There is no scientific study to prove testicular blow is more painful than childbirth - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 15, 2023
A social media post claims that kicking a man’s testicles produces 9000 del of pain, supposedly equal to the pain of having 132 children or breaking 3200 bones simultaneously. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Kicking a man’s testicles produces 9000 del of Pain, which is equivalent to the pain of producing 132 children or breaking 3200 bones simultaneously.
Fact: There is no scientific study proving that testicular blow is more painful than childbirth. In fact, comparing these two pains is not appropriate, as pain is subjective and varies among individuals. Further, there is no recognized unit of measurement for pain by the name ‘del’. Mostly scientists are using a 10-point scale to measure pain, thus indicating that the claim of 9000 del lacks credibility and is arbitrary, lacking any scientific basis. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
It is true that testicles are highly sensitive and prone to pain due to the abundance of nerve endings they contain. Blunt trauma like a kick can cause intense and immediate discomfort, which typically diminishes relatively rapidly. Nevertheless, no scientific research directly compares the pain inflicted by such an incident to the pain experienced during childbirth.
Furthermore, the viral post asserts that pain is measured in a unit called ‘del’, but in reality, there is no recognized unit of measurement for pain by that name. In the 1940s, a pain assessment system called the “Dol scale” was established, which utilized a dolorimeter, an instrument designed to gauge pain intensity.
It is probable that the viral post could be referring to ‘dol’ as ‘del’. However, it should be noted that the Dol scale assesses pain on a scale ranging from 1 to 10. Later scientists started using a 10-point scale to measure the pain, with 0 meaning no pain and 10 meaning extreme pain. Even the credibility of this system has been called into doubt, and to this day, there remains a lack of universally accepted and unbiased means to quantify pain. This indicates that the claim of 9000 del in the viral post lacks credibility and is arbitrary, lacking any scientific basis.
Additionally, it is not suitable to compare the pain of childbirth with the pain caused by a kick to a man’s testicles, as both experiences are subjective and vary among individuals. Getting kicked in the testicles results in a momentary surge of pain that gradually subsides, whereas labor pain occurs in recurring waves and can persist for several hours.
In 2013, ASAPScience conducted an investigation into the same question; however, they were unable to reach a conclusive answer regarding which of the two causes more pain. The same claim is being shared since 2010. Snopes, a fact-checking agency debunked the same earlier.
To sum it up, there is no scientific study to prove testicular blow is more painful than childbirth.