VINDICATED!

If you know a redhead then doubtless you've been forwarded this Times article: The Pain of Being a Redhead, which reports this recent study that: "A growing body of research shows that people with red hair need larger doses of anesthesia and often are resistant to local pain blockers like Novocaine." See this as well.

This news makes me so happy (or as happy as I could be given that I'm living under this forced physical curse; yet, I have so many of those, I have learned to live and even value my legion of corporal pain). I'm happy because I've been claiming this for years - and have had many doctors (not just dentists) scoff my testimony. This experience, in fact, is a defining point for why I'm even in the professions I'm in.

Ya see, I've often felt that I notice things others overlook and when I report these neglected facts I've been repudiated by the 'respected' authorities. As such, I've spent most of my life trying to develop both the tools, and the authority, to teach people about these disregarded truths. It's a fiercely personal mission and I'm finding some success (about as much as I can expect) - because while most people absolutely do not want to know about facts that contradict their comfortrably acquired rationalizations, there are many others who have nagging feelings about unanswered questions. Yeah, it sounds like the Matrix, but there's often a kernal of truth in sci-fi.

Anwyay, the dentist thing is a perfect example because I was perceiving a difference in facts that had serious consequences for my health and I was - for the most part - mocked and rejected for these facts. Yet, I kept going to dentists and doctors, and enduring more pain that I needed to, because I could only convince only so many people. I had a root canal this way; and I kept telling the stupid dentist that it wasn't supposed to be that painful and they looked at me as a wimp. But a lifetime of this disregard has toughened up my insistence on more pain killers.

It's a sweet vindication: to live my whole life knowing something was true despite constant gainsaying - it's encouragement for the rest of my life. And my advice for you redheads? Print out the article and take it to the doctor with you. Doctors won't listen to patients, but they may listen to third party authorities...

Post finally written on Nov 9, 2009. Top pic from here of Dentistry in 1611. Second pic from here.