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49 Things People Said Really Hurt Them Despite Their High Pain Tolerance
Pain is relative. The thing that can bring one person to their knees might barely register for another. Some of us seem to shrug off injuries, remain unaffected by the flu, and ignore bug bites that would leave most of us scratching for days.
Curious about what gets even the toughest people, Reddit user CosmicBunnyBabe8912 asked those who consider themselves to have a high pain tolerance to share the most painful experiences they’ve ever had. Turns out, even the strongest among us are only human after all!
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#1
Heartbreak from the loss of my soul dog. I felt my brain snap and even heard it, then a punch to the heart and slow pulsating pain that felt like constriction across my chest. I couldn’t breath and fell to the floor. I was supposed to protect him and I couldn’t. I was never the same after that.
Gingersnap In Iowa 15 hours ago
I felt like this when Melvin died last October. I cried every day for 3 months. I never want to feel like that again. And that's why I haven't gotten another dog. I honestly don't know if I ever will.
RELATED:
Physicians have long noticed wide disparities in the pain tolerance of the people they treat. Among patients with the same condition, pain ratings typically range from “no pain” to “the worst pain imaginable.”
And although some disorders are more painful than others, the variation in distress among individuals with the same physical malady is far greater than the difference in the discomfort people feel, on average, from one condition to the next. “Two soldiers may be shot in the same nerve,” says Stephen G. Waxman, a neurologist at Yale University and the Veterans Administration Connecticut Health Care Center. “One has sensory loss but is otherwise okay; the other has intractable burning pain.”
#4
Cluster headaches. Still get them. Tooth pain is literally a walk in the park in comparison.
Divado 6 hours ago
Should be higher on this list. Also known as Migrainous Neuralgia, Alarm Clock Headaches, Sui cide headaches or simply "THE BEAST". Can last anywhere between 15 minutes to 3 excruciating hours. If I was Chronic instead of Episodic I would have thrown the towel in years ago. My heart goes out to all sufferers. Stay strong.
#5
I've fully torn my knee, ripped my boot off of a broken ankle so the hospital wouldn't cut it off, popped a dislocated shoulder back into place only to dislocate it again, gotten full colour 4 hour tattoos on my chest and ribs, but a toothache will fold me every single time.
detective miller's hat 4 hours ago
SAME. I have an absurdly high pain tolerance, but a toothache will kick my ąss every time.
One reason pain is so difficult not only to experience but also to talk about is that scientists still don’t fully understand how the body perceives and regulates it.
That picture has become slightly clearer in recent years, largely thanks to the 2021 Nobel Prize-winning discovery of temperature and pressure receptors in the skin that trigger the neurological signals we recognize as acute pain.
Chronic pain, however, has always been more complicated. The links it shares with conditions such as mental health disorders suggest that its origins are far more complex than previously thought.
#6
Pushing out a 9 lb 11 oz baby with a failed epidural. I actually dissociated from my body at one point & was like, “oh wow, look at that, I’m screaming!”.
Francesca Annoni 7 hours ago
Mee too, my first birth was a 4,25 kg boy with a big head, i had a level 4 laceration with emergency episiotomy and 20 h labour..i tried with epidural but after they inserted the needle 4 times and the anesthetic had no effect.. The recovery with stitches in the following weeks was terrible...even going to the bathroom The second birth three years apart (another boy of 4,1 kg) was very very fast ... 3 hours from the first contraction!
#8
Dental infection. Followed by Endometrial biopsy.
Robin Roper 1 hour ago
Yep, uterine biopsy with no anesthesia was painful. After it was over I told the nurse I almost screamed and she said some women did, in fact, scream. I told her I didn't know that was an option.
Since it’s pretty much impossible to go through life without experiencing pain, you might feel unlucky if even minor injuries or discomfort seem to hit you particularly hard. But science suggests that exercise can help increase your pain tolerance.
Using data from a large Norwegian population study of 10,732 adults, researchers at the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø analyzed participants’ self-reported activity levels and pain tolerance, which was measured by having them submerge their hands in ice water and rate their pain. The respondents were surveyed twice, roughly eight years apart.
The researchers found that people with more active lifestyles tended to have higher pain tolerance. What’s more, the more participants reported exercising over the course of the study, the greater their capacity for enduring pain became. When both survey periods were considered, those who had increased their physical activity during the interim years also reported higher pain tolerance over time.
#10
So I actually thought no this was the foundation of my high pain threshold. When I was 6 I was diagnosed with osteomyelitis after a night of excruciating pain. For weeks my mother had been bringing me to the paediatrician because she knew something was wrong. The doctor accused her of Munchausen by proxy. This woman is the youngest of 14 and I’m the youngest of 6 - all that to say she didn’t have the time of energy for the likes of Munchausen by Proxy.
It all culminated one night when I awoke one night unable to move. Not because I was paralysed or anything but because every slight movement sent white hot pain through my body. It was terrifying, and seeing my mother sit by my bed helpless was also terrifying. Childhood memories can be spotty, but this was seared into my brain so vividly.
She didn’t ring an ambulance and I think it’s because the doctor had her so messed up. In the morning the pain had dimmed enough that she could carry me to the car and to the hospital.
The next few weeks in hospital that same doctor boasted to his students about this rare find.
KatSaidThat 5 hours ago
Sadly mine did have it by proxy. My sister suddenly seems in rude health since October 2024... 🤔
#11
Gall stones. Had me on my kneeeeeesss! I've had surgeries, contractions, menstrual cramps, nerve damage, and so many things that should've put me down. But gall stones?! Had me on the floor in fetal position and I had to have surgery the next day.
I'd say its top of the totem. Then there's tooth aches.
Edit: Omg friends, I empathize with all of you. And I want to shared some supplements that have helped after my gallbladder removal over 2 decades ago.
I dont take them all daily but these are in my rotation monthly. And of course lots of water. Hope this helps
1. Oxbile
2. Digestive Enzymes
3. Calm magnesium powder
4. Colon cleanses (I go every few months).
#12
This is a strange one. Hells itch.
It’s a pretty rare reaction to a sunburn. The parts I remember are the worst experiences of my life from both a physical and mental state. And I understand how ridiculous that sounds. lol. My wife refuses to acknowledge it as a real thing and calls it “Satan’s Scratch.” It’s a bit of an ongoing gag with us. The sunburn itself wasn’t even that bad; I’ve certainly had way worse but when I took a shower my entire body lit up.
It basically felt like what I imagine being covered in fire ants feels like. I spent the worst of it in my basement scream crying. I woke up in a puddle of sweat, naked on the cement of my basement floor. I was delusional and lost chunks of time where I’m assuming my brain just shut down from the constant agony. Meanwhile I’m questioning my sanity because all of that is coming from “just a sun burn.” Looking back on it, it almost feels like a fever dream. Which is a little ironic because I was definitely struggling to regulate my body temp.
#13
Back pain, particularly lumbar area.
#14
I had rlly bad strep throat that was obstructing my airway so they had to lance the pus filled parts of my throat. they used as much numbing stuff as they could but the nurse said that it doesn't disperse well through infected tissue and pus or something. and the taste was horrendous
my cycling vomiting syndrom is a close second tho lmao.
#15
Pancreatitis, don't recommend.
KatSaidThat 5 hours ago
It's sheer luck I haven't already had it but once in a while my pancreas does a warning shot that I don't ignore.
#16
Colposcopy/biopsy with cervical scraping.
KatSaidThat 5 hours ago (edited)
And hot wire snares... and let's not even talk about getting to view it on a large screen too.
#17
raw dogging an endometrial biopsy because the doctor and insurance company said I didn’t need anesthesia.
#18
As I’ve aged my pain tolerance has gotten much lower, but it was high when this event happened. Getting my IUD in about took me out. 🥲.
LookASquirrel 58 minutes ago
This! I passed out the first time. They really don't warn you and should give you a pain killer. So glad I had my husband drive me. I would not have been able to drive. But it's the best birthday control I've ever been on and being mostly period free for almost 20 years has been great! All thanks to a neurologist from Iran they treated me for migraines and he said BC pills put me at risk of stroke with my migraines with aura. Thank you Dr. Ansari. Oh and he did help with my migraines. Low dose magnesium supplements.I was doing all the right things food wise. I still get migraines but not like I used to.
#19
How do you even know if you have high pain tolerance? After a mild headache I'm already waving the white flag.
detective miller's hat 4 hours ago
I got a migraine once. I pray I never experience that again, I was 100% sure I was dyiʼng,
#20
Either needing to get a double root canal with no novacaine because a band of infection around the teeth were preventing it from working,
Or the emergency testicular tortion surgery I had. Well prior to the surgery was when the pain was so bad I was throwing up.
#22
Gout. I had multiple major gout attacks and it is by far the most painful thing I have ever experienced. I was screaming in pain. Screaming. It’s actually medically considered to be one of the most painful things a human can experience.
#23
Fracturing a vertebrae and blowing out a disk at the same time. Fragments from the vertebrae and disk pushed into my spinal nerves and my entire right leg had some of the worst radiating nerve pain I’ve ever felt. Took about 14 months to get ‘somewhat’ back to normal after that.
KatSaidThat 5 hours ago
My friend is also still recovering from doing this last year. Still has residual numbness in places - which is why he didn't realise he got bitten by a false widow when we walked his dogs this weekend until his GF spotted the bite on the back of his leg.
#24
1. Throwing out my back (I got herniated disks): 12/10
2. Ruptured ovarian cyst: 10/10
3. Dehydration: 10/10
4. IUD: 9/10
4. Migraine: 8/10
5. Rib Tattoo: 6/10.
#27
The ear infections I get are worse than any of the broken bones, herniated discs, tattoos, piercings etc that I’ve ever experienced. By far.
#30
I was going to say tooth infection, but loads have that one covered (and I'd agree). I'll give a close second that I don't know of anyone else having experienced personally - the devil's itch. I had a sunburn that was so bad that it fried my nerves all over my shoulders, back, torso, neck. I don't know how to describe it other than it was a hellish nightmare. It felt like I was being tasered non-stop for several days. I'm not a violent person and I put a hole in my wall because I didn't know what else to do than to lash out - it might have been one of the few times that my wife was nervous to be around me. The only thing that helped was getting lathered in lavender essential oil. Existence was pain, Jerry.
#31
I was peeling a lemon and the peeler was a bit like a mandolin and it peeled my index finger through the nail bed.
#32
A chest tube inserted with just some local lidocaine.
Anyone-for-tea? 3 hours ago
Oh yeah, same. I’ve had nightmares about it too. I screamed in pain and made such an animalistic sound, I didn’t even know it was me. Apparently I yelled stop just before she got it in so she took it out. It was definitely botched.
#34
I have walked on a broken foot for 3 days, broken thumb, had migraines, surgery. Very high pain tolerance.
The worst pain I ever had was playing Nerf basketball when I was about 15. Went for a dunk, my toe went under the door, my toenail did not.
#35
In a single moment, kicking an inflamed ingrown toenail on metal with no shoes accidentally with momentum.
detective miller's hat 4 hours ago
I've done that. Pretty sure the entire county heard me swearing.
#36
Tie between a complete ACL tear while skiing/falling down a hill, and a hysterosalpingogram, where they clamp open your cervix, stick a balloon in your uterus, and shoot dye through your tubes while getting an x ray. Of course, no anesthesia
#37
Spinal surgery, fusion of t2 to L2 + week after recovery. Had to walk after 6 hr surgery and threw up as I stood up from the pain tied with natural child birth but bc I dilated from 0 to 10 in less than 2 hrs. That bone shifting pain that fast was horrible.
detective miller's hat 4 hours ago
My best friend's mother had a spinal fusion. She's never been able to walk properly since.
#39
I kid you not, spraining my ankle hurt more than breaking it.
#41
I have tattoos all over my body, including my neck, and I think pain tolerance has alot to do with energy and health. Anyone can go through high levels of pain, but going through it for hours or not knowing when it's going to end is what truly makes the body want to give up.
#42
I tore my MCL and when it tore, it pulled off a flake of bone. I played hockey so obviously I didn’t tell my parents what happened so that I could finish the season.
Well, the flake would flip horizontal occasionally and cut through the inside of my skin, the tendons, tissue, etc. Incredibly painful.
When I finally told them and got an MRI the doctor said he couldn’t tell what was what because of the damage so he’d just have to open it up and see what he needed to do lol.
I found a cute girl to help me with my food tray in the cafeteria (high school) while I was on crutches after surgery and we celebrate 10yrs of marriage this year.
Rattytooey 6 hours ago
It's called an avulsion fracture, and I got one almost exactly one year ago when I rolled on my chronically f****d up ankle for the millionth time. I also tore right through my anterior ligament, not the for the first time. But that was the first time that the ligament snapped so violently over the bone that it actually sheared a piece off (Y)
#43
Miscarriage - more painful than breaking my femur.
Also - I know it’s TMI but trying to use the bathroom after having a c section was SO painful.
#47
My first colitis flare up. My insides all felt like they were twisting. I threw up for almost 13 hours for the pain before I was finally taken into a room in the ER and given something for it. Towards the end of that 13 hours, I could barely stay conscious. I kept nodding off and passing out for a minute or so. Later flare ups were equally as painful but I knew what was going on and was able to find less busy ERs so the pain didn’t go on as long. It’s no fun
#48
Toothache, migraine, severe finger jam, they're all up there. But the clear winner is the aftermath of falling down a flight of stairs in a parking garage, and landing directly on my O-ring. As bad as that was, the real pain was nine days later, when I was finally able to "expel bodily waste", let's say. Yes, I said nine days.
The injury locked me up like a bank safe, I couldn't have wedged a knitting needle coated in WD-40 up there if I tried. When I was finally able to open the bay doors, it was like giving birth to a flaming telephone pole. Covered in sweat, tears streaming down my face, lightly dabbing at my shattered bum with ice cubes...it was ugly. Not recommended.
Anony Mouse 5 hours ago
Why does everyone on reddit treat p00p stories like a creative writing contest? None of them are funny.
What do you think ?
Ace 5 hours ago
My worst was the act of breathing, I'd ht a crash barrier with my spine (best estimates with a force of perhaps 200g) after flying over my motorbike. I found myself on the ground, still alive, did a little mental check - everything still seems to be there, head, arms, legs, yes, all still attached, nothing feels broken... but breathing would be good. Why aren't I breathing? C'mon, you twât, breathe. Here we go ...OHMYGODJESUSIDONTEVENBELIEVEINWHYDOESITHURTSOMUCH? I'd crushed 9 vertebrae and all the ribs on one side of the chest, several in multiple places. I remember thinking "Aren't you supposed to 'pass out' from so much pain? Why am I still conscious?" I remember a doctor arriving, then the sweet relief of morphine descended.. . . . Since then I don't care how high a tolerance for pain anyone claims to have.
Geobugi🇰🇷🇰🇭 4 hours ago
I am really surprised to did not pass out on this. Mine was not that bad, only 5 broken ribs, collarbone and tailbone ( dont know how i managed that) and i passed out for about 30 minutes ( bad). Until now, 4 months later, i do not remember anything, last thing i know is the light turned green and then.....nothing.When i woke up the pain was really bad and i knew right then that at least something was broken but i still think tooth ache is worse. Just out of curiousity, did you not had a pneumothorax? If not, you were very lucky. Or, as lucky as one can be with all those broken bones. Hope you are ok now
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LookASquirrel 42 minutes ago
And a UTI can cause hallucinations. Mainly in the elderly but not always. It's a horror story how I found out. The er didn't recognize it even though I told them I had a uti. Luckily a young nurse recognized it when looking at my chart on the stepdown unit. I tested negative for d***s and alcohol but they sedated me thinking I was on heroine or something which I have never done and my husband said I've never done anything stronger than weed. I don't even finish my pain meds after surgery.
Load More Replies... Ace 5 hours ago
My worst was the act of breathing, I'd ht a crash barrier with my spine (best estimates with a force of perhaps 200g) after flying over my motorbike. I found myself on the ground, still alive, did a little mental check - everything still seems to be there, head, arms, legs, yes, all still attached, nothing feels broken... but breathing would be good. Why aren't I breathing? C'mon, you twât, breathe. Here we go ...OHMYGODJESUSIDONTEVENBELIEVEINWHYDOESITHURTSOMUCH? I'd crushed 9 vertebrae and all the ribs on one side of the chest, several in multiple places. I remember thinking "Aren't you supposed to 'pass out' from so much pain? Why am I still conscious?" I remember a doctor arriving, then the sweet relief of morphine descended.. . . . Since then I don't care how high a tolerance for pain anyone claims to have.
Geobugi🇰🇷🇰🇭 4 hours ago
I am really surprised to did not pass out on this. Mine was not that bad, only 5 broken ribs, collarbone and tailbone ( dont know how i managed that) and i passed out for about 30 minutes ( bad). Until now, 4 months later, i do not remember anything, last thing i know is the light turned green and then.....nothing.When i woke up the pain was really bad and i knew right then that at least something was broken but i still think tooth ache is worse. Just out of curiousity, did you not had a pneumothorax? If not, you were very lucky. Or, as lucky as one can be with all those broken bones. Hope you are ok now
Load More Replies... LookASquirrel 42 minutes ago
And a UTI can cause hallucinations. Mainly in the elderly but not always. It's a horror story how I found out. The er didn't recognize it even though I told them I had a uti. Luckily a young nurse recognized it when looking at my chart on the stepdown unit. I tested negative for d***s and alcohol but they sedated me thinking I was on heroine or something which I have never done and my husband said I've never done anything stronger than weed. I don't even finish my pain meds after surgery.
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