# Is Childbirth as painful as riding in the Tour de France? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 25, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136 "2013-12-25T07:24:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/1 "2013-12-25T07:24:18Z")
No disrespect to my Mom, she gave birth to me after all, so I’m eternally grateful. That said, I often hear women reach for the childbirth card when men complain about pain of some sort. Fair enough, if you’re a guy and all you have is the flu? Harden the hell up. But then I got to thinking about real pain, quantifiable pain. My understanding is childbirth is on a par with passing a gall stone - so painful you come close to passing out? That’s true for the Tour de France too - except the latter runs for 22 days. You cannot imagine the pain involved in that sport, in that event. It’s ungodly. Especially in the mountains when you’re trying to hang on with the leaders for dear life and there’s mountain pass after mountain pass, day after day. Your thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/2 "2013-12-25T07:26:30Z")
Well, to get an idea of the pain level, take your bottom lip… and put it on a bike race across France. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/3 "2013-12-25T09:11:10Z")
LMAO! Talk about apples and oranges! Guess the only answer is doing both – preferably at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/4 "2013-12-25T09:18:48Z")
> [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](#): > > No disrespect to my Mom, she gave birth to me after all, so I’m eternally grateful. > > That said, I often hear women reach for the childbirth card when men complain about pain of some sort. Fair enough, if you’re a guy and all you have is the flu? Harden the hell up. > > But then I got to thinking about real pain, quantifiable pain. My understanding is childbirth is on a par with passing a gall stone - so painful you come close to passing out? That’s true for the Tour de France too - except the latter runs for 22 days. You cannot imagine the pain involved in that sport, in that event. It’s ungodly. Especially in the mountains when you’re trying to hang on with the leaders for dear life and there’s mountain pass after mountain pass, day after day. > > Your thoughts? Ask a woman who’s done both. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/5 "2013-12-25T12:35:03Z")
I’ve been to two childbirths that I can remember. None of those were particular painful. Boring as hell though. And gross. Getting your finger stuck in the car door though. That’s pain. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/6 "2013-12-25T14:03:02Z")
Well, are the women in childbirth on steroids? ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/7 "2013-12-25T14:09:33Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > I’ve been to two childbirths that I can remember. None of those were particular painful. Boring as hell though. And gross. Getting your finger stuck in the car door though. That’s pain. All you’ve left is The Tour & some EPO. Let us know how that goes. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/8 "2013-12-25T14:11:21Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Ask a woman who’s done both. When I had pancreatitis and had to have my gallbladder out, I had three different women tell me when they had pancreatitis it hurt worse than labor. Funny thing is the pancreatitis didn’t hurt as bad as when I fractured my heel in a fall. THAT was pain. Personally I think the amount of pain involved in childbirth might be just a tad exaggerated. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/9 "2013-12-25T14:17:43Z")
“Childbirth is the worst pain in the world.” “Yeah? Get your dick caught in your zipper.” - Franklin Ajaye ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/10 "2013-12-25T14:21:51Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “Childbirth is the worst pain in the world.” > > “Yeah? Get your dick caught in your zipper.” > > - Franklin Ajaye “Or have a kidney stone try to scrape its way down your ureter” - RobDog. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/11 "2013-12-25T14:36:34Z")
The TdF is a 21 day event. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/12 "2013-12-25T14:49:02Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Personally I think the amount of pain involved in childbirth might be just a tad exaggerated. Or maybe it varies from person to person. Frankly, as someone has already said, it’s apples and oranges. Sure, the TdF lasts longer than labor, but labor is normally proceeded by 9 freakin’ months of physical changes and gradually increasing imposition on one’s body. And lots more women have died giving birth than men have died doing the TdF. Are there things more painful in this world than normal childbirth? Yep. But pain shouldn’t be a pissing contest. (Nor should pissing be painful) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/13 "2013-12-25T15:32:26Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Ask a woman who’s done both. Preferably someone who’s given birth while completing the Tour de France. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/14 "2013-12-25T16:08:52Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Well, are the women in childbirth on steroids? Sometimes, especially if she’s in premature labor. They often give them steroids to mature the baby’s lungs. I’m a woman who never gave birth, but other things I’ve heard about that can be more painful than childbirth include gallstones, kidney stones, and physical therapy after a 3rd degree burn. The woman who told me that had two children, and she said, “I would rather have 20 babies in a row than go through that again!” And it was only one joint which was affected by this. And while nobody will ever experience both testicular torsion and childbirth in the same lifetime in the foreseeable future, I’ve heard that THAT supersedes the things in the previous paragraph by a factor of about 1,000. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/15 "2013-12-25T16:23:22Z")
[Cluster headaches](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_headaches#Signs_and_symptoms) are reported to be worse than childbirth by women who’ve had both. > [@](#): > > “Cluster headache is probably the worst pain that humans experience. I know that’s quite a strong remark to make, but if you ask a cluster headache patient if they’ve had a worse experience, they’ll universally say they haven’t. … Women with cluster headache will tell you that an attack is worse than giving birth. So you can imagine that these people give birth without anaesthetic once or twice a day, for six, eight or ten weeks at a time, and then have a break.” They are also know as “suicide headaches” due to people killing themselves to escape them. In fact I consider it a good indication that childbirth isn’t anywhere near the worst pain someone can have, given that women quite often will choose to go through it more than once, instead of killing themselves to escape it. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/16 "2013-12-25T16:37:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The TdF is a 21 day event. True. And getting pregnant can take all of 10 seconds or less. That said, how the hell is a dude going to know how much pain is involved in birthing a child? As I said, this is beyond a silly OP…with apologies to **Boo Boo Foo** , who usually knows his stuff – cycling at the top of the list – but I am betting he never birthed a kid. And if he did, I highly doubt it was an 11 lb pound beast like mine. Forget cycling when you are busy _just being there_ waiting for ET. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/17 "2013-12-25T16:44:06Z")
Actually, Ive heard trigeminal neuralgia called the [Suicide Disease](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigeminal_neuralgia) by a neurosurgeon since its painful, unpredictably episodic and nothing you can do on your own helps it. But I can tell you that kidney stones either on the move or obstructing a ureter are sheer agony from witnessing sufferers and being one myself. Childbirth was a piece of cake. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/18 "2013-12-25T17:23:36Z")
I’ve had cluster headaches and migraines, I’ve also had 36 hours of back labour, and I’ve run long races (nowhere near TdF) and NOT at the same time, thank God. Labour was awful, but it resulted in something wonderful, and although it was a long time, you know it will, eventually end. The races were bad at the end, but you could see the finish line, and it WILL end. The headaches were probably worse because they are so demoralizing - unrelenting pain with no good result, just pain for the sake of pain. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/19 "2013-12-25T19:07:57Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I’ve had cluster headaches and migraines, I’ve also had 36 hours of back labour, and I’ve run long races (nowhere near TdF) and NOT at the same time, thank God. > > Labour was awful, but it resulted in something wonderful, and although it was a long time, you know it will, eventually end. The races were bad at the end, but you could see the finish line, and it WILL end. > > The headaches were probably worse because they are so demoralizing - unrelenting pain with no good result, just pain for the sake of pain. That reminds me of a story/anecdote I read a while back from a man who had a pituitary tumor removed, and a couple weeks later, he started having horrible attacks of nausea and vomiting that were worse in the evenings. After several days of this, he asked the doctor if this was in any way related to his recent surgery, and the doctor replied, “Yes, it is. It’s a male version of morning sickness. Come to my office and I’ll give you a shot of testosterone.” He did, and had a bit of nausea after dinner but the meal did stay down. He was also very apprehensive about telling his wife about this, because she always had a terrible time with that when she was pregnant, and to his surprise, she was VERY sympathetic. In so many words, she said hers wasn’t so bad because there was a purpose to it and an end in sight. And those last 4 words are relevant, because he found out the hard way that if he didn’t get his testosterone shot, on day 16 or 17 this would all start up again. He’ll probably have to take these shots for the rest of his life, and he’s OK with that. Whatever that pituitary tumor did to him probably wasn’t much fun either. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136/20 "2013-12-25T19:11:00Z")
Another thing that mostly afflicts men but that women have told me can hurt more than labor: Gout. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-childbirth-as-painful-as-riding-in-the-tour-de-france/677136.md?page=2)