Yesterday afternoon I went to the dentist. Although it was just a regular checkup, I asked the dentist to inspect the sore spot on my gums that had been there for weeks. I have a very small abscess, it seems…an annoying pocket of infection that must be treated with antibiotics. I had always heard the abscesses were incredibly painful, however my gum just felt sore like I had something stuck in it that couldn’t be removed no matter what I tried. Â
How odd are peoples’ varying perceptions of pain? One person’s sore gum is another person’s excruciating pain…
After the dentist “explored” the abscess with dental tools the swelling increase quite a bit, but it still wasn’t excruciating. When I experience back pain, it’s excruciating. This was still no more than an ache. A swollen, annoying ache that prevented me from closing my jaw completely, but an ache no less.