I had two of my wisdom teeth pulled and I experienced no pain at all. I think it's all up to the doctor/oral surgeon, the way they do it and after-care. Most of them will actually suggest things that will
hurt you, instead of helping you heal faster. I was out of my mind when I sat in that chair to have the procedure done and I didn't even know it happened once he had them out. Once my topical anesthesia wore off (they don't put you under for random reasons in Croatia), I thought it would hurt, but there was nothing at all.
I've had one ear infection that I remember, just like 4-5 years back and it was pretty annoying. I can't really say painful, but I guess the doctor called me a weirdo when I finally went in to have it checked out, so who knows. I had some horrible infection and she thought I was about to die from pain. Well... not really. I decided to have it checked out because I thought it was slightly annoying. So I got some horse-pills to take care of it, and I never took a single painkiller, even though she was going to prescribe who knows what.
I hope I react the same to contractions.
I do agree, though, that there's nothing worse than tooth ache. I had bone inflammation one time (there was an issue under a filling, etc, etc etc) and... wow. I was considering going in to a veterinarian, really, if that would have helped.