Pain is the body's way of telluing you that something is wrong. It would be nice though if you could tell the body that you've got the message and you're doing something about it!

I have always needed extra pain killers to have any effect when having dental treatment, so perhaps I'm a bit immune to them, but I can put up with a fair amount of pain in the mouth area anyway so on several occasions have done without any.

I do take an anti-inflammatory when I get back pain (slip disk territory) not so much for pain as to regain flexibilty. The inflamed muscle tissue seizes my spine up and I can't reach my feet!

When I have had a more serious injury I found it interesting that I was getting shock symptoms rather than pain. Helped me keep a clear head and do the right things.