How do I get my pain threshold up again?
I've always been someone with an average to slightly above average pain threshold (by my very own subjective measures). Since having my ACL reconstruction, however, my pain threshold has gone down significantly.
I got a spinal tap for the surgery, and alongside the knee pain and swelling, faced a post dural headache that lasted more than a week. Had some really painful stomach aches in week 2 (mixed my painkiller - Diclofenac with alcohol. My fault) that lasted 3 days. Week 4, got a lot of sciatica pain - it had been present throughout but got worse, and also developed a fever for a few days.
I am now on week 7 and I need to get some dental work done. However, the thought of any more pain, no matter how small completely destroys me. I can't bear the thought of even getting an anesthetic injection in my gums.
Any advice to get over this? My willpower seems to be at 0 and I feel unusually weak (mentally). Has anybody else gone through the same feeling?