Person with rare condition that stops them feeling pain explains why it's left them 'paranoid'

For the majority of people, pain is one of life’s cruel inevitabilities.

It’s easy to imagine how bliss a life without pain would be, so improbable it sounds like a superpower. But it turns out a condition exists which makes that fantasy a reality, except it's not as utopian as it sounds.

A person living with a condition that means they don't feel pain, known as congenital analgesia or congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), shed light on their reality of living with the condition.

Opening the floor to questions in an ‘AMA’ (Ask me Anything) thread on Reddit, the anonymous user explained why congenital analgesia has left them paranoid.

A Reddit user explained what it's like living with a condition which means they don't feel pain (Getty Stock Image)

Explaining their disorder, the poster wrote: "When I was four I was diagnosed with a disorder called CIP, congenital insensitivity to pain, also known as congenital analgesia.

"I’m eighteen currently, and I’ve sustained many injuries in my life that I either didn’t notice or didn’t recognise as severe until after treatment. I also have extreme difficulty regulating my temperature, and registering dangerous levels of heat.

"Because of this, I have excessive scarring on the finger tips of my right hand, and only my pinky and thumb have finger prints.”

In a follow up post, the anonymous user explained why the condition is more of a double-edged sword than an enviable gift.

"While it’s cool sometimes that I can’t feel pain per se, I still have to deal with the aftermath," the user wrote.

Not feeling pain isn't as blissful as one may assume (Getty Stock Image)

This means that even though they could easily turn a blind eye to any accidents or injuries in theory, in actuality they have to be more attentive to their body’s needs. Otherwise, they could miss something serious and cause themselves long-term damage.

Because let's face it, while no pain sounds great, it does also alert us to potential harm done to our bodies.

The user explained: "The idea of something happening internally though is a frequent source of anxiety."

"What if I have internal bleeding somewhere, and I can’t tell?," they continued. "What if my kidney failed again, and I’ll drop dead any minute? It’s definitely caused me to be more paranoid now, but it’s not like it takes over my mind. Sometimes I still forget I need to be extra careful or that a situation could be harmful to me.

"I’m lucky to have family and friends that are wayyyy more conscientious of my CIP than I am, especially my girlfriend."

The user said their parents have made them follow an overly cautious approach to their body from a young age, which they have stuck to despite having a 'morbid fascination' about pain.

While the original poster can’t experience physical pain, they did clarify in the thread that they can feel it emotionally.

They added: "I do feel emotional pain, absolutely. I’ve never felt like I feel things differently emotionally, and I get asked a lotttt.”

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