Pain: friend or foe?

If anyone was hoping for a well-researched treatise by me on this subject, get real. But I've come in contact with pain just enough to feel I have some salient thoughts about it.

First off - ideally, I believe in No-Pain, No-Pain, but that's rarely possible. My orthopedist, while not really a member of the No-Pain, No-Gain camp, said I could try to tolerate a little pain, the amount of which he described with his thumb and forefinger, about an inch worth.

Anyone with arthritis knows the discomfort is almost never just an inch worth, so one wants to find a way to alleviate it; in my case, short of surgery. Currently, I have a regimen of exercises - not quite high-impact aerobics - that is hoped will eventually provide some relief, plus a maximum dosage of Tylenol every day. Incidentally, surgery - that's replacement - on each joint that hurts would leave me pretty much a person with new knees, shoulders, and hips, almost a bionic woman. But my orthopedist doesn't consider me a good candidate for surgery because I take prednisone for a lung condition and asthma.

Uff da, this is really boring. Basically I want to point out that pain has a purpose, so total suppression of it can be a bad idea, masking some condition that requires attention. On the other hand, enduring excruciating pain - without having it checked out in case it signals a situation that could do permanent damage if not treated - is contraindicated, I believe.

Let me know if any of you think I should submit this "article" to the J.A.M.A. for publication.