Study: Redheads' extra pain may cause fear of dentists (CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Madison Park
CNN

(CNN) -- Despite two injections of anesthetic, Amy Anderson felt like her dentist was jamming rods into her tooth during a root canal. She writhed in pain as her infected tooth was hollowed with a drill, its nerve amputated, and then sealed.

"I knew this time something was wrong. I could feel my lips," said the Syracuse, New York, resident, who told her dentist the drugs weren't working.

Her doctor kept assuring her she had given her a proper dose and said: "I'm almost done."

"I was hurting so bad, I was hitting myself in the stomach," said Anderson, a redhead. "I almost wanted to hit her."

Studies have indicated that redheads may be more sensitive to pain and may need more anesthetics to numb them.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/30/redhead.pain.dentist/index.html





Sorry to learn this ... I so treasure redheads. ;)

[demosincebirth]

1. Try and numb an abscess tooth, it ain't going to happen.

[Why Syzygy]

2. Not a redhead,

but I usually have to have the maximum allowable dose, not the "proper" dose. Time for her to find a new dentist.
When they put me out to cut out my Wisdoms, they later told me they had to give me two doses of anesthetic. I don't remember anything after the first one, but they said I was still talking.

Tolerances differ. Our (cough) 'scientific' medical community doesn't like to acknowledge this.
Good medical professionals will.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Not a redhead either, but I always need extra.

I actually suffer very little from dental pain, apparently, compared to other people. Having wisdom teeth out, or a root canal, is fatiguing (I have a really narrow jaw opening), but not painful. But whatever anesthetic they give me always wears off before the work is done -- I'm now in the habit of warning them to keep extra injections handy.

Individual metabolisms vary quite a lot -- just look at allergies.

[Why Syzygy]

4. Right. Metabolisms.

It's strange because with most other medications, I only need a fraction of so-called "therapeutic" dosage; even benzodiazapines.
:shrug:

[eppur_se_muova]

5. "May cause drowsiness" = "set aside 24 hr for sleep". nt

:D

"Does not cause drowsiness" = "how little you know!"