I actually am currently wearing some braces, along with these rubber bands. To be perfectly honest, they can hurt for the first few days, but then after that they don't really hurt at all. EVERYTIME I get them tightened they won't hurt either. I don't see how people complain about tightening. But, there is one thing that will hurt the most. Sometime later, they will put this ring thing around your molars. To prepare you to get them on, they put these small rubber bands in between your teeth which will hurt like hell. The pain for those is unbearable.
Had them since December.