It’s been 14 years sinceHousewent off the air, and yetHugh Laurie’s acerbic diagnosticianis still making it impossible for me to enjoy a popular pop culture trope. Specifically, a superpower thatsoundsamazing on paper, but which the medical drama made it clear would be incredibly difficult - and likely fatal - to actually have.
In season 3, episode 14’sInsensitive, House treats Hannah Morgenthal - a teenager who is trying to hide her CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis.) Typical of House, he’s not just treating the patient, but also hoping to study her condition to try and lessen the pain caused by his injured leg.
House and his team are challenged by Hannah’s case, since her lack of pain means she can’t identify the symptoms of what’s eventually revealed to be a large tapeworm - an issue that would have left anyone else in agony. In one scene,Hannah lays out why she is far from happy to live without pain, since her entire life is limited by the precautions necessary to keep herself safe and healthy, stating:
Every morning, I have to check my eyes to make sure I didn’t scratch a cornea in my sleep. I can’t cry. I can’t run anywhere without examining all my toes for swelling. Boys can’t hold me for too long because I can overheat. I need an alarm on my watch to remind me to go to the bathroom. Know how many humiliating experiences before I thought of that? After everything I do, I self-check. Mouth, tongue, gums for cuts, count teeth, check temperature, fingers, toes and joints for swelling, skin for bruises.
Immunity to Pain Is a Terrible Superpower
House Explained How Dangerous Real-Life CIPA Actually Is
Freedom from pain is one of those concepts that sounds great if you don’t think about it too much, and it appears in a lot of superhero fiction. Crime-fighters like Kick-Ass, Spider-Man Noir andWolverine’s kinda-sorta daughter Gabby Kinneyuse immunity to pain to keep fighting where anyone else would fall, while villains like Superman’s Metallo, Deadpool’s Ajax, Daredevil’s Nuke, Batman’s Wound Man and X-Men’s Thug act like they’re invulnerable.
Most recently,Jack Quad starred in 2025’sNovocaine, where the whole movie is premised on an everyday hero who takes on a criminal syndicate with the only advantage that he can’t feel it when he’s stabbed, shot and burned in the attempt.However, this ‘power’ isn’t anything like it’s portrayed.
AsHousetold fans back in 2007, CIPA is an incredibly serious condition. Because of how pain corrects harmful actions,CIPA tends to cause more common and more severe injuries, which even heal slower, and also results in overheating, chronic infections and dental issues. CIPA often reduces life expectancy, with many sufferers not living through childhood. People with CIPA have to actively monitor any possible source of injury, just as Hannah describes in ‘Insensitive.’
Pain-Immunity Has Drawbacks, Even When Supported by Other Powers
In that context, it’s hard for me to buy pain immunity as a superpower, as the list of downsides is far more significant than the advantage of being slightly more ferocious in a fight. Some characters like Gabbie Kinney twin pain immunity with a healing factor, which addresses some but not all of the risks. Other characters like Marvel’s Elektra and DC’s Midnighter can turn their pain sensitivity on and off at will, which lends them all the benefits without most of the drawbacks. However, even in those cases,pain is useful feedback about what’s happening to your body- for example, it’s usually a good idea to know when you’ve been shot, which Peter Parker misses inSpider-Man Noir #3.
In a genre full of impossible powers, it may seem weird to draw the line at pain immunity, but once you start thinking about all the ways pain is ‘useful,’ it’s hard to suspend your disbelief. From the risk of rubbing your eyes too hard to overextending your joints,CIPA necessitates constant vigilance about your body - it’s the exact opposite of an invitation to leap into every fight head first. Almost 20 years ago,Housemade it clear that living without pain isn’t the blessing it may seem, killing my ability to buy into superhero stories where ‘feeling no pain’ is presented with all of the benefits and none of the consequences.
