Why Some People’s Covid-19 Tests Hurt More Than Others

Why some people describe the sensation of a test as uncomfortable while others say it’s painful

A health worker takes a nasal swab sample at a Covid-19 testing site at St. John’s Well Child and Family Center on July 24, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Valerie Macon/Getty Images

Millions of Americans have received Covid-19 tests since March — and countless more will likely experience the long wait at a testing site. While there are several tests for the virus on the market, the most common is a nasopharyngeal swab, which involves extracting a viral sample from the nasopharynx — the space between the upper part of the throat and the very back of the nose — and analyzing those results in a lab.

The test is a fairly accurate means of identifying the active virus, whether it’s in an ICU patient or the guy riding shotgun through the drive-through clinic. The only problem: Nobody likes to have their nasopharynx probed. Depending on who you ask, sticking a long, thin swab several inches deep into this chamber of secretions is surprisingly disagreeable, momentarily painful, or downright excruciating.

But how does it really feel?

The experience of getting a Covid-19 test has been described as having your brain “tickled,” or, alternatively, “stabbed” (though it never actually touches your gray matter). Lindsey Simpson, a clinical coordinator for the University of Vermont Health Network’s regional…