Health gem

If you do one thing this week. . . use your swear words wisely

We’ve probably all done it: let an expletive roar forth when we experience pain. Studies show that cursing appears to produce a pain-lessening effect, but new findings suggest that swear words can lose their potency against pain if we overuse them in everyday life.

The study, at Keele University, asked 71 participants to keep a hand in icy water for as long as they could, and compared the effects of cursing and not cursing.

“The more often participants reported swearing in daily life, the less extra time they were able to hold their hand in ice cold water when they repeated a swear word, compared with when they repeated a non-swear word,” write the researchers in the Journal of Pain.

“Used in moderation, swearing can be an effective and readily available short-term pain reliever if, for example, you are in a situation where there is no access to medical care or painkillers,” says researcher Dr Richard Stephens.

“However, if you’re used to swearing all the time, our research suggests you won’t get the same effect.”