oh. that's why.

My first mastitis surgery was bedside.  They injected me with a local anesthetic.  Still it was the worst pain in my life.

When I was in the ER the two surgeons were going back and forth on whether I needed surgery again.  I asked if I would be put under... because the first surgery had hurt so much.  The surgeon proceeded to tell me it hurt so much because local anesthetic doesn't really work on inflamed tissue.  Oh really?  So that's why I felt everything.  Makes sense.