# Any part of the body not able to sense pain **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2002, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414 "2002-04-13T07:30:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ScottHaneda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@ScottHaneda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScottHaneda)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/1 "2002-04-13T07:30:16Z")
Aside from hair and other abvious parts, is there any part of the body, internally, that is not suspetable to pain, or any feeling at all for that matter, just nerve dead I think is what you would call it. My only guess may be brain matter, granted, the drill wold hurt going through the skull, but I bet once you were in, it would be smooth sailing, could be wrong though, so I ask the millions. thanks ---
**Author:** ![kingtrw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/958977/32.png) [@kingtrw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingtrw)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/2 "2002-04-13T09:56:29Z")
I believe the brain has no sensory neves in it. Good thing, probably. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/3 "2002-04-13T15:38:13Z")
Yes, that’s true. The brain has no sensory neurons, and doesn’t sense invasion, heat, pressure, etc. However, there’s an external spot that appears to have no pressure sensors, and my students have always loved having this strange thing pointed out to them: hold one arm out straight and reaching under with the other hand, grab a pinch of the wrinkly skin on your elbow. And squeeze as hard as you can. You’ll feel…nothing. Isn’t that cool? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/4 "2002-04-13T15:42:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CC \* > \*\*Yes, that’s true. The brain has no sensory neurons, and doesn’t sense invasion, heat, pressure, etc. However, there’s an external spot that appears to have no pressure sensors, and my students have always loved having this strange thing pointed out to them: hold one arm out straight and reaching under with the other hand, grab a pinch of the wrinkly skin on your elbow. And squeeze as hard as you can. You’ll feel…nothing. Isn’t that cool? \*\* Funny, I can feel the pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Jenner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jenner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenner)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/5 "2002-04-13T15:50:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\* > Funny, I can feel the pressure. \*\* Pinch it as hard as you can, then try pinching another part of your body with the same level of pressure. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/6 "2002-04-13T15:56:26Z")
I’m not saying that it is painful, but, I repeat, I feel the pressure. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/7 "2002-04-13T16:00:22Z")
I feel “pressure” too but I don’t feel “pain”. ---
**Author:** ![Mad\_Matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mad\_Matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mad_Matt)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/8 "2002-04-13T16:27:08Z")
I’ve just tried the pinch test on both elbows. I could feel my fingernail digging in both times. I would suggest that the skin on the elbows is thicker than on most other parts of the body, burying the nerves deeper and hence reducing their response to stimulus. I would imagine a similar effect would be felt if you pinched the sole of your foot where you had a callus (but I can’t be bothered to take my shoes off to test my theory - feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.😉 ). I hasten to add that INAD! ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/9 "2002-04-13T17:46:22Z")
What about the guts and other internal organs? Obviously, we have severe pain if we have peritonitis, but the pain I believe stems from outside the intestines. I don’t believe the intestines themselves have nerves for pain. They obviously have other nerves, resulting in muscle movements in peristalsis, etc., but I don’t think they have pain nerves. We can have stomachaches and back pain due to kidney problems, etc., but I don’t think we can have pain in the intestines that arises from inside the intestines. Now, I’ll wait for someone to set me straight.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/10 "2002-04-13T18:45:55Z")
If the brain is unable to sense pain, how do I know I have a headache? Seriously, this is making me nutty. ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/11 "2002-04-13T18:50:02Z")
barbitu8, I was surprised to learn recently that the gall bladder has no pain nerve endings. Since a gall bladder attack is more painful than childbirth, I doubted this. But, it seems it’s _muslce spasms_ surrounding the gall bladder and ducts that causes the debilitating pain. So, I think you are probably right about the intestines, too. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/12 "2002-04-13T19:01:25Z")
Cynic - the pain from a headache resides in the tissues and blood vessels surrounding the brain and the rest of the skull, not in the brain itself. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/13 "2002-04-13T22:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ScottHaneda \* > \*\*Aside from hair and other abvious parts, is there any part of the body, internally, that is not suspetable to pain, or any feeling at all for that matter, just nerve dead I think is what you would call it. My only guess may be brain matter, granted, the drill wold hurt going through the skull, but I bet once you were in, it would be smooth sailing, could be wrong though, so I ask the millions. > > thanks \*\* I don’t think you should drill holes in your head; my mother kept on warning me about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/14 "2002-04-14T01:42:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ScottHaneda \* > \*\*My only guess may be brain matter, granted, the drill wold hurt going through the skull, but I bet once you were in, it would be smooth sailing, could be wrong though, so I ask the millions. > \*\* Brain surgery can be performed without general anesthesia for this reason. It’s a lucky thing, too, since when the patient is conscious s/he can tell the surgeons what they are experiencing and help make sure that they don’t nick anything important. ---
**Author:** ![Neil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/839c29/32.png) [@Neil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neil)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/15 "2002-04-14T03:21:15Z")
Yuck. The idea of being awake for brain surgery creeps me out. ---
**Author:** ![LadyMack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@LadyMack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadyMack)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/16 "2002-04-14T07:33:48Z")
I had a ‘punch’ procedure done to get some tissue from my Liver, for testing. Once past the outside muscles, I didn’t feel a thing. Except the cold metal table, since I was wrapped in only a sheet. I was told I had to remain awake, and completely still, so they could gauge correctly how things were going, and it ‘wasn’t necessary’ for me to be asleep. The Doc later also told me that the Liver itself doesn’t have pain sensors, and that’s one of the reasons a person can be in distress, before the obvious effects show themselves. Jaundice, cirrhosis, hepatitus, etc. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/17 "2002-04-14T07:36:04Z")
Supposedly there is an ancient skull that shoes there was brain surgery that was survived a looooong time ago. anybody have that same painless memory? ---
**Author:** ![Rye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e56c9b/32.png) [@Rye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rye)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/18 "2002-04-14T12:09:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Supposedly there is an ancient skull that shoes there was brain surgery that was survived a looooong time ago. anybody have that same painless memory? “Where’s the scalpal go again?” “On the SOLE damnit!” ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/19 "2002-04-14T12:21:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GusNSpot \* > \*\*Supposedly there is an ancient skull that shoes there was brain surgery that was survived a looooong time ago. anybody have that same painless memory? \*\* Yeah, the practice was called trephining. They drilled holes in skulls. Some survived, some didn’t. Best guess is that it was used to “treat” medical problems, most likely severe mental illness. ---
**Author:** ![Mad\_Matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mad\_Matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mad_Matt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2002, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414/20 "2002-04-14T13:12:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brynda \* > \*\* > > Yeah, the practice was called trephining. They drilled holes in skulls. Some survived, some didn’t. Best guess is that it was used to “treat” medical problems, most likely severe mental illness. \*\* Actually, it was called trepanning. Plenty of info on a Google. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-part-of-the-body-not-able-to-sense-pain/103414.md?page=2)