their heart rates to accelerate and their pain-perception to be reduced.

The findings will prove invaluable to visitors to the local GP clinic, who will now be left in no doubt that recommending hell as a holiday destination when the bill arrives is exactly what the doctor ordered.