Recently, I had one of my wisdom teeth extracted. It was a painful experience.
My tooth was infected, and the nerve was exposed. When it came time to remove the piece of the tooth near the nerve, the pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced before—intense, short-lived, but almost otherworldly.
Before this, I believed I had a high pain tolerance. But after going through this, I realized that my previous experiences were nothing in comparison. It reinforced the idea that we often think we understand something, but our perception is shaped by context. Pain, in particular, is something you have to experience firsthand—you can never truly grasp its intensity through someone else’s account.
Curious, I researched this type of pain and found that nerve-ending pain ranks extremely high on the intensity scale.
I can’t even begin to imagine how people in the past endured such agony without modern medicine. This entire experience has left me feeling deeply grateful for how much easier life is today.