Pain, pleasure or both? -

How can it be good to suffer? Well, there is something almost sensual when you first experience the intense heat from a really good hot sauce.

Often the nose collects information on what's about to hit the pallet, relays that information to the brain, and the brain responds by forcing an involuntary 'cough', as a preemptive strike against the idea of ingesting something that the brain already knows is inherently wrong. But you go ahead anyway and put the fiery concoction into your mouth. The tongue is instantly hit by a missile and saliva is released in a vain attempt to dilute the source of the pain. The front of the tongue is hit hardest, you want to roll it out and hack it off to make the pain stop. But wait, things start to get worse. The sweat glands are forced into overdrive as a natural reaction, attempting to expel and purge the system, trying to remove the source of the suffering. Direct skin contact in the mouth and around the lips results in pain and burning which slowly starts to form and spread outwards radially from the point of contact. People across the room sense your distress and ask "what's wrong with you?", "Nothing, I'm good, I'm good", you reply... but oddly enough you actually believe this to be the case. For somewhere deep within, a doorway opens into a new realm and you're stepping through it into a world of sensual stimulation, the likes of which you have never encountered before. As pleasure and pain intersect, you pray for an end to the suffering and vow never to go through the door again. Your face is bleeding, you think, and you look at the perspiration you've wiped away with your hand to see that it is not red. As you wipe, you unwittingly spread the suffering to other parts of your body, and soon the heat is felt from the inside out and you're in total pain and ecstasy simultaneously.
Quite often, hours will need to lapse before you can claim to have recovered fully from the ordeal. Foolishly you forget that your intestinal tract is slowly processing the substance and that you will suffer again, quite soon, as you deliberate in the throne room.
In spite of the suffering, you will most likely repeat the process again, next time seeking an even hotter concoction with which to assault your senses.

The lunacy of the whole process cannot be denied, but only those who have experienced it can truly describe the intersecting of pain and pleasure and the positive way it makes you feel.

It is truly addictive.