Hook suspension... no pain.
For years, the (practicing and well r/l-network embedded) sadomasochist in me was impressed watching female friends hanging from hooks...
...until that sad day when I did my own first hook suspension.
The executing play partner was right: After he and his assistant (my girl friend) had pulled the hooks through my skin, it would just burn very shortly - and then the pain was gone!
Indeed, people (writers) from the past, who lived in a society with pain being more common (no painkillers and such!) have written correctly about crucifixion: Once the nails are in and stressed (weight), that pain will vanish. The only chance creating some is to hurt bone structures (fasciae etc.), so a reaction will follow (e.g. due to sprain) that hurts. Constantly pulling or pushing a nail in flesh will most certainly feel numb - like the hooks in shoulders, breasts etc. while hanging from them. The author described ropes as more painful in the long run (due to ongoing necrosis in cut-off hands).
It is quite comparable with impalements or skewering: When I had needles, skewers etc through my breasts (e.g. deep behind nipples)/buttocks, then they looked rather exciting, but did not hurt (max. you feel after inserting many is tickling).
Last but not least, when experiencing crucifixion with very painful sediles, then I sometimes exceeded my pain thresshold: That means, you do not feel many tortures - e.g. biting clips etc. become too little in pain, so you calmly notice them.
Maybe, today's folks know little about pain and their bodies' reactions to it (except masochists).
Semingly the agony of crucifixion comes from a painfully stretched body, overall burning (after whipping) and generally the infection (be it after nailing and/or whipping); a state of great misery and pain - not so much focussed on nails. Those seem to be more visually impressive aspects of a crucifixion - which is why I would not miss them.