Monday, January 10, 2011

Pain in the ass / Pain in the neck

I don't know how or when these phrases started. But everybody knows what either of these mean. (They mean the same.) Why these two particular body parts were chosen? They are not related, they are not close to each other, or complementary to each other. And they do not necessarily mean the worst places to have a pain or the most severe pain that can happen to a body part.

I know a lot about pain. More particularly, I know a lot about pain in the ass as well as pain in the neck. Because I have had them both myself (literally) and I know how annoying, unbearable, or difficult they can be. My pain in the ass was very severe. So severe that I landed in the Emergency Room several times. Unfortunately, nobody could diagnose the problem correctly and provide a cure. All I got was temporary, partial relief. Eventually, a very renowned proctologist of Boston identified the source of the problem and corrected it surgically. (Keep guessing how do they provide a dressing for the surgical wound for this part of human anatomy. If you are a woman, you might be able to guess correctly!!)

My pain in the neck is current and is going on for about a year. This time the diagnosis was easy and accurate. I have moderate osteoarthritis in the cervical spine (neck). But unfortunately, there is no cure for this condition. I am told it is a pretty common condition in people of my age (I am not 25 anymore!), but not all people get the symptoms namely, pain and stiffness. As usual, I am unfortunate to have moderately severe symptoms! Physical therapy was recommended, but I politely declined. I have never had any luck with physical therapy in the past for other conditions. I am hoping for nature cure like previous ailments of this kind. But this time it is not happening. It has been a year or so already.

Anyway, back to my original topic. Why "pain in the ass" or "pain in the neck" when we refer to an annoying or undesirable person or situation? Why not pain in the tooth, pain in the ear, or pain like migraine? Does anybody know? Are those pains not bad enough to give a sense of the undesirability of the person/situation?

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