Holy $#*! Swearing Can Help?

You slam into the dishwasher door (again)… or whack your thumb instead of the nail. What’s your first reaction?

Admit it. You'll probably utter words you wouldn't use in church.

Turns out, it's an effective way to dull the pain!

Swearing has been found to be “a drug-free, calorie-neutral, cost-free means of self-help.”

Colorful language doesn’t change the pain itself, but it can help you tolerate it better--and it doesn't matter what language you swear in.

Swearing has been linked to bolstered social bonds, improved memory, and reduced feelings of exclusion or rejection, most likely because physical pain and emotional pain have the same neurological pathways.

Swearing is linked with an increase in strength

In one anaerobic bike test, participants who swore out loud performed better than those who didn’t.

Researchers believe this is linked to the body’s fight-or-flight response, which releases adrenaline and enhances muscle function. The exact physiological mechanisms are unclear.

Guess where researchers are studying this?!

Samford University

Yep, the Baptist university here in Birmingham!

Previously, testing of the link between swearing and pain has been done in a laboratory setting.

A professor at Samford is focused on understanding how someone's environment, age, how much they already swear in their everyday lives, the intensity of the swear word, and other variables could influence the effect.

His goal is to determine how swearing can be used in a clinical setting. Maybe there'd be a "prescription" for a particular "dose" for swearing.

What might a prescription for swearing sound like?

According to the Samford researcher, pick a word that feels powerful—like the one you'd yell if you broke your pinky toe on a bookcase--you know, hypothetically speaking......🙄

“If no word comes to mind, the f-word is the most commonly self-selected swear word by participants and is considered one of the most powerful swear words out there. Swear at a steady pace once a second to once every three seconds, at a normal speech volume.”

I can't vouch for normal speech volume. 😬

Does it count if you think the word?

If you just can't say those words or you're in a situation where it would be inappropriate to say them out loud, stay tuned.

"Silent swearing" is being studied to see if it can also decrease pain or improve strength.

Fingers crossed....or maybe just middle finger up?