Do Dyslexics Feel Pain Differently? The Surprising Science of Dyslexia & Pain Thresholds

In this episode of Unmasking Dyslexia, Carleen explores an often-overlooked question: Do dyslexics experience pain differently?

Drawing from scientific research and personal experience, this episode dives into how dyslexia may influence pain thresholds, body awareness, headaches, stomach pain, and sensory processing. Carleen discusses studies showing that dyslexic individuals may require more pressure to notice pain in their limbs and extremities, while simultaneously experiencing increased sensitivity to internal pain signals like headaches and stomach discomfort.

Through stories, science, and reflection, this episode challenges the idea that dyslexia only impacts reading and learning. Instead, it explores dyslexia as a full-body neuroprocessing difference that may shape how individuals experience and interpret the world around them.

Topics include:
• Dyslexia and pain thresholds
• Why dyslexics may process body signals differently
• Sensory integration and proprioception
• The connection between dyslexia, headaches, and stomach pain
• Personal reflections on injury, pain tolerance, and resilience
• Why dyslexia extends far beyond the classroom

This episode invites listeners to reflect on their own experiences and join the conversation around the hidden sensory and physical dimensions of dyslexia.

Transcript

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Welcome to Unmasking Dyslexia, a podcast that reframes what it means to be dyslexic today. I'm Carlene, your host, bringing lived experience, real conversations, and evidence-based insights from psychology and neuroscience. Here we explore hidden stories, everyday strengths, and tools for well-being and connection. Whether you're dyslexic, love someone who is, teach, or simply curious, you belong here. Together, let's change the story. What's the relationship between dyslexia and pain? Do dyslexics have a higher pain threshold, or do we have something that's a bit weaker? Well, studies show that it kind of goes both ways. When we start looking at pain threshold, what we first have to do is define what we're even talking about. And within the sciences, what pain thresholds are related to is the ability to pick up signals within the body. And the pain threshold is how much pressure needs to be implemented before someone even notices it. What studies show is that dyslexics seem to have a higher need for pain threshold, meaning that we need to have more pressure on our extremities in order to process that there's something even happening to us. Now, how this can translate in reality is that we might actually experience what one person would seem as extremely painful. We might not even notice it yet, if it is based on our limbs and our extremities. However, science has some different facts when we start looking at introsception. And introsception is the sense of the body's internal processing or the processing systems. So this is where science shows this is within stomach and headaches. So studies have shown that children dyslexics actually recognize and report more stomach pain and more headaches than control subjects. So in one study, it's going to show that we actually have a higher sensitivity to pain if we're talking about stomach, and we have a lower threshold if we're talking about our limbs. And the reason why I even started looking at this and trying to understand it is on the weekend, I had a dance competition with my son where we did a hip hop routine. And while I was on stage, my kneecap dislocated. Obviously, it was painful, but I still continued the dance. Thank goodness it was the last 15 seconds of the dance. But what got me thinking is that for some people, they would have collapsed to the ground. So why didn't I? Does that mean I can process pain more than another person? In relation to that, I had a coaching session with a client and I mentioned this story to her. And what she had said to me, which had me really think about it, is that those of us who are constantly in pain, and when we think about that with stomach issues or food intolerances, to us, maybe we just perceive pain differently. We just go, oh, it's another pain. But I can handle this because it's not as sharp, it's not as uh frequent, it's not stabbing, it's just dull. So is that a possibility? What we have to start to realize though is that any of these studies, they're showing the generalities. So, yes, for some dyslexics, you need a higher threshold of pain or pressure on your extremities in order to feel it happening to you. While other dyslexics, you might not need that so much. In this, what we have to realize is that the body systems that actually are linked to proprioception are areas of the brain that are shown to have um links to dyslexia. The cerebral processing, motor integration, sensory timing, and parietal networks are all show that to some extent they're impaired or they have challenges for the dyslexic individual. So is that why we need higher pressures? Because we need more input from that. It's a question to ask. And I just wonder, and I would love for you to um feel free and to actually chime into this conversation. If you're dyslexic, do you feel that you have a higher pain uh threshold? Do you need more pressure in order to feel something? Or do you have a lower one? And is it linked to the different areas of your body? So do you find your body senses one and your headaches and your stomach are another? Because I have to say for myself, what the studies show, I align with completely. I have a higher pain tolerance when we're talking about my limbs and my external, like my external body uh extremities, yet my stomach and my headaches, I get triggered by them pretty fast. Curious, I'd love to know your input. If this episode resonated with you, know that you are not alone and make sure to share it with someone else who might need it. Through my work at All That I Am, I offer courses and coaching to help you reconnect with your strengths, your meaning, and your sense of mattering. There are links to what I offer in the show notes. And don't forget to follow the podcast so you don't miss what's coming next.