What is the most physically painful thing you have ever experienced? Is it a nail through your finger? Or an infected wound? Could it even have happened when you were trying to help someone? Well then, what made you scream the most?

Share your stories down below! Please be careful while reading if you're squeamish.

#1

my miscarriage, i am 23 and in march I found out my baby had a bunch of deformities and she never grew properly. I was 23 weeks pregnant at the time. I was in hospital for 11 days. 11 days of drinking pills to start labour so I could deliver her. i was in active labour for about 6 of those 11 days, my body just didn't want to accept the labour as it was to early. so the doctors had to physically open my cervix with a balloon just so I could start dilating and not just be in pain. finally she was born and lived for a full 20minutes. I got to hold her and tell her I am so sorry and that I love her with all my heart.
the physical pain was so so bad, as well as emotional pain.

Report

#2

When I was younger, my feet were covered in verrucas, and my parents took me to a podiatrist to have treatment over several months. Treatment failed which left only surgical removal, but with a total count of 37 across both feet, they were unable to offer anaesthesia whilst digging each one out - lost the majority of one of my little toes due to one verruca! My dad had a scar on his ring finger for decades from pressure on his wedding ring cutting into his hand while he listened to my screams. Apparently he burst into the room when the screaming stopped, to find out I'd blacked out from the pain.

As an adult, I ended up with ingrowing toenails, that again after repeated treatment, was decided surgical removal was the best option. 3 days post surgery the came to remove the bandages, but the protective gel layer on one of them had apparently moved, and my toe had started to heal around the gauze. Several hours of soaking still wasn't enough to soften the skin to ease removal, so in the end they just ripped the sucker off. Several specialists came racing in to find out what the screaming was about heh.

And finally, post excess bone growth on my left scapula and shoulder joint had left the muscles in my back damaged (long long story why), but the specialist felt that this could be fixed with trigger point injections, done in one sitting. Trouble was there were 32 trigger points. Even the nurse was crying with me by the end. The injections didn't work either!

Report

Add photo comments
POST
james_fox1984 avatar
Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMG, they all sound like awful experiences. Hopefully things are much better for you now.

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#3

Neck, Abdomen and shoulder pain caused by internal bleeding after one of my fallopian tubes ruptured from an ectopic pregnancy. Was more painful than childbirth but I think the emotional pain made the physical pain seem so much worse. Does that make sense.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
243102 avatar
Little Dino
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yes, it does make sense, and I'm very sorry you had to live through that

View more commentsArrow down menu
#4

I thought 3 herniated discs in my back were the worst pain ever but watching my mother suffer with cancer do badly she wouldn't just st moan, she'd literally scream with pain was beyond painful, even physically. She , and I , survived!

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#5

Kidney stones. Twice. Never wish that pain upon anyone.

Report

#6

It's hard for me to believe that it was only 4 years ago. I was hospitalized with a severe kidney infection, lung infection, and abdominal infection. On top of all that, I developed sepsis. I was in so much pain that they put me on morphine. I barely remember those first 3 days, but I learned that I almost died. I was there a total of nine days. After they took me off the morphine, they only gave me regular tylenol. It was a very miserable and painful experience. Thankfully, I fully recovered.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
diz_1 avatar
Laugh Fan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is very sick. I was on morphine due to being ill with an infection that developed after an operation and felt dreadful - so I can understand a little of how bad you must have felt. Really glad you recovered BusLady!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#7

Chronic Appendicitis. Super rare but excruciating pain each time, and I suffered for about 4 or 5 years thinking it was my newly-diagnosed celiac disease, which developed at the same time. It felt like I was trying to digest a knife, and I would have to make myself vomit for even the slightest relief. It took three separate hospital ERs across two states for someone to finally give me a CT - and that was on a HUNCH (mild elevation of something in my bloodwork) and they found out not only was my appendix double the size it was supposed to be, it was IN THE WRONG PLACE. The reason no one suspected appendicitis in all this time until the amazing resident trusted her instincts is because my pain was always in the center of my abdomen. For those who don't know, appendicitis pain typical presents on the lower right of the abdomen where the appendix is SUPPOSED to be located. Mine somehow shifted to the center so that's why no one was picking up on it -including me. The surgical resident who came in to talk to me about getting surgery the next day (had to wait for antibiotics to bring the swelling down - side note: IV potassium BURNS LIKE HELL) told me that there was evidence of at least FIFTEEN different inflammation incidents - and I realized they all lined up over the years. Anyway, the sucker's been out for over a year (I didn't keep it, but we named it Chad posthumously because no one in my family knows a decent Chad) and I haven't had that horrible pain since. The irony? I work for one of the top health systems in the US and at the time I was a scheduler for the surgery division (I work on the insurance end now). Chronic appendicitis was on our diagnosis protocol and I'd only ever encountered ONE patient who had it out of the thousands of calls I took during my time in that position - and out of the seven people on my team I was the only one to get a patient like that, it really shows you how rare this is. During one of my less devastating bouts of pain I jokingly thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny if this was chronic appendicitis the entire time?". Well...

Report

Add photo comments
POST
bhuvy25 avatar
Bhuvy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes appendicitis pain usually present on the right lumbar side but it has been seen that it usually start from umbilicus and then radiate toward lower side but as your appendix was not in 12 o'clock position (60-70%of the time) it was probably in 2 o'clock position (1%) so pain didn't radiate and stayed there and thank god it was not acute appendicitis which req a emergency surgery so there is minimal chance of rupture of appendix and peritonitis which in this case it would have taken time to figure that out

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#8

I was about seven years old, and I had just started learning karate. My sister was convinced that she could beat me in a fight (she's three years older than me), so we ended up sparring on our front yard. We walked around each other for awhile, like maybe five minutes, and then she tried to tackle me. It worked. Unfortunately, our tractor's metal wagon was right behind me, and neither of us had noticed it. As I fell, the corner of the wagon hit me about a quarter of an inch above my right eye. I ended up with a large hole right below my eyebrow, and it was bleeding a TON. It was the worst pain I have ever felt, added on to the fact that my sister beat me. :)

Report

Add photo comments
POST
susann_campbell_7 avatar
Susann Campbell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No she didn't . She won by default if she wants to brag. If you had hit a mat you could have jumped up and kicked her in the knee excetra . You hit a foreign object that stopped you cold, she should have helped and called it Sorry.

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

Getting stung few times when I was a kid. One was yellowjacket on my lips. 2nd and 3rd were red paper wasps on hand. I live in Southeast US, and paper wasps took the cake for most painful I’ve ever experienced.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
dizasterdeb avatar
Rosie Hamilton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Time to drag out my one, tiny, useless wasp fact ! Wasp sting venom varies based on the wasps diet. If a wasp eats more fruit the sting will not be as severe as it is when they eat more insects. Our neighbours had a wasp nest on our shared hedge (unbeknown to me), and I was trimming the hedge. First saw one wasp pop up, have a look and then fly away. Came back with two mates to have a look. Then they decided to get angry about my jarring their home with my hedge trimming and so I scarpered.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#10

Where to begin? Chronologically:years ago I was coming out of a supply closet w/ a self closing fire door (VERY heavy). Somehow had my fingers in the hinge side jamb as the door slammed on them. Paralyzed w/ pain, I froze as the door actually bounced off my fingers & then hit them again. Later in life, blew a disc in my back chopping roots. Back muscles seized, locking me on my hands & knees for what seemed forever while sweat poured off me. Now that I'm older, I've made the acquaintance of kidney stones. If you've had one I need say no more. Lucky me, evidently I'm the record holder for my urologist-having passed one a half inch long. Thank goodness it was shaped like a missle & not a bowling ball. FYI, some women I know who experienced stones & childbirth say kidney stones were worse.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
crocksnsocks avatar
Tina Harbour
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've had both. Both painful in different ways. Worst for me was an infected gall bladder topped with shingles at the same time, and quadruple hernia surgery being cut past each hip side to side...was literally cut in half to repair my abdomen then sewn back together!

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#11

Meningitis, took me about 6 years to fully recover. Perforated diverticulum, 11 out of 10 pain, even under morphine. But the worst I think is an infected/dying tooth. Compared to the other two it might seem the lesser of three evils, but the pain is unbelievable. An infection causes the pulp in the tooth to 'expand' with nowhere to go; therefore, pressure increases down/up into the jaw.

Report

#12

It' a toss-up between acute pancreatitis that almost put me in a coma and a internal strep infection that invaded my entire abdomen. The pancreatitis put me in ICU for about a week. I found out later that the pancreas starts to digest itself. The strep infection resisted full treatment, and I was down from March until August. Good news is the doctors discovered severe endometriosis and I had a full hysterectomy. Once I healed from that, life was a lot better. 4 years later, I still have about 7 -inch scar from the incision and a bit of a hernia. But one of the worst things? People thinking I was faking it all (including my family) to get prescription pain killers. My brother was an addict, so he and my parents thought I was. I remember telling them, "You're going to feel so stupid when you realize how wrong you are." Still can't forgive them.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
ltweezie avatar
Louise Stange-Wahl
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I just hate the fact that because of some peeps abusing prescription pain killers, folks who need them and use them properly have to suffer...SO NOT FAIR!

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#13

Fractured skull, 2 broken ribs, 3 fractured vertebrae, broken shoulder, shattered wrist, fractured pelvis, broken hip and a ruptured spleen from a single motorcycle accident. Luckily I was only conscious for a couple of minutes after the accident before my brain started to swell and I spent the next 11 days in a coma. The recovery was also extremely painful at times, especially the Physiotherapy. It was a year before I was able to walk again and more than 2 years before I was able to get back on a motorcycle. This was 10 years ago and my injuries still cause me pain sometimes. I still ride though.

Report

#14

Ive had four babies without drugs, and multiple broken bones and stitches. with that said, when I had a Hysterectomy which included my cervix, and they had to sew a line across the top of my vagina (aka Vaginal cuff). The very first time we had sex post surgery we accidentally tore through the entire vaginal cuff (approx ten stitches). I passed out twice before we got to the hospital.

Report

#15

Period cramps. I almost passed out on the bathroom floor.

Report

#16

Rebreaking an already broken little toe

Report

Add photo comments
POST
james_fox1984 avatar
Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ouch, it’s bad enough stubbing the same toe numerous times in one day let alone rebreaking a broken toe.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#17

I was around 20 years old and playing as goalkeeper for a good standard (professional) football club. One night I was out on the town and not in a great mood. Taxis were at a premium and I managed to flag one after trying for half an hour. Just walking to get in it and these two little punks sprinted over and jumped in right in front of me. I was livid and made the highly intelligent decision to punch the taxi. Didn't connect quite right and it turned out that I had broken my hand. Next day at football training I couldn't fess up because we weren't supposed to be drinking let alone getting blathered. So I trained as a goalkeeper until it healed. Saving hard shots with a broken hand hurts. Significantly.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
elizabethlovescatsalot avatar
Cat Nip Gal
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I do something stupid and hurt myself, I pretend to trip and say I hurt myself then...

View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

When I was around 11, I was playing soccer in gym class and stepped the wrong way. We went to the doctor and it turns out I had torn my ACL and my meniscus in my left knee. I needed to have surgery and when I woke up, It was the worst pain I have ever felt.

Report

#19

When I sliced a piece of my skin off on a mandoline. Soooooo much blood was everywhere. I eventually passed out and hit my head on a cupboard door.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
daunetullina avatar
Daune Jaimes Diaz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am so very sorry for laughing when I read this. It sounds like something I would do

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

Childbirth w/o anesthesia, also a bone-marrow extraction from my breast bone w/o anesthesia - I was ten.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
genevacheryl avatar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Apparently most of the commentators are unfamiliar with sentence structure... the age is associated with the second statement... hahaha.. or are you all still in second grade?

View more commentsArrow down menu
#21

I was stung on the lower leg by a jellyfish in the Carolinas, literally 3 minutes after my dad got stung by one on the foot. We suspect that it was the same jellyfish.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
jacobbeccagizmothesquirrel avatar
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was about ten I was playing in the waves at gulf shores, alabama. Just playing on a float. A tiny jelly fish grabbed my shoulder and got dragged all the way down my arm riding in the waves with me. Like 3 looong stings. I was horrified. My mom broke up a cigarette and put the tobacco on the stings. I was fine 20 minutes later.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#22

After a really bad tooth infection, spending the weekend laid up on pain meds in bed, I managed to partially trap a nerve in my hip - (I have never given birth) but outside of one surgery I had without anesthesia, this excruciating pain was the worst I ever experienced in my 40+ life and felt like a thin needle stabbing into my hip after being held over a fire becoming red hot! I am now slowly recovering after many chiropractic visits, but I genuinely felt entitled to feel sorry for myself!

Report

Add photo comments
POST
jacobbeccagizmothesquirrel avatar
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My husband had a hip replacement and needs other side done and a lot of back problems, but he said tooth pain was worse than all of it put together. He tried to get me to pull a back tooth one night he was in so much pain, ended up calling a dentist to come in late at night to pull it. Charged almost $300. My husband said it was the best money he ever spent.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#23

torn all of my lower back muscles casuing issues in my whole back, neck and legs
had to have my spinal fluid drained 11 times in 2 days
misscaridge
migrain suffer

Report

#24

I was diagnosed with Arnold Neuralgia: excrutiating headaches that lasted for weeks without stopping, just lesser pain and then again it was back on "full power" pain. It lasted during 5 years, thankfully it gradually went with medicine and psychological support. when it was at it's highest, the pain was so unbearable I thought I was going to loose my mind and I had to fight not to loose hope it may change for the better. each day was extremely long with the pain. Today I get daily headaches but they are manageable and I hope this kind of pain never comes back. I don't know if it has any sort of relation to the fact I was born with hydrocephalus and had 11 brain surgeries.

Report

#25

Pushing 9 lb 5 and 1/2 oz baby boy thru my hoo hoo with no epidural and no meds.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
jacobbeccagizmothesquirrel avatar
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh my gosh. 3 out of 4 of my kids weighed over 9 pounds. The fourth was almost nine pounds. I asked for epidural the second I entered the hospital. No regrets.

#26

I've been through a lot to include 3 back surgeries most recent was last November and a fusion... a foot surgery, 3 C sections and my Achilles tendons replaced when I was small because I was born without them and my dad tells me I was in constant agonizing pain because when you're 2 or 3 and it's the early 80's no pain meds for kiddos.... but the one I can remember was about 4 years ago now. I built a large trampoline in the backyard for my nephew's birthday... we were all jumping on it and one of my kids "stole" my jump. This is where when you land they bounce you. I landed and in a blink of an eye I heard a pop and like the show House my brains eye saw my leg bones come together, smash, separate then go sideways. I knew in an instant I had DETACHED my ACL. Not just a tear, but completely detached it. I laid there screaming which of course scared the shit out of the kids and I was by myself. I was scared to look at my leg because I thought it was the wrong angle to be truthful. Luckily it was straight. My oldest who was 14 at the time went to call 911 when one of my friends happened to show up. She took me to the hospital and the idiots there said I "sprained" my knee which was about 5x the size of my other one. No meds, no crutches nothing. A week later I had an MRI and guess what? Completely detached my ACL. It was bundled up like a rubber band behind my knee cap. I went in for surgery about 4 months later and the recovery was ridiculous. By day 3 I wanted to cut my leg off with a spoon. By far the worst pain.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#27

Slipped in the bathroom and broke my fibula just above the ankle and snapped the ligament in my foot. I heard the bone break and the ligament snap... still have PTSD from that. Needed surgery to reattach the ligament and put in some metal to keep the bones together. 8 days later, on crutches, I slip and did exactly the same thing to the other leg (minus the snapped ligament). Never have I been in such excruciating pain with no way to ease it.

Report

#28

Here is a story that my mom told me was the most painful thing that happened to my older cousin. About 10 years ago, he, my aunt, their dog and my grandfather were out camping. When they were hiking one day, my grandfather stepped on a nest of hornets. A swarm of them attacked everyone, not even the dog was spared from the wrath of the hornets. According to my mom, they had to use a LOT of Benadryl. To this day, I'm sure that my cousin has Spheksophobia now, I'd be surprised if he didn't.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
lmellie21 avatar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In case anyone is wondering, Spheksophobia is the fear of hornets or any other type of wasp.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#29

Frozen shoulder. The pain would cause me to drop to my knees and bring tears to my eyes. It made it difficult to get dressed, comb my hair, sleep. I had to prop pillows under my left side to keep from rolling on to my left side, or else I'd be jolted out of bed howling in pain. That lasted for several months.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
natalieroutley avatar
PandaPanda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel your pain, literally. I have Congenital glenoid dysplasia, which means my right shoulder didn't form a ball and socket properly. It is essentially permanently dislocated. I cannot dress myself, brush my hair, wash unaided, and I have lost a lot of movement in my left arm due to over compensating. The pain is constant and unreal. I am so glad you are now better as I would not wish this pain on anyone.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

I do NOT feel sorry for myself about this. For some reason I was lucky enough that no-one else was hurt or killed. I don't know how I was allowed another chance..
I was in a three-impact car accident with no seatbelt (yes beyond stupidly suicidal decision).
1st hit- guard rail. Airbag deployed and saved my face.
2nd hit- stack of cement jersey barriers. As the airbag deflated, I was bounced in the cab and managed to snap the mirror part of the rearview off with my eyebrow (cracked the bone)
#3?- Big highway lightpole- the giant cement housing at the base. Launched over the steeringwheel. My foot was completely dislodged from the rest of my leg- only my Achilles tendon and the skin kept it attached. ALSO drove the POST of the now broken rearview into my forehead and basically scalped myself. 47 staples and 5 years of reconstructive surgery.
Surprisingly, the foot/ ankle "dislocation" was the worst, with 3 years in a cast and 6 years of therapy.
VERY EXPENSIVE lesson learned.. wear your damned seatbelts! Just takes a nano-second.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
ltweezie avatar
Louise Stange-Wahl
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Your story would be a perfect PSA. Seat belts save lives every day. I remember that my Dad, who was Coroner, went to an aircraft supply and purchased seat belts and had them installed in our old car (this was in the early 50s). When we traded in a vehicle, he would remove the seat belts and install them in the new one. He had to do this until about 1967 when the auto manufacturers started installing belts at the factory.

#31

When I was in fourth grade, I was riding my bike and got my heel stuck in the spokes... My foot just went round and round in the wheel as the metal bits just kept chopping off chunks of my heel... Needless to say, I was in too much pain to pull the brakes. So I just sat there, hollering my head off in the midst of a rather lovely blood fountain.

Report

#32

I remember at daycare in 1st grade, I really needed to pee and rushed to the bathroom, and I was wearing flip flops. The door opened just as I was about to grab the door handle and the bottom crack of the door kind of caught on to 5 of my toenails and ripped them clean off. Adding to that, I also peed myself, banged my head on the door, and fell on the ground. I had to have 14 stitches on my head and I could barely walk for a month. Not to mention the trauma it gave me. Definitely wear shoes to the bathroom.

Report

#33

Almost dying after childbirth.
Still not as bad as stepping on a Lego.

Report

#34

Having my period for four months straight on and off.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
hafsasuleman avatar
Hafsa Suleman
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OH MY GOD. Girl, i hope your all right!i cant even last my 8 days of blood. you have my condolences

#35

I gave birth in Africa. I was given no pain medication of any kind. I was induced, but the directions were misread and I was given 20 doses of pitocin more than prescribed. I'll let you look up what pitocin does. I was in labor for 3.5 days. I spent most of that time on a gurney because there were no beds and the pain was too great for me to sleep. I had contractions every one to two minutes for the last 48 hours. The damage to my body from the drugs was permanent. I hemhorraged and actually died during this time, as did my baby. I ended up having a life-saving c-section when the doctor randomly showed up at the hospital. They managed to save me and my baby. I THOUGHT that was the most painful experience of my life, until I had a gall bladder attack.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#37

It's a toss up between giving birth and getting my first tattoo..but I think delivering my daughter wins.

Report

#38

In 8th grade, I got a splinter lodged inside my thumb nail while sitting on the bleachers in gym class waiting for school picture day. The nurse couldn't get it out, so I had to wait until I got home and was taken to the emergency center to get it removed. We went to Friendly's afterwards.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
valeriegibson avatar
Valerie G.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had one of those slivers, the doctor tried to take it out in his office, after much digging, he gave up and sent me to the emergency room, don't you just know freezing makes everything more bearable.

View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#39

Two percutaneous (through the skin) renal (kidney) biopsies, two days in a row. When I was 29, a blood test showed my kidney function was low. The only way to get a correct diagnosis was to do a biopsy by extracting a portion of kidney the diameter of the point of a ballpoint pen. My Dr. sent me to a kidney specialist, who said I would feel “a pressure sensation.” I entered the hospital as an inpatient. The procedure involves imaging the kidney on an ultrasound screen while you’re lying on your stomach. I lay on a sandbag, which pushes the kidney upwards towards the back. I couldn’t be put under anesthesia, because if you’re breathing, the kidney would be a moving target. Only a little numbing drug was injected into my skin and underlying muscle. I held my breath while the Dr. stuck a long thin needle through my back into the kidney. If memory serves, the needle was about 6 inches long. This was only the FIRST needle, called a “guide needle,” which shows up on the ultrasound screen to make sure that they put the THICK biopsy needle into a spot where it won’t puncture a major blood vessel. Even the guide needle caused intense pain that radiated from my kidney area all the way down my leg. The biopsy needle caused much worse pain, but that was not all – it malfunctioned. The Dr. stuck it in, but it couldn’t extract the bit of kidney. I had to go through the whole ordeal the next day. The only thing that got me through it was that the second time, I held the ultrasound technician’s hand. She told me I could squeeze her hand as hard as I felt like it. I did get the correct diagnosis, so I never had to do this again. Even if some Dr. told me I should do it again, I would refuse!

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#40

I had my wisdom teeth removed when I was 18 and ended up with dry socket, basically the blood clot comes out and the raw nerve endings are exposed. I suffered with that for over a week because my mother was out of town and I was home alone. I had an umbilical hernia repair surgery. I had a herniated disc that pinched my sciatic nerve, for me it felt like having a charlie horse in my left calf 24/7 for 5 months. The pain from surgery to repair it was nothing in comparison. I had a neuroma in my foot that had to be cut out, I now can't feel two of my toes, also did a bunionette removal and nose surgery to correct a broken nose at the same time. Broke a rib coughing too hard, BTW don't curl up when coughing, straighten your torso. And I currently have a broken pinky toe. Damn, that's a lot more than I thought.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#41

stitches on my lip. NEVER RUN UP THE STAIRS IN FLIP-FLOPS after it rains.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#42

when i was 7 I fell off a Trampoline, and the think i was using to come off of the trampoline was a stool with metal legs, the stool fell when i fell, and a leg of the stool hit me on my spine. i couldnt breath and broke my spine. i couldnt do anything for a week, and for a month i couldnt jump or my back would feel like someone was trying to rip it apart.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#43

A panic attack in third grade. I know its short but it was the most painful thing ever. It was even more painful than the dog bite I got on my face ..

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#44

Kidney stones win, hands down. I've had them nine times, but the first time was the worst, as I had no idea what was happening and I thought I was dying. I was twenty five, and though each time feels like I'm dying, I know that I'm probably not.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#45

I have a hereditary issue where my toenails grow up and in, instead of up and out. They dig into the skin and cause abscesses and extreme pain to the point that I cannot walk. I ended up having to visit the ER about once every third or fourth month to have them numb them (the big toes were the worse) and have them yank it out completely and bandage it up. The same doctor was on duty several times and said that I needed to get it taken care of or I risked getting a bad enough infection that I could lose my feet. So I went in and had what is called a Symes Bilateral Terminal Amputation on both my big toes. They cut the skin away from the toe, remove the top joint, nail and all, and sew the toe up with a "happy face"-type suture so that even though my toes is shorter, it still look like I have a nail. Not that I gave a darn about how they looked. It totally took away the pain and I was able to walk and function normally once it healed up. One big problem though. If they don't get ALL the nail bed and ALL the cells, the nail will try to grow back and go right up through the skin, and it feels like a cactus spine eating through your toe, like an alien creature. My hubby and I were in line at a major US theme park, when the people in back of me came up and were so upset because they noticed my right foot was bleeding so badly through my shoe that I was leaving a bloody footprint. It was throbbing but I didn't have the excruciating pain--just a medium pain. The park had a golf cart come over and pick us up, and they cut the shoe off. A rapier-sharp piece of nail had grown right through the top of my toe and ripped the skin. I had to go back in to surgery and have it opened up and corrected with about 40 stitches. They actually kept me in the hospital for several days. Now you may say "What is the big deal...it's just a toenail!" Well I can tell you that the pain I went through for years and the pain during surgery recovery was so bad that I actually tore a sheet in two. My ankles both swelled up like a phone pole. I was afraid I would never be able to function normally. This was back in 1985 or so. Now they are AOK and healed up very well. I have photos of them somewhere in the house, but most peeps think it's make-up from a movie I was working in and not that it was real. I am very glad I had it done..then when I was working on a TV series in the Netherland Antilles, I made the mistake of going barefoot and caught jungle rot that I suffered with until we moved to New Mexico..but that is another story!

Report

Add photo comments
POST
beatriz-whitford avatar
Beatriz Whitford
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

#46

Nothing as bad as these but I have the following to add:
- migraines
- ice pick headaches (short burst of intense pain around the eye)
- walking into a door and half my toes go the one way, half the other (I sat on the floor for several minutes after trying to breathe). Surprisingly nothing broken
- broken baby finger
- broken toe walking into a couch
- hip into spasm requiring visit to the doctor for strong pain meds

Report

#47

Toss up between:

1. I had a neuroma (essentially a pinched nerve) in one of my feet. The pain would wake me up out of a dead sleep. To make it even worse, the treatment was the doctor injecting cortisone directly into the affected area. MORE pressure on a pinched nerve!! Tears spontaneously squirted out of my eyes! He prescribed 7.5mg Vicodin, which only reduced the pain by about half.

2. Broke my second toe in 6 places. The pain kept getting worse as I drove myself to urgent care, and by the time I got there I couldn't even walk or hop. I called the urgent care from the parking lot and had to ask for a wheelchair to get me in.

My feet betray me :/

Report

#48

In basic training my knee went out. All I could get for the pain was aleve, but I am allergic and they wouldn't give me anything else. So I had to deal with it without any help. For 4 months. It was miserable all of the time, but there were times it spiked and I would lose conciousness because of it. Giving birth to 3 babies with no meds didn't even come close to those days.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
See Also on Bored Panda
#49

Tietze syndrome- chronic neuropathic pain and swelling of the thorax and intercostal muscles. At it's worst I thought my ribs would break, the back spasms were so fierce. It comes in a close second to vulvodynia, chronic diffuse neuropathic pain of the pelvic floor and associated structures. (Basically my entire torso is pain central)

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#50

Oh goodness, where to begin? So first off, I was hit by a car at 7. Broken both arms, both collarbones, my back, all of my toes at least once, some of them I've actually lost count how many times, fractured my ribs in different spots on both sides about two dozen times, severely broke my left wrist and now I have a 3 inch stainless steel plate and eight screws holding that wrist together. Couldn't do surgery on it for a week because of swelling, was the worst pain I'd been in until that time, including having three kids. Had an ovarian cyst the size of an orange rupture at work one day. That was horrific pain. I was actually begging them to put me in a coma so I would stop hurting. I have osteoarthritis in every joint, and I have had it for 33 years now. I have degenerative disc disease in my spine, and two of my discs are completely gone now. I have spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing and hardening of the spinal cord. I have sciatica in both hips, and two pinched nerves, one in my neck and the other in my sacrum. But even after all of this, the absolute worst was when I had a six inch long abscess on my fallopian tube rupture and dump massive amounts of infectious material into my abdominal cavity. I was in the hospital for a week on six different antibiotics, and they told me if I had delayed any longer (about 8 hours) before seeking help I would not have lived. As it was, they had me in surgery within an hour of arriving at the ER.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#51

A severe kidney infection, suffered for two weeks in the worst pain , couldn't move, couldn't even lie down to sleep, every movement caused intense pain, ended up in hospital for a week with IV antibiotics and a urethral stent.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#52

Had shingles in the full loop around basically all of my upper body. Like a dagger under the skin. Just couldn't believe how much it hurt. ACL rupture hurts bad but at least it's just the knee. Appendix. Wow. Kill me.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#53

Stapling my thumb

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#54

i have banged my so many times that my kneecap can pop out so hitting my knee wins

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#55

When I had my tonsils taken out. It hurt so bad that when I woke up I could not speak or get out of bed.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#56

Meniscus in my left knee is torn. It hates getting cold. So one cold rainy east texas winter I was clearing brush on the ranch I worked on. Knee got to cold felt like a knife was shoved through it, it gave out, dropping down the side if the creak/stream I was working next to. I have had it come out from under the covers at night, and the pain wake me up crying. And its been like that since 1988. Commander of my unit in 2nd CAV had us run threw the woods by our airfield. Jammed my knee on the run, all the army did was give Motran when I went on sick call. Took a nurse practitioner in the VA last year to order an MRI and find the problem. The VA x-rayed my knee three times to include right after the MRI to try and see the problem.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#57

A grade three tear of my gastrocnemius muscle, basically I had torn it off my 96%!
I somehow managed to walk around on it for 5 days, (must say the bruising was pretty spectacular) before going to the hospital, who where pretty rubbish, just giving me some crutches. Luckily I’ve got access to private medical care and seen a consultant there who had no idea how I was still walking with such a severe tear. It’s still not right after over a year and I did this playing rounders as a team building exercise at work!

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#58

They betrayal and subsequent breakup with my first love caused great emotional trauma, which in turn cause intense pains in my chest and gut, and shooting pains down my legs. I thought that death was imminent.
I was wrecked for awhile.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
valeriegibson avatar
Valerie G.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You know there is something called "broken heart syndrome". Sounds like you had it in spades.

See Also on Bored Panda
#59

It was in 2nd grade at a daycare. I was wearing flip flops that day and in the middle of an activity, I suddenly needed to pee. I ran to the bathroom and was about to open the door when a girl from inside KICKED the door open and the bottom crack of the door ripped off 4 of my toenails. Not to mention that I also hit my head on the corner of something as I fell down, and peed myself in the process of doing so. I ended up barely able to walk for a month and 14 stitches on my head, and the everlasting trauma of this incident.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#60

Slipping and falling on the ground near our house one winter.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#61

You know that feeling you get when you get up too fast from sitting or laying down too long, where your legs get numb and your vision gets dark and slightly blurry? Well, not too long ago, I was lounging on the couch (I was on BoredPanda, believe it or not) and stood up to get some breakfast because it was somewhat early in the morning. I was able to to take about 2 steps before suddenly, my legs bailed on me and my vision got super fuzzy. I stumbled forward. Luckily I was right in front of the doorway to my kitchen. I was frantically taking deep breaths to get my vision to come back. I was wobbling and stumbling all over my small kitchen, suspecting I'd hit something any moment now. I wobbled into the oven--thankfully it was off--but I caught myself with my hand. Unfortunately, I got so unstable that I apparently launched myself off the oven and was back going in circles in the middle of the kitchen. I clutched my hair as I ran forward, knowing exactly what I was about to hit. I ran straight into the edge of my sink. It surprisingly didn't hit my head, but a much worse place. My throat. It knocked the air out of me and left me so saur I could barely breathe. I trembled to the ground and held my head, gasping for air. My eyes were half closed, trying to gain back vision, and my legs were slowly becoming less and less numb. I almost cried, but I managed to hold my tears back. Unfortunately, my brother was watching the whole thing unwind from my living room. Once it was all over, it was silent for about 7 seconds before he cracked up laughing. I tried laughing along with him, but it hurt too much. Now, this certainly wasn't the most physical pain I've ever felt, but it's in my top 10 or top 15.

Report

#62

I have several scars, almost all of them from separate accidents.
1: on my knee. I ran through a sliding glass door.
2: other knee. I was jumping over a drum and part of it stabbed me.
3: on my hand. From the same accident as the first.
4: two on my elbow from the metal they put in your arm when you break it or something like that.
6: I was carving a heart made of soap when the knife slipped and I cut my finger.
7: My friend scratched my arm. It bled and scabbed over but I picked my scab so it scarred. So my own fault.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#63

I broke my left shoulder playing soccer. The break was so bad that you could see the bone trying to break through the skin. It was like something out of a horror movie

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#64

A stent after kidney stone surgery. It was weeks of pain so bad that I always sat to pee because I was afraid I would pass out every time I had to urinate. Nauseating hot knives stabbing my kidney, making my vision go grey/tunnel-like. To add insult, they wanted me drinking close to a gallon of water per day. For 2 weeks.

By comparison, passing a dozen or so 6 to 11 mm kidney stones were easy.

Other events that I could compare it to: severely dislocating my shoulder, breaking my arm, being on fire, and week long migraines.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#65

(i'm not a native speaker) I don't know how to choose between these.

- A surgery without anesthesia
(contraceptive implant removal after 3 years in my arm, attached to it by tissues-adhesions, with no F****** anesthesia!When they sent me the bill i send them a letter explaining why i won't pay for butchery, they didn't reply)

- Living with a peritonitis, because the docs didn't saw it, and moving across the country, carrying furniture and all. Eventually, when i was dying i returned to the hospital and they mistook the peritonitis for a Crohn disease, giving me the wrong treatment for a week, before seeing that it didn't works and giving me a surgery to discover an intestinal occlusion with peritonitis.

- After an accident with multiples jaw fractures (not so painfull on my scale) i had surgery (mandibulomaxillary fixation) with metal wires all over my gum between every tooth. When it was the time to remove this out, it was a torture session. I discover later that i have a disease that make some anesthesic innefective. Then great, i had another surgery without anesthesia.

When someone is complaining, whining in front of me for a migraine (i got ocular migraine i know what it is) or a cold, a part of me just want to slap them in the face.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
isobeldavies avatar
Isobel Davies
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

not sure the last line is needed, some people feel pain diffrently it isnt their fault they havnt been though the same as you, thoes who suffer with less medical issues might seem like they are been over dramatic, im sure they feel for you having been though all this pain, id not wish any of this or a migrian on anyone, i am a migrain suffer iv been told its a lie when i call in sick !!! it is NOT a lie i cannot see or move while i have a migrain and the fact it makes me throw up i feel is harsh when im told it a lie, some people have a s**t time medically and experaince all these medical issues others dont either way we all have a right to moan about the pain we feel

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#66

As a nurse, I often used a 10-point scale to assess patients' pain. I was always ambivalent about it, as I knew I didn't have any concept of "10/10" pain, and I wasn't sure how many of my patients did. In 2012 I had acute onset sciatica. The paramedics had to take me down the step in a chair, even after the IV fentanyl. I wouldn't have believed there could be such pain. On the plus side, when I have a small-bowel obstruction early the following year, I could confidently tell the doctors and nurses "It's 6/10 with spikes to 8/10".

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#67

Meningitis. To perform lumbar puncture, 10 years old at the time and already in severe pain, i was curled on my side and a giant nurse put her entire weight on to prevent me from moving. Then, the nurse that had to extract fluid, missed and jabbed the needle right into the vertebra. Three times.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#68

I dislocated my hip and walked on it for three days until I was forced to go to a doctor. Day three was...bad.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
See Also on Bored Panda
#69

For decades, I had back pain. Deep, grinding pain in the same exact spot. I finally got a side view xray. I had no disc between those 2 vertebrae, the bones had been rubbing together. For over 20 years.
A 4 hour surgery set me right.

Also gall bladder failure. Went to VA ER. As a female, I had to wait for a room for preop, so I spent more than a week in the ER, on morphine. Which doesn't take away the pain, it just makes it go sit in the far corner for a while. Oof, that sucked.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#70

Stage 4 cervical cancer due to Helms Amendment preventing treatment overseas, then a year of delays getting seen. A "colposcopy", where they scrape cells to test. This old ratched Navy dr didn't provide anesthetic, then spent 30 minutes scraping at my cervix with what basically looks like a grapefruit spoon. After 20 minutes, I was nearly crawling on my back up the table to get away from the pain. He finally said he had to stop "because I wasn't cooperating".
I then had the nastuest discharge for months, but no one gad given me post op instructions. Later learned I should have gone to see a dr if that had continued for more than a week.

I went to the Air Force hospital for my future treatments. Has a surgery that took the cancer, but I could not get pregnant afterward. At least I survived physically.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#71

erosive arthritis in my hands. feels like someone is holding torch aimed at my kmuckles.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#72

Congenital glenoid dysplasia, essentially a permanently dislocated shoulder. Have lost usage gradually until I cannot move my arm more than 1 inch from my body. The pain is constant and gets worse in wet or cold weather. I take zapain and dihydrocodeine daily and it takes the edge of and makes it bearable.
Steroid injections for my shoulder. Agonising and unfortunately only lasted a couple of weeks before I was crying in pain.
Natural childbirth in an ambulance, 8 mins from waters breaking to birth. She always has been impatient!
Fractured elbow, writing with the other hand made it hurt.

Report

Add photo comments
POST
#73

During an especially stressful time in my 30s I had a run-in with shingles; right chest down the back of the right arm.
At the time I was studying Holistic Healing and Alternative Medicine and not having insurance, decided to not consult an MD. (We all make some very ill-advised choices. Many of them within our third decade.)
What began as an unbearably itchy rash soon blossomed into fiery patches of budding blisters that raged at any touch or covering.
A constant pulsing under the persistent itch, in sudden contact with the top sheet, snarled into torture mode. I felt I had become the condemned man of Kafka's In the Penal Colony. I was feeling the 'Harrow' in action: thousands of slivers and shards of glass attached to a machine that inscribed his flesh with his crime and sentencing.
I truly felt it was driving me insane.
A classmate suggested one of the faculty who practised acupuncture. (More needles!?) I was there early morning.
She called the treatment, 'Putting a ring around the Dragon,' encircling the perimeter of the inflammation with strategic needles. She explained this would accelerate the progress of the developing blisters, bringing the infection into maturity. (Oh Joy!)
That night the numerous individual blisters had merged into a few excruciating fluid-filled pockets of skin, but just as rapidly, my apprehension, all thinking, all sensation dipped into a deep, obliterating sleep.
I woke up startled by daylight and the awareness of an enormous shift. The blisters had burst during the night, apparently not quite as full of fluid as expected.
And just as mysteriously disappeared: the pain. Only the typical sensitivity of new skin gradually revealed from under the flap of the blister.
Many years later I remain convinced of the efficacy of acupuncture.
But there's no amount of money I'll accept to endure a replay of that experience.

Report

Add photo comments
POST