Pete and Dave have gone off the deep end. They must be running out of important things to write about if they are writing about the value of …swearing!

 

So ya, this one may be a little more light hearted than some of our past articles. But I promise, there is some meat on this bone.

 

If I asked you to submerge your hand in cold water (5 degrees celsius) for as long as possible, do you think repetitively swearing would allow you to hold your hand under the water longer?

 

It turns out the answer is, yes!

 

This cold-presser experiment was first conducted in 2009 by Stephens et al and its results generated significant attention getting featured on a Netflix show called the History of Swear words and Mythbusters episode in 2010 called No Pain No Gain.

 

Essentially their preliminary study found that swearers could hold their hand in the ice cold water for longer. The authors concluded the subjects had increased pain tolerance by repeating their self selected swear word, compared to their self selected non swear word. This initial study measured participants heart rate and reported that those participants who swore also had increased spikes in heart rate, thus demonstrating a potential link to the sympathetic nervous system arousal (subsequent studies have not replicated this heart rate theory as an explanation).

 

Stephens and Umland repeated the experiment in 2011 and found that 73% of participants kept their hand in the ice water longer while swearing, and on average they kept their hand in the ice water 31 seconds longer while swearing.

 

Several other studies have replicated the cold-pressor experiment in various forms and this recent review summarizes them well.

Bottom line is we have reliable findings that using a predetermined swear word, or a self selected swear word results in a different outcome compared to a made up swear word or a non swear word. Even a taboo gesture like flipping the bird repetitively demonstrates improved results compared to extending your index finger repetitively in the cold-pressor experiment.

 

So why is there power in a taboo work or gesture when it comes to acute pain? Authors have theories, but none of them proven. Some of the proposed theories include disruption of pain processing, increased sympathetic nervous system response, physiological distraction or use of humour to improve affect.

 

 

 

Why do we care?

 

Well now we have an explanation for why we have that sudden urge to curse when we stub our toe or bang our funny bone. You can drop the cold-pressor experiment data on your family and friends and be the most interesting person in the room!

 

But maybe we can use this finding to strategically push through acute pain or discomfort. There are all sorts of situations we know are going to be uncomfortable and we need to push through to expand our comfort zone and stretch what our body is capable of.

 

Maybe a tough workout or rehab exercise, deep tissue massage or shockwave session, cold or heat tolerance you are trying to build up. There are times for being calm and controlled and there are moments of intense struggle you just gotta endure. Maybe swearing can be a tool for those moments.

 

Try it. Maybe, you’ll feel better, last longer or perform better when it hurts. And if not, people who swear are more honest, so at least you’ll have that!