This weekend was not one of the more enjoyable weekends I have had in recent months. I had a dental appointment to have my final wisdom tooth removed yesterday (Saturday), and it did not go well. I had an unexpected reaction to the freezing the dentist administered to me. While the muscles in my face were affected to the point where blinking my eye was a conscious effort, I felt pain - the real McCoy, and not simply profound pressure - when she was working on the tooth. Then the drill came out, and I damn near screamed. That nerve was AWAKE, baby. We went several rounds with topping up the freezing, and trying again; each consecutive attempt got shorter.
I have always had problems with freezing “taking” poorly, or with “throwing off” the effects too quickly, but this was over the top. So, the decision has been taken to patch me up until an oral surgeon with really good drugs can squeeze me in on Monday or Tuesday. For the record, now that all that freezing has come out, I feel pretty much okay. My jaw is sore and tired, and the muscles feel stiff, but I am not currently in pain.
And now the question which brought me to this forum:
I mentioned this to a good friend, also a redhead, who responded with the statement that it has been proven “that redheads require more drugs than most people do.” I respect her, but I really REALLY want to know more about this. Partly because if there is something to it, I can have a conversation with my dentist the next time I go in for a significant procedure. And partly because vanity makes me want to believe I am indeed a medical diva. So, people in the know: can you help me find a cite for this, which I, being a sci-fool, will understand? Or better, can you interpret it for me, too?
FWIW, I am prepared to be told I am a wuss. I never thought so until yesterday, but now … :dubious:
I am red haired and most pain killers (codeine for example) have worked OK for me although, surprise, demerol wasn’t all that effective the one time it was tried so morphine was substituted and it wasn’t any better.
Okay, I’ve heard this and am even prepared to believe it if it’s generalized somewhat. The term “redhead” gets bandied about so often that I think it’s lost all real meaning. Is someone with mostly chestnut-brown hair and an auburn streak a “readhead”?
In effect, “redhead” here could be acting as a shorthand for some ethnic background. I’m not sure if it would be Irish or Scandanavian (Irish reds came from the Vikings, IIRC), but there may well be a trait of resistance to painkillers that runs heavily in an ethnic group which also has a lot of redheads. I’d be floored if the two were any more directly linked than that.
That said, I’m also curious about the point: are there ethnic groups (some of which are associated with red hair) which have a tendancy to resist the effects of painkillers? My joking answer would be the Irish, thus explaining my drinking habits. Still, IANAD…
It’s not an ethnic thing - it really is a redhead thing.
I read about this a couple years ago, it was connected to some research published in a respectable venue. There are genes associated with both red hair and resistance to painkillers
So while the same gene that gave you red hair may make many painkillers less effective for you, the kappa opioids might work better for you than for most people. How you go about using this information on a practical level I don’t know. If you could get a really good cite and take it to your dentist it might be a start.
I should also mention that red hair is caused by more than just one variant on a gene - this only applies to some red heads, not all, and there have been gender differences noted between male redheads and female redheads as well.
Broomstick, Thank you!! This is in English, and it does not say redhead = wuss. Well, not directly.
I do have another question, perhaps unrelated, but sparked by a comment of Mathochist: would this resistance to pain killers be related to my ability to drink a fair fit of “hard” or distilled alcohol without demonstrating intoxication?
(Now I’m getting facetious, but I really do appreciate the information. My dentist might, too!)
The account in the cite is pretty sketchy. There was no statement of confidence level on the need for “20% more anesthetic” and no indication of tests to see whether or not electrical shock pain is the same as torn muscle pain, etc.
A sample of ten is big enough to get a pretty good idea of the true situtation if the expected number of ‘successes’ (or failures) is in the neighborhood of 30% or more. That is if you are expecting a relatively common occurance of an effect the sample can be smaller than if the occurance is rare. Some information on confidence level and controls is needed to decide whether or not the experiment was a good one. Maybe the paper that is presented to the anesthesiologists will have the required info - it better have.
There has been some discussion on this topic in the spanking community. Certain individuals who have had the opportunity over the years to spank (consensually, of course) many ladies have indicated that red-haired spankees do tend to react to the spanking more dramatically than either blondes or brunettes. Several red-haired women in the scene also related their own experience with ineffective painkillers.
