What does it feel like to be punched in the face?

I was sucker-punched once, by a woman many men were afraid of (big and mean as they come, but I'm no pixie) -- it didn't hurt at the time, but I did fall off the log I was sitting on (honestly, I fell off a log, we were around a campfire ).
The next day my eye socket & cheekbone were a little sore (OK, for about 3 days they were sore), & I had a tiny bruise under my eye, but at the time I just got back up on the log and continued flirting and drinking.

Sorry, can't help you with any primary source material re: hitting someone or getting hit in the gut.

It doesn't hurt as much as you would think because at least for me I was totally distracted. In a fight you can be incapacitated and only thing about getting back or getting away. It hurts afterwards. Punches in the stomach usually don't linger but my head sometimes hurt for a week. As I recall my pride hurt worse then my head. Seriously the body can take a lot of pain when the adrenaline is pumping.

I'm with Kentuk on the adrenaline thing. If you're really fired up, you experience most of the pain way later.

For the record, it hurts much worse to take a knuckle on top of the head than a squarely centered fist to the face. Your eyes water up immediately and it has a disorienting effect.

It all depends on who's doing the punching. People who seldom fight don't throw very efficient punches. Being hit in the stomach by one won't hurt that much. On the other hand, if you're hit in the body by a professional middleweight boxer, you'll fold up and collapse on the floor, unable to move, and walk bent over for the rest of the day. A shot to the liver and you could well pass out and need to go to the hospital. Why do you think those boxers spend hours a day in the gym strengthening their abdominal muscles?

Same goes for the head. Normally, it doesn't hurt much, it's more of a shock than anything else. But if you're cold cocked by a real fighter, one punch, you'll end up unconscious and with a concussion.

And if you punch someone in the face and hit them squarely, you're liable to fracture your hand. It's a typical type of fracture that doctors recognize and have a name for, but I forget what it's called. Professional boxers wear gloves not to protect their opponents so much as to protect their own hands.

I have a question too...

I actually found this thread very useful! Thanks!

I have a question myself about punches. I believe about the adrenalin rush and no pain thing when it comes to mano-a-mano matches.

But what if you were just socker-punched in the stomach out of the blue?

Will it hurt immediately? Will you spit out blood (as in the movies)? Do some people pass out (as in the movies...damn, watching too many movies)? Will a nasty bruise appear later?

And what's the explanation of the whole blood spitting and fainting when punched in the stomach?

Thanks guys! I just love AW for all the help and info it gives

I was a competing boxer and a nightclub doorman for many years so I may be able to provide an insight.

I started boxing initially, because I wanted to overcome my fear of being punched in the face. Obviously I have been punched in the face MANY times, more so with a gloved fist, but I have also been punched with bare-knuckles, kicked, elbowed and headbutted.

Does it hurt? Depends where you get punched but usually not. I was quite surprised actually. In the heat of the moment, with your adrenaline pumping you barely even notice.

If it's a hard shot, sometimes you just have a flash of stars before your eyes, of course if you are hit on the jaw, your body has a natural reflex for you to go momentarily unconcious... that hurts when you get up!

The worst knockout is a temple shot or the top of the head... if you go unconcious from one of those shots, your head pounds and you feel sick at the concussion sets it... notice in a boxing match, a fighter dropped from a jaw shot can often get back up and fight and sometimes go on to win, that's because it was the jaw reflex that dropped him and not a concussive, brain rattlin' shot!

If you want instant pain, take a hard shot on the nose. You can't breathe, your eyes water and the pain is sharp and you really want to just run home to momma!

In a fight situation, a body shot is far more painful and inhibits your skill. If you take a hard shot just under the solar plexes, you drop to the floor, your legs go like lead, you can't breathe and you feel like you are going to crap yourself for about three hours afterwards... it's the most draining of shots short of being knocked-out.

A hard punch behind the ribs in the kidneys is also a fight ender. You feel like you've been shot and again, your legs, guts and bottle all go out the window.

A suckerpunch won't hurt until you either wake-up or the swelling comes up.

I've never seen a boxer spit-up blood from being punched in the stomache, or fighters in the street for that matter... it would have to be an incredibly hard shot to either rupture the stomach lining or even worst, force a rib into the lungs... get yourself to hospital if blood comes up for any reason!

Sorry... double post as the server quit on me and I refreshed.

But I will add, that I have also NEVER seen a fighter actually pass out from a body shot... they've hit the deck, sure, and they've rolled around in agony for some time... but never gone under.

I always found punches that landed on my ears the most painful, at least the next day. Another shot that gives an opponent food for thought as it were, is a shot in the mouth when they are not wearing a gumshield... if you take a shot like this, your own teeth tend to rip your lips open. Makes it hard to smile for a while.

I've not exactly been punched by the face, but two winters ago I slipped on some ice, and fell forward. My face hit a concrete border - which is pretty much the same as being punched, I guess. To be honest, I did not feel any pain at the moment. I was just too surprised. Only hours later, when I had been to the ER, I started feeling some pain.


Nickie

I was jumped once. All her brothers held me down while she punched me. It hurt a lot. No blood. She was only 13 and I was 15. She was bigger than me. I had a huge black eye and my stomach hurt for 3-4 days. I didn't want to eat anything and I couldn't wear my glasses much less my contacts.

When my older step-brother called the cops for me the cop came by to take my statement and told me to stop crying cause it couldn't of hurt that bad.

I was shorter than I am now. I was probably 4'5" or 4'6". I probably weighed between 85-95 pounds.

Wanna hear something strange... since I stopped competing, I kinda miss beaing punched in the face and this is not an unusual phenomenon amongst ex-boxers.

Oh a couple of things on throwing a punch, my most common injury, even with gloves on, is thumb... always catching it on elbows. Thing swells-up and hurts a lot... split knuckles can be nasty and I have even seen fellow doormen pull teeth from their knuckles, which were imbeded after smacking someone in the mouth.

My elbow also got injured regularly, but usually from missing a face, rather than hitting it.

i remember being punched in the stomach once. it really knocked the breath out of me. i was doubled over and i couldnt move or speak or breath cos it seemed physically impossible to do so, the pain was that bad. it only lasted a few minutes and i was slowly able to stand up straight again and breath normally again. it was awful!

I was punched in the face by my sister and caught entirely off guard. I was crouched down getting something from her purse (the something was mine and I was trying not to disturb her sleep.) I never heard her get out of bed and my hair had swung over my face, so I didn't see her coming. All of a sudden my cheekbone bloomed in heat and dull, heavy pain. Then my pulse quickened and throbbed stinging needles into the bone with each beat. Then I got up and kicked her @ss.

Good thing she turned into a tremendously fun person. Eventually.

And once a crazy drunk man punched me in the stomach. I thought I was going to die for about ninety seconds because I couldn't breathe. No pain really, just paralysis.

I think it depends on whether you're expecting it or not. It's been a long time since I've been involved in a brawl but I recall a surprise punch on the nose I received once.
I remember the sound and sensation of the crunch as my nose broke more than the pain, and the inky taste of blood at the back of my throat.
Shock and surprise are the two main recollections I have.
Then I suppose the adrenalin kicked in and the pain and shock was largely forgotten during the retaliation.
The adrenalin buzz is highly addictive; I can well imagine why some people actually enjoy street fighting or dangerous sports like skydiving.
After the fight I recall having a devil of a job stopping the nosebleed.

It hurts. It hurts for an hour if it's the nose. It stings when the kid on the playground is too quick and you can't catch him to hit him back. (E. Hemingway school of description).

Sorry I was a little late on the reply. I just wanna say thank you for all the info esp. from littlewriter and JustinThorne. I needed those. Thanks! Didn't realize about your knees going rigid.

Oh, another question:

If your stomach lining is damaged enough to spit out blood, what would be the later implications of it to your health and body?

Thanks!

Yep, nose, ears, and mouth hurt the worst. Cheek, eh.

A gut punch is a different pain. It takes a second to show up and it's somewhat nauseating - for obvious reasons, I suppose.

Good descriptions here. I would add that the first head blow always seems to trigger - in me at least - a difficult-to-describe sensation of your brain... resetting or something. It's a weird little throb that doesn't really hurt, but isn't exactly pleasant, either. It's like your whole being is saying, "Wait, what?"

As for throwing a punch, it can hurt plenty all on its own. There's not much padding between skin and bone in a fist. You probably have a pretty good idea what it feels like. Ever accidently smacked your hand on something? Like that but more.

It's all about where you land it. When you miss and get the side or top of the head - ow.

Re blood coming up... other than hurting the throat or the blood actually coming from the back of the nose, there are only two ways for the blood to come from a stomach punch... up the pipe from your stomach or up the pipe from your lungs! I know that is a crude description.

If you've ruptured your stomach bad enough to spit up blood, then the main danger is internal bleeding, but I'm no doctor. Plenty of acid down there too, which isn't going to be nice for the rest of the body if it's swilling around in there. Infection is another possibility, septic shock?

Ribs puncturing a lung is far more common from a solid body shot.

It's not so much that your knees go rigid, from the waist down it feels like you are wading through treacle and you seem to lose the control of basic things like walking! 'Heavy legs' is a good description.

Oh and by the way, it doesn't matter how impressive your six-pack is or how much you train for body shots, if you are suckerpunched to the gut, you go down... period. Usually when a pro boxer is dropped from a body shot, it is because their opponent has distracted them from tensing their abs, by peppering their head with shots, or landing a good concussive head shot... in that moment, the guy taking the blows relaxes his abs and BAM... how's the view from the floor?

I can't speak as to stomach, but I once took an accidental blow to the nose. (person didn't mean to hit me.) My nose wasn't broken, but it really hurt and there was a LOT of blood that came flooding out of the nose. It just really gushed and then the nose swelled shut. My nose was bruised and swollen and very tender for two or three days.

The other odd thing, or rather, unpleasant thing about a solid punch on the nose, is that you often end up with two black eyes, even though the punch hit the nose... it's the way the swelling manifests itself.

Yea could be, but I could get that from other interests...

Maybe it is combat generally and not the actual pain and impact of a punch to the face... not sure. But I miss it!