When physician Joel Salinas sees patients, he can honestly say, “I feel your pain.”

The 33-year-old neurologist and clinical researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has mirror-touch synesthesia, a rare trait of heightened empathy that allows him to physically feel other people’s pain and pleasure.

If he observes someone getting poked with a needle, for example, he feels the same sensation they do. If he is working with a patient with a tic disorder, it’s difficult for him not to mimic the behavior.

“Feelings of pain vary. It may not be an identical pain, but it’s pretty close,” he said.

Salinas has even felt death. The first time he witnessed a patient die, he had to will himself to breathe and needed to excuse himself afterward to vomit in the bathroom. His mirror-touch sensations become less intense with multiple occurrences of an event, but with death, Salinas said he still gets “that eerie feeling of no movement in the body.”

He writes about his experiences and insights into the human brain in his new book, “Mirror Touch: Notes From a Doctor Who Can Feel Your Pain,” released April 18 by HarperOne. Salinas will make two appearances at the Hawaii Book & Music Festival next weekend.

While most everyone is hardwired to feel empathy, it’s a more vivid and intense sensation for Salinas. He compares it to spectators cringing when watching a hard tackle on the football field.

“I just feel that way all the time,” he said.

In order to function, Salinas exists in a constant state of mindfulness. He said he can be caught off guard if someone suddenly trips and falls. When that happens, he’ll look away at an inanimate object to break the connection. His unusual ability also helps him to be a better doctor and person, he said.

“It’s really about how much attention I put on it,” Salinas said. “If I’m in a medical emergency, echoing the experience of the patient is helpful. If somebody has a headache or is gasping for air, I’ll feel it.

“It’s stuff a blood test or MRI can’t tell you. Having a heightened sense of empathy allows me to be curious about finding ways to really help a situation.”

Growing up in Miami as the son of Nicaraguan refugees, Salinas’ mirror-touch synesthesia was evident at a young age. He recalls his physical reaction to watching cartoons on TV: “When Road Runner or Wile E. Coyote were hit by a truck, I’d feel it. When they were being stretched and tugged, I’d feel it in my own body — pulled and tugged in all sorts of ways.

“Movies can be intense. It’s like I’m in the movie. I thought that everybody experienced this.”

It wasn’t until he was a medical student that he realized mirror-touch synesthesia was not widely shared. (In fact, it affects about 1.6 percent of the population.)

Salinas earned a medical degree from the University of Miami in 2011, followed by neurology residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He later completed a research and clinical fellowship in behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry at Massachusetts General.

Early in his career he was leery to talk about his experiences.

“At first I figured people would think that I was crazy, or that it might discredit me in my profession and prevent me from becoming a physician. After doing lots of research, I was more comfortable talking about it,” he said. “It felt like a second coming out for me.”

His first, in 2007, was sharing that he is gay.

Being so tuned in to another person’s feelings can make romantic relationships challenging, said Salinas, who went through a divorce a year ago and is currently unattached.

But he said he’s developed techniques to deal with that, including regular meditation and self-care, such as maintaining healthful sleep and nutrition habits.

“I really learned how important it is to bring myself back into my own body so I can protect myself, to focus on my own feelings and my own body,” he said. “I draw myself into that mindful experience.”

Fortunately for Salinas, when people hug him or share happy moments, he feels that, too.

“When I feel joyful moments, I’m so full and so alive,” he said. “I’ve learned to embrace the experiences and to move more freely in and out of experiences.”

Mirror-touch synesthesia has also taught Salinas to consider the human experience on a larger scale.

“I’ve gained a greater awareness of one shared humanity and a deeper understanding of people and a truer sense of where we all begin and where we all end,” he said.

“Be Well” spotlights health and fitness topics and activities. Reach Nancy Arcayna at narcayna@staradvertiser.com or call 529-4808.