My accident-induced analgesia

Analgesia simply is the inability to feel or sense pain which normally should be felt due to an injury or ailment.

An analgesic is a drug that helps in numbing pain or simply reduce the degree of pain. Examples of analgesics(painkillers) are ibrupofen, feldin, codeine, dichlofenac etc.

Medical and biomedical students in my school would always joke with the word "analgesics" whenever their Bank account is being credited by a parent, an NGO or the government. Getting to recieve such an analgesic into your bank account on a day when you are hungry or broke could be the best feeling ever. Ofcourse you all would agree with me that money is the best painkiller in the world. Much more better than ibrufen, Panadol or any other awful drug, Lol.

As a student, whenever i recieve a financial analgesic , I usually spend the better part of the evening at the school restaurant, treating my self to an awesome meal of fried rice and chicken. 😆

Now, a Stress-induced analgesia occurs when you are unable to feel pain from an injury since you are under stress or shock. This has happened to almost everyone. I had this experience in an accident that happened two years ago.

During my first year in the university, I had returned home from school so as to attend the wedding ceremony of a cousin who would be getting married in two days time. On the second day, I was very busy with the wedding preparations alongside family and friends when I recieved a call. Our class captain informed me that we would be having a test in the next two hours.

Hot sweat broke out from my forehead as I mechanically swallowed the piece of half eaten meat in my mouth. Needless to say, I found it hard to control micturition as the my legs continue to shake out of sheer reflex.

This was the last thing I was expecting to hear at this time and I kept asking my class rep wether he was sure of what he was saying. The lecturer who takes this course have only visited our class just once since the beginning of the semester due to his very busy schedule. It was during his first visit that he handed over a very bulky lecture material. We all thought we might not see him again till the end of the semester as he always call to give excuses and apologies each time he was expected to come deliver a lecture. Just like other coursemates, I didn't bother about the course anymore since I sure that he wouldn't come the following day. That was the reason why I returned home two days before cousin's wedding.

Thank God my house and the university were in thesame city. Few minutes after waiting at the junction, I was lucky to get a bus that was heading towards the university. I immediately hopped into the vehicle and sat on the front seat, next to the driver.

In my city, due to religious and cultural inclinations, women are not supposed to sit at the front of a commercial vehicle. But at that moment, I totally forgot about such an insignificant matter. The most important thing now is to arrive at the campus on time so that I don't miss the test. I almost shed tears when I thought about the terrible traffic that await me as some parts of the road were under construction. I pleaded with the driver to get going immediately. I promised to pay him double or triple the fare in order to make up for lost passengers.

On our way to school, my eyes were totally off the road as I did my best to memorize as much information that I could from the lecturer's note. Half way through the journey, we were involved in a minor accident. A construction vehicle had been parked quite close to the main road not too long ago and a metallic tool from the van protruded forward, thereby causing a slight obstruction to passing vehicles.

Maybe the driver had hitherto miscalculated the distance between the metal rod and his bus, or he was simply not focused on his driving. Before the driver could swerve, the metal rod struck the windshield of our vehicle which was approaching in full speed.

I felt pieces of glasses raining all over my head and shoulders as i shield my head and face with both hands. strangely enough I didn't let out a scream. As soon as the shower of glasses had ceased, I quickly jumped out of the bus and started running to the nearest bus station. I was still thinking about the test and couldn't wait to check wether I have been injured or not. I could already hear the driver screaming in anger. A fight would definitely break out in the next minute, that I was sure of, but I still did not care.

When I finally arrived at school, I couldn't understand why everyone was looking at me as if I were an 👽 from Mars. It was when i got to the venue of the test that my friends informed me that there was a cut on the side of my head and blood was already trickling down my face on same side. I confirmed this when I saw my reflection in the mirror of the classroom and I became alarmed. That was the time I began to feel the pain from the cut........

My brain as the central nervous system didn't pick up this information quickly since it was already too busy coping with the stress and panic of the dreaded test which it's owner was about to write so soon.

Also, the injury was not very severe. You know the brain has a very extensive blood supply, so a little cut or bruise could allow the release of quite a volume of blood. But as soon as my attention was drawn to the injury, the brain also becomes aware and gives out the necessary but important protective response which came to me as pain at the spot of the injury.

Just like what happens when you are escaping from kidnappers or running away from a snake. You wouldn't even be aware that you have bust you big toe against a stone until you have ran to safety.

This is also similar to when your partner have a secret lover but you keep believing that you are in a happy relationship. The day you catch them red-handed will be the beginning of an unbearable pain.

In summary, whay you don't know, or think about won't hurt you. People wouldn't be able to pull you down if you continue to ignore them, you only begin to feel bad the day you start giving them attention.

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Thanks for reading 💖💖🙏🙏