A question to those who have at some point been punched in the face.

[Jolly Co-operator]

I've never been punched in the face, but I did have a basketball kicked rather hard into my face a few years back. My sensation was a bit different from the OP's though. I didn't feel any pain, but I didn't feel any numbness either. It felt like a small puff of air at most, and I didn't have any sensations of numbness or anything like that either, I just felt perfectly normal. At first I thought that it hadn't even hit me, but my nose an gums soon started bleeding, and my glasses were a little bent at the side.

It was a very strange occurrence for me, seeing as I'm usually not numb or indifferent to pain. Oh well, it happened with most of my class watching, so shrugging it off completely while they all gasped did at least earn me a few badass-points ;P

 

[217not237]

I've been kneed in the face. Does that count? If so, a couple seconds of "What just happened?" and then "Ouch."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Never actually been punched square in the face before. Have been punched just behind the ear though. Now that. Fucking. Hurts. It will then continue to fucking hurt for the next three days at least every time you move your jaw. I've been told that the place where I was struck is one of the most common lethal blows, so I consider myself lucky the guy didn't hit me any harder.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

The pain's manageable, but the psychological effects are what gets you. I'm fine with any injury where I know what it is and that it isn't going to kill me, but often, the fear and distress surrounding the pain of being punched are the worst part of it. I've never had my face smashed in a brawl, but I've been in sparring situations where I've been getting beaten and there, even though it was in a safe environment, the knowledge that I was getting beaten was horrible.

Gets really hot, then hurts like a *****. That's right on the cheekbone, though, dunno about other spots. Oh, getting socked in the nose makes you feel all stuffy.

Linking on from my psychological....erm....thing-ee, would you say that the situations in which girls are punched in the face greatly differs from the situations in which guys are punched in the face, and whether there were differences in the level of distress you'd expect people to experience?

Speaking from a strictly social perspective I'd imagine most women (depending on the situation) would probably experience more surprise then men when being hit in the face as it's probably more likely to happen between two men in our society. Other than that... probably hurts just the same either way. Though I have heard that, biologically, women are more prone to pain than men are. Not sure how true that is.

I'd say more likely that the exact opposite is true, although it varies from person to person. Women on average need to have a higher pain threshold than men to deal with shit like childbirth, whereas even the biggest brick shit-house of a man can be put out of action with a swift knee to the balls.

 

[Frankster]

I've had the "honor" of being punched in the face on more then 1 occassion.

At its weakest, a punch makes the face sting and go numb as others have said.

But one time I got knocked out for realz (that'll teach me to fight a friendly boxing match with a guy that actually does boxing professionaly) and I can tell you this: it was blinding fast, barely saw it (on this note too: in fights when you have adrenaline time seems to slow down, this fight was so fast i didn't even get the adrenaline effect pumping) and I only saw black screen for a sec followed by diziness as i realized i had stumbled on my feet. Possibly lost consciousness for half a sec?

Was still little pain involved, just the ringing and dizziness, but it felt weird moving my head around after a hard punch like that.

 

[Sacman]

I've been punched in the face too many times to remember... and usually it fuckin hurts... but the unique sensation depends on where you get hit... jaw is probably the least painful place, though it's damn easy to get knocked on your ass... unless it's hard enough to break it... than it just fuckin hurts... for a long time too... and don't expect it to be functioning anytime soon... nose is the worst since it's so easy to break... and it's really sensative... and feels really weird afterwards and we can't forget the eye watering... being punched in the ear actually hurts alot... I was surprised the first time... it's extra disorienting too... forehead hurts too and bleeds a lot... really easy to cut... it always looks worse than it is... but it's not too bad... especially compared to the crown of the head... the worst punches I've ever taken have been there... it's brutal... and has more potential for fatality than anywhere else... cheek stings more than anything else... and its where the worst bruising occurs... though surprisingly I've never been punched in the eye before...<.<


but in general... expect the blunt trama to be more disorienting than the actual pain... unless it's somewhere like the nose or the top of your head... also the burning sensation is universal no matter where you get hit... and being knocked out isn't that bad... most of the time you never feel a thing... at least until you get up... and you never see it coming...<.<

Mild stinging in the skin, especially the nose if it got hit (Good luck if you have an itchy nose) and if it's further up I get a funny taste in my mouth as well as mild dizziness.

Here's a tip, if someone's about to punch you in the face you should probably try to avoid it.

...<.<
When have you been in a fight before? I didn't know you'veben punched in the face before...

Also... I find this relevant...

 

[Rastien]

Having played rugby taking a few smacks in the mush is common place.

Think it's already been said but depending on where you get hit in the face hurts more. Anything on the nose and it's gonna hurt like hell and your eyes are going to be watering not to mention disorientated. Eyes are much the same hurts like shit and you can't see very well for a few seconds after. Cheek isn't to bad depending on how hard you're hit.

Also for those sporting any facial bruises i highly advise using Arnica if you can get the stuff from health shops even better as that tends to be fresh Arnica plants used in the past, it's a bit more pricey but your bruises fade ALOT in a day .

 

[loc978]

Depends on where in the face. To the nose/mouth area results in the numbness often mentioned in this thread, bit of a vision whiteout for a second. The jaw, though, that hurts. Kinda like being hit in the wrist with something hard that's moving really fast. Eyesockets and cheekbones feel similar to being hit in the jaw. Lots of nerve clusters and shallow bones will do that.

There's also the matter of how hard you get hit. Had my jaw broken once. That sucked.

 

[Fappy]

The pain's manageable, but the psychological effects are what gets you. I'm fine with any injury where I know what it is and that it isn't going to kill me, but often, the fear and distress surrounding the pain of being punched are the worst part of it. I've never had my face smashed in a brawl, but I've been in sparring situations where I've been getting beaten and there, even though it was in a safe environment, the knowledge that I was getting beaten was horrible.

Gets really hot, then hurts like a *****. That's right on the cheekbone, though, dunno about other spots. Oh, getting socked in the nose makes you feel all stuffy.

Linking on from my psychological....erm....thing-ee, would you say that the situations in which girls are punched in the face greatly differs from the situations in which guys are punched in the face, and whether there were differences in the level of distress you'd expect people to experience?

Speaking from a strictly social perspective I'd imagine most women (depending on the situation) would probably experience more surprise then men when being hit in the face as it's probably more likely to happen between two men in our society. Other than that... probably hurts just the same either way. Though I have heard that, biologically, women are more prone to pain than men are. Not sure how true that is.

I'd say more likely that the exact opposite is true, although it varies from person to person. Women on average need to have a higher pain threshold than men to deal with shit like childbirth, whereas even the biggest brick shit-house of a man can be put out of action with a swift knee to the balls.

I'm no expert on childbirth, but I am pretty sure the body pumps out tons of chemicals and shit to deal with the pain during the process. Even so I think the pain difference between genders goes into the "who the fuck knows" category.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

When I took a Karate class at my college, I was paired up with someone who was not training as much as the instructor had asked us to. He had strength, but lacked focus and control. We were only meant to practice blocking against fast and not powerful punches, but his lack of discipline cause his fist flail to the right and he punched me in the face on my right side.

I wasn't expecting it and I was a little dazed. It wasn't strong enough to knock me down, but I had a good amount of force behind it. I was alright, no bruising or notable signs of being hit, and he promptly apologized. I was just thankful that I wasn't hit in the jaw, because I had work done in my teeth and I was really concerned about being hit there.

 

[Archroy]

I got smacked in the face with a four pound lump hammer at work once. It hit me on the cheek and it didn't hurt for about half an hour or so. Then it started throbbing away.

 

[xmbts]

I've been punched in the face too many times to remember... and usually it fuckin hurts... but the unique sensation depends on where you get hit... jaw is probably the least painful place, though it's damn easy to get knocked on your ass... unless it's hard enough to break it... than it just fuckin hurts... for a long time too... and don't expect it to be functioning anytime soon... nose is the worst since it's so easy to break... and it's really sensative... and feels really weird afterwards and we can't forget the eye watering... being punched in the ear actually hurts alot... I was surprised the first time... it's extra disorienting too... forehead hurts too and bleeds a lot... really easy to cut... it always looks worse than it is... but it's not too bad... especially compared to the crown of the head... the worst punches I've ever taken have been there... it's brutal... and has more potential for fatality than anywhere else... cheek stings more than anything else... and its where the worst bruising occurs... though surprisingly I've never been punched in the eye before...<.<


but in general... expect the blunt trama to be more disorienting than the actual pain... unless it's somewhere like the nose or the top of your head... also the burning sensation is universal no matter where you get hit... and being knocked out isn't that bad... most of the time you never feel a thing... at least until you get up... and you never see it coming...<.<

Mild stinging in the skin, especially the nose if it got hit (Good luck if you have an itchy nose) and if it's further up I get a funny taste in my mouth as well as mild dizziness.

Here's a tip, if someone's about to punch you in the face you should probably try to avoid it.

...<.<
When have you been in a fight before? I didn't know you'veben punched in the face before...

Also... I find this relevant...

I haven't been in a fight before, that doesn't mean I'm not subject to guys who think they're manly and bad parenting.

 

[LetalisK]

So, oh great and wise internet, I put the question to you. What exactly does it feel like when you take a knuckle to the facial regions?

Well, I've been punched in the nose and that fucking hurts, but I'm not sure the nose plays by the same rules as the rest of the face.