NationStates Jolt Archive

My daughter got stung by a yellow jacket today. She says that is the worst pain she has ever been in. I believe her because she is only 4. She asked me what the worst pain I was ever in was. I wondered if she meant the worst quick pain (ripping a ligament in my knee) or the worst prolonged pain ( being in labor for 60 hours with no pain meds) Then I began to think how little pain I have actually had to endure.

So, what is the worst physical pain you have ever endured?

...um...the worst physical pain..um...probably when i was involved in a skiing accident a few years ago..some italian wasnt looking whare he was going and went straight in to me...th epain soon resided and it turned out i had suffered no lasting damage whatsoever..

I don't think you really want to know

Nerve pain is always the worst.

I've been stabbed, taken various types of shrapnel, burnt, torn muscles of various kinds, etc. But nothing compares to nerve pain or nerve damage, short-term or long term. Nerve pain is bad news.

I was thrown off my motorcycle at 65 mph on the freeway a few years ago. The pain was the worse I have ever felt. I slammed into the ground and rolled for a few hundred yards. Broke a bunch of ribs, collar bone, shoulder and screwed up my left wrist. (2 surgeries to fix) My whole body turned black and blue 1 limb at a time. Don't ever want to go thru that again.

I don't think you really want to know
that bad?

The worst pain I can think of was immediately after the anathesia wore off from my appendectomy. Compared to that, the dodgeball I once took to the groin was pleasant.

Nerve pain is always the worst.

I've been stabbed, taken various types of shrapnel, burnt, torn muscles of various kinds, etc. But nothing compares to nerve pain or nerve damage, short-term or long term. Nerve pain is bad news.

yep, nerve pain really is the worst. it can feel like just about anything, burning, freezing, stabbing, aching, tingly numbness. the worst part about it, at least for a chronic condition like i have, is that you never really know when it'll come on, and it can't be treated very effectively with normal medications. i've been on morphine and it's done nothing for me except make me high and in horrible pain.

miscarrying was pretty bad, too...first time i've ever fallen down in sudden pain.

I was bitten on my right forearm by a Brown Recluse spider while in Germany.
The doctor had to clean out the dead flesh from the bite with a scalpel with no pain killer. At first there was no pain, because the flesh was dead, but after awhile he was seperating dead flesh from uninfected flesh, and tendons, and that is when it got a little intense. I shoved some gauze in my mouth and got through it. Almost lost my arm.

There was the time when most of my body was burned away by ritual fires. Of course, the burned-off parts were replaced with metal, transforming me into the emotionless, evil machine I am today. :(

(:p)

I wrecked my motorcycle in August of 2002( missed a turn on a back road, goin too fast and hit a street sign.) I dislocated both knees, my right shoulder, my left hip. I broke my tibia in 8 spots, and my fibula was no where to be found (except small chunks.) Most of the muscle in the front of my lower leg was sheered off. Tore one of the tendons out of my forearm. Right kneecap was ripped off. Over all, I'd say the knee injury was the worst.But NONE of that compared to my first heartbreak!

A few years ago I had pylonidal sinus excised from the small of my back. That's a hole about four inches long, an inch wide and 1.5cm deep which had to be left to heal naturally. It took four months, and was open all that time, getting narrower and shallower, but always open. At the beginning, that was the worst pain I've ever been in; just there all the time.

However, a few hours after surgery, at about 10pm, still slightly anaesthetised, I decided it would be a great idea to go for a bath; this had been recommended to me by the nurses, though they said it would probably have been best to wait for the next day. I managed to get down the corridor fine, no problems, and run the bath, but then I felt a little woozy. I sat on the edge of the bath, assuming this to be postural hypotension from the blood loss involved in the operation, and lo and behold, it went away.

When I squatted in the gorgeously hot bathwater, my own blood started to dissolve out of the dressing, and, though I hadn't realised it, leak out of me. I wasn't really scared by this like some are by blood; I'd expected it. Having a doctor for a father and always asking questions are two pretty good conditions for growing up not being squeamish. However, what I hadn't realised was that because of the hypotension, the anaesthetic and the fact that - guess what - warm water opens up the capillaries, I started to feel distinctly more woozy. I tried to stand up, failed, and fell hard right on the wound.

That's the worst pain I've ever felt. Worse than fracturing my coccyx. Worse than tearing a ligament in my shoulder (it was so fucking cold on the playing field I actually didn't notice for ten minutes, until I realised my right arm wasn't working). Worse than anything emotional, though more bearable, because you know pain like that's going to go away. Funnily enough, I didn't scream, though. I don't understand why. I just thrashed about (soaking my dressing-gown) until I got my arse off the bath itself and yanked the nurse-call cord, at which point I got much sympathy and more than a little telling-off. Apparently the worst thing I did was not take off the dressing before getting in ;)

I should mention that I have relatives who describe heart attacks as some of their most painful experiences, although I can't back it up based on personal experience.

On the other hand, I have had a stroke, which is "painless" in the traditional sense, although full-body numbness combined with a feeling of being crushed by a 500-lb weight and suffocated simultaneously isn't fun. There still wasn't any actual "pain" involved though, since I had gone numb from toes to tongue. ;)

There was the time when most of my body was burned away by ritual fires. Of course, the burned-off parts were replaced with metal, transforming me into the emotionless, evil machine I am today. :(

I must say, I had wondered why you clanked.

Worst prolonged was a stress fracture in my tibia. I wasn't in a cast and still walking on it so it was just a pain (though not that much) every step. The worst quick pain was a root canal nerver hit.

Um… when my knee snapped my collarbone clean in half. The pain was fairly nasty, provoking a lot of swearing, but it could be worse.

yep, nerve pain really is the worst. it can feel like just about anything, burning, freezing, stabbing, aching, tingly numbness. the worst part about it, at least for a chronic condition like i have, is that you never really know when it'll come on, and it can't be treated very effectively with normal medications. i've been on morphine and it's done nothing for me except make me high and in horrible pain.

miscarrying was pretty bad, too...first time i've ever fallen down in sudden pain.
IIRC, the only painkiller known to work on severe nerve pain is refined morphine (colloquial name: heroin).
Trying to get that legalised for medical use would be...an uphill struggle, to say the least.

Ten Most Physically Painful Injuries I've Endured:

1) Dislocated shoulder (playing football)

2) Broken ankle (playing baseball... sliding into second base)

3) Getting stitches yanked out of my lip

4) Broken foot (tore a tendon playing basketball)

5) Indigestion (not sure if it's normal, but once in a while i get this awful stabbing pain in my gut... it only lasts a few seconds, but they're seconds of horrible pain)

6) Back spasms (at basketball camp, of all places)

7) Torn meniscus (the tearing itself actually didn't hurt... but I didn't do anything about it all summer -- thinking it was just a pulled tendon or something -- and man, did it become sore. I finally went to the doctor and had half the cartilage in my right knee removed.)

8) Getting hit in the face with a basketball

9) Getting stepped on in football (cleats hurt -- the "AHHHHHH!!!" you hear from the bottom of the pile is likely to be coming from someone who's just been stepped on)

10) Awful pain on airplanes when changing altitude... my ears plug up and, occasionally, will not unplug (though I swallow, yawn, etc.)... and the pressure just keeps building up. I know i'm not going to die, but one or two times, when was unable to get my ears to "pop", i could have sworn that my eardrums were going to break.


Advice:

a) If you've just broken a foot/ankle and your moronic friends holler at you to just "walk it off" ... give them the finger. Some injuries can't simply be walked off.

b) Try very hard not to obtain a cut lip. If you do, unless you must, do not get stitches... not that getting the stitches put in hurts, or that the healing process is painful... but rather, getting them pulled OUT of your lip HURTS. (at least it did in my case)

c) If you're moving forward at a fast pace... and your feet slip and fly out in front of you... and your back is to the ground, and you are parallel to the ground... do NOT put a hand down BEHIND you to try to break the fall.

d) Take an antacid after eating spicy food... to save you from the stabbing pain in your gut.

e) If you're guarding someone in a basketball game, and they decide to throw a pass headed for your face... move your head.

f) Don't run full-speed from first to second base and then decide to slide THREE FEET from second base: your foot WILL stop on the bag, but the rest of you will keep going.

g) Make sure you have a safe place to land your feet before you decide to go up for a rebound in a basketball game.

h) If you're drunk and wrestling with a good friend of yours (or anyone else for that matter) and that person is big... do not try to stand up on one leg supporting both your weight and his. Your knee will give out. If you're lucky, you'll only tear the cartilage (meniscus).

I have Diverticulitis. basically it's inflammation of the intestines, and sometimes they rupture (like mine did) Imagine the pain of an Appendicitis but it's something that the docs cannot operate on. so no pain meds. Mine was near the stomach (thank GOD) so any food I ate would sit in the stomach and you get nausous... For 2 weeks, nothing but liquids (my love for Gatorade started then) then you can start with soft foods...

but the pain of the rupture was the worst I've ever felt,

oh, and bleeding outta your @$$hole was probably the scariest thing to happen to me... so far, and not just talking about red stool, or a red stain on the tissue, I'm talking actual drops... [shudder]

[Bb) Try very hard not to obtain a cut lip. If you do, unless you must, do not get stitches... not that getting the stitches put in hurts, or that the healing process is painful... but rather, getting them pulled OUT of your lip HURTS. (at least it did in my case)


No dissolving stitches? :confused: I'd definitely request them. I'm no doctor though.. maybe they don't work in that situation. I've seen them used on cats though, and in that episode of Columbo where the killer (a doctor) uses them to cause a delayed heart-rupture in a patient after replacing a pacemaker, I think. Who played the surgeon in that episode? I can't remember right now, but it could've been Leonard Nimoy, although I'm not too sure. Hm.

5) Indigestion (not sure if it's normal, but once in a while i get this awful stabbing pain in my gut... it only lasts a few seconds, but they're seconds of horrible pain) Hmm… recently I was walking up the stairs and pain started building in my stomach area, it built up to unbearable proportions and then disappeared, and my vision went funny during that time as well… like it does if you have a reaction to something or have lack of oxygen. Any idea why that was, was it the same thing?

Id say the worst pain Ive been in was when i was younger, i was standing on a roadside that had just been resurfaced, and this car drove past at bout 90mph, and a stone flew up off the road and went through my throat. I cudnt breathe and was on the ground, looking at blood pouring out of my throat. The fact i could barely breathe for a while, and i was unable to eat was VERY painful. I now have an entrance and exit scar, just to remind me everytime i look in the mirror...:(

The worst pain I can think of was immediately after the anathesia wore off from my appendectomy. Compared to that, the dodgeball I once took to the groin was pleasant.
yeah the pain after anesthesia with my gb surgery was pretty bad and it was lapriscopic(sp?) the pain after my c-section was hurt too. but I think 60 hours of labor was the worst.

My daughter got stung by a yellow jacket today. She says that is the worst pain she has ever been in. I believe her because she is only 4. She asked me what the worst pain I was ever in was. I wondered if she meant the worst quick pain (ripping a ligament in my knee) or the worst prolonged pain ( being in labor for 60 hours with no pain meds) Then I began to think how little pain I have actually had to endure.

So, what is the worst physical pain you have ever endured?
Pain is good. It lets you know you're still alive.

Despite all the broken bones I've had, the worst pain I have ever experienced was from several of the kidney stones I've had over the years. Many times, a broken bone will traumatize the nerves around it, numbing the area enough to limit the pain. But a kidney stone is attempting to move through a soft-tissue space generally too small for it. No amount of twisting or turning will aleviate the pain ... it doesn't go away until the stone moves, and when urine backs up into the kidney and stagnates, the pain becomes unbearable.

Give me a broken bone over a kidney stone any day of the week!

I have Diverticulitis. basically it's inflammation of the intestines, and sometimes they rupture (like mine did) Imagine the pain of an Appendicitis but it's something that the docs cannot operate on. so no pain meds. Mine was near the stomach (thank GOD) so any food I ate would sit in the stomach and you get nausous... For 2 weeks, nothing but liquids (my love for Gatorade started then) then you can start with soft foods...

but the pain of the rupture was the worst I've ever felt,

oh, and bleeding outta your @$$hole was probably the scariest thing to happen to me... so far, and not just talking about red stool, or a red stain on the tissue, I'm talking actual drops... [shudder]
yeah my hubby has crohns so any pain that I would have to endure just isn't as bad when I think of him in pain everyday with no end in sight.

yeah the pain after anesthesia with my gb surgery was pretty bad and it was lapriscopic(sp?) the pain after my c-section was hurt too. but I think 60 hours of labor was the worst.
60 HOURS!!!

wow :eek:

yeah my hubby has crohns so any pain that I would have to endure just isn't as bad when I think of him in pain everyday with no end in sight.
Apparently, letting yourself acquire parasitic roundworms alleviate the symptoms. You just have to eat more to make up for them.

No dissolving stitches? :confused: I'd definitely request them. I'm no doctor though.. maybe they don't work in that situation. I've seen them used on cats though, and in that episode of Columbo where the killer (a doctor) uses them to cause a delayed heart-rupture in a patient after replacing a pacemaker, I think. Who played the surgeon in that episode? I can't remember right now, but it could've been Leonard Nimoy, although I'm not too sure. Hm.

the stitches were on the outside (dry side) of my lip (assuming that makes a difference. hehe)

I suffer from occasional migranes. I can't think straight, or even walk, when they hit.

Though I haven't actually had one for almost 2 years, which is good, because for a while I was getting them once every couple of weeks.

Ligaments, tore them all to my left foot when I was kid. Kinda amusing on meds though, my foot would flop in the breeze.

Hmm… recently I was walking up the stairs and pain started building in my stomach area, it built up to unbearable proportions and then disappeared, and my vision went funny during that time as well… like it does if you have a reaction to something or have lack of oxygen. Any idea why that was, was it the same thing?

i don't know

mine is in my intestinal area... is pretty rare (IE, maybe once a month) and is VERY sharp (and thankfully, very short-lived).

i'm hoping it's just occaional sharp indigestion (something getting caught?) and not intestinal/colon cancer, diverticulitis, etc.

perhaps it's time to go to the doctor and get a physical. i also seem to have a cut on my rear end (no, not from anal sex), for once in a while i get blood after passing stool. the stool appears normal (no, i'm not taking pictures of it.. hehe) so i figure it's not cancer. it's either a cut (feels like there's a cut... slight sting when it's acting up) or a (gasp) hemorrhoid.
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if i'm not mistaken, the "fuzzy vision" thing might be caused by lack of oxygen to the brain... at any rate, if it's rare you're probably fine, but you and i both need to see a doctor, just to be certain.

My daughter got stung by a yellow jacket today. She says that is the worst pain she has ever been in. I believe her because she is only 4. She asked me what the worst pain I was ever in was. I wondered if she meant the worst quick pain (ripping a ligament in my knee) or the worst prolonged pain ( being in labor for 60 hours with no pain meds) Then I began to think how little pain I have actually had to endure.

So, what is the worst physical pain you have ever endured?
Tore the meniscus and damaged some ligaments in my left knee. Then, while limping around the basement at my mom's house (I was still a teenager) I stepped on a 25 pound weight next to my bench and it slid out from under me twisting my knee further.

I dunno if its weird, but i get premonitions every now and then, its like serious deja vu, and i get a killer migrane, and my nose starts to bleed....its one of the most painful things i endure, i get like one every two weeks...

60 HOURS!!!

wow :eek:
wouldn't have been too bad but they wouldn't let me eat anything or drink anything or get up and walk or have any pain meds. It was pain and frustration and hunger all balled up into one. People ask if it was worth it and I always say yeah. I don't think they believe me, but most that don't haven't met my kids, they are awesome. It is hard not to like the 2nd one a little better though since I was only in labor with her for 28 hours and then had a c section. LOL
(in case anyone is trying to add that up that is 88 hours of labor all together and I would do it all again in a heartbeat)

Tore the meniscus and damaged some ligaments in my left knee. Then, while limping around the basement at my mom's house (I was still a teenager) I stepped on a 25 pound weight next to my bench and it slid out from under me twisting my knee further.

have you got three little (quarter-inch, maybe) scars around your knee-cap?

I dunno if its weird, but i get premonitions every now and then, its like serious deja vu, and i get a killer migrane, and my nose starts to bleed....its one of the most painful things i endure, i get like one every two weeks...

Wow. I'd get checked out for that. I'd definitely get some kinda scan or something.. that sounds bad. :(

i don't know

mine is in my intestinal area... is pretty rare (IE, maybe once a month) and is VERY sharp (and thankfully, very short-lived).

i'm hoping it's just occaional sharp indigestion (something getting caught?) and not intestinal/colon cancer, diverticulitis, etc.

perhaps it's time to go to the doctor and get a physical. i also seem to have a cut on my rear end (no, not from anal sex), for once in a while i get blood after passing stool. the stool appears normal (no, i'm not taking pictures of it.. hehe) so i figure it's not cancer. it's either a cut (feels like there's a cut... slight sting when it's acting up) or a (gasp) hemorrhoid.
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if i'm not mistaken, the "fuzzy vision" thing might be caused by lack of oxygen to the brain... at any rate, if it's rare you're probably fine, but you and i both need to see a doctor, just to be certain. You really ought to go see the doctor about that… apart from anything else, the prospect of unexpected pain once a month really isn't that enticing.

I'd say the anal thing sounds like a cut.

It's only happened twice: once when I had an injection of something after fasting for an operation and it was like the seconds before unconsciousness sets in… and the time I've related. Not doctor material.

Wow. I'd get checked out for that. I'd definitely get some kinda scan or something.. that sounds bad. :(
@?*! My mates all said it was weird, as they saw me doin it once. My my doctors say thers nothing wrong....

I had a foot wart some time ago, and the treatment was probably the worst pain I´ve ever felt. Not in the beginning, but after a while I had to use tweezers to pull out parts of it, and I pulled out pieces of flesh with it. The fluid I then put on was designed to corrode the wart, but the last few times it corroded the flesh as well... Then ,of course, I had a hole in my foot where things and fuzz would get stuck, that was painful as well.

I´ve also fallen head first onto a concrete floor, suffering a mild concussion and leaving me with a scar in the forehead, but I don´t really remember that much pain... Then again, I was only six.

have you got three little (quarter-inch, maybe) scars around your knee-cap?
Yeah, from getting some cartilage cleaned out. The muscles in my left leg are visibly smaller than in my right too. I think that's from favoring that leg for so long. Still, I think that compared to some people in this thread I'm lucky.

Once I had a stent put in my kidney in order to dislodge and remove a kidney stone. Going in was fine. I was asleep. I was awake for the removal. This was both physically and psychologically painful.

I am a guy...and they got it out through the guy part...with a large clawed apparatus that looked far to big for the hole through which they went.

i don't know

mine is in my intestinal area... is pretty rare (IE, maybe once a month) and is VERY sharp (and thankfully, very short-lived).

i'm hoping it's just occaional sharp indigestion (something getting caught?) and not intestinal/colon cancer, diverticulitis, etc.

perhaps it's time to go to the doctor and get a physical. i also seem to have a cut on my rear end (no, not from anal sex), for once in a while i get blood after passing stool. the stool appears normal (no, i'm not taking pictures of it.. hehe) so i figure it's not cancer. it's either a cut (feels like there's a cut... slight sting when it's acting up) or a (gasp) hemorrhoid.
----------------------------

if i'm not mistaken, the "fuzzy vision" thing might be caused by lack of oxygen to the brain... at any rate, if it's rare you're probably fine, but you and i both need to see a doctor, just to be certain.

are you male or female? sometimes crohns can have some pretty weird symptoms in females. I would also suggest that you check out celiac disease (my youngest has that) look them up on web md and see if it sounds familiar.

i don't know

mine is in my intestinal area... is pretty rare (IE, maybe once a month) and is VERY sharp (and thankfully, very short-lived).

i'm hoping it's just occaional sharp indigestion (something getting caught?) and not intestinal/colon cancer, diverticulitis, etc.

perhaps it's time to go to the doctor and get a physical. i also seem to have a cut on my rear end (no, not from anal sex), for once in a while i get blood after passing stool. the stool appears normal (no, i'm not taking pictures of it.. hehe) so i figure it's not cancer. it's either a cut (feels like there's a cut... slight sting when it's acting up) or a (gasp) hemorrhoid.
----------------------------

if i'm not mistaken, the "fuzzy vision" thing might be caused by lack of oxygen to the brain... at any rate, if it's rare you're probably fine, but you and i both need to see a doctor, just to be certain.Get yourself checked, they haven't really found the cause for the 'tic' (Diverticulitis) and if you can find it early, so much the better.

the blood can be from any small rupture in the intestines.

I dunno if its weird, but i get premonitions every now and then, its like serious deja vu, and i get a killer migrane, and my nose starts to bleed....its one of the most painful things i endure, i get like one every two weeks...


If I recall correctly this type of phenomenon is sometimes called an 'aura'. It's exactly what you describe; a feeling similar to deja vu that precedes a neural event. I think epileptics get them as well before they have a seizure.

Smunkeeville, I'm with you on the labor thing, although mine were much shorter. My first was only 17 hours and not that painful, but the second was 5 hours, and I still had a cervical lip while pushing. I think that was the worst 15 minutes of my life. It felt like someone was holding a blow torch onto my lower abdomen. I was screaming at the midwife to get the baby out. I suppose it was good incentive to push harder to get her out faster. Other than that, I had a gallbladder attack that went on for about 8 hours before hubby drove me to the emergency room. Luckily for me, recovery from that surgery wasn't too bad. The worst was that I was allergic to the Steri-strips they used instead of stitches.

i don't know

mine is in my intestinal area... is pretty rare (IE, maybe once a month) and is VERY sharp (and thankfully, very short-lived).

i'm hoping it's just occaional sharp indigestion (something getting caught?) and not intestinal/colon cancer, diverticulitis, etc.

perhaps it's time to go to the doctor and get a physical. i also seem to have a cut on my rear end (no, not from anal sex), for once in a while i get blood after passing stool. the stool appears normal (no, i'm not taking pictures of it.. hehe) so i figure it's not cancer. it's either a cut (feels like there's a cut... slight sting when it's acting up) or a (gasp) hemorrhoid.

It's probably an anal fissure, a rip more than a cut. However, you should not discount cancer, visit the doctor, even if you're fine they can provide you with analgesic (not a joke, that's the brandname).

The most painful thing I ever experienced was when I almost lost my finger. My brother and I were not fighting for once, we were building a marble bunker to play in the back yard. He would use a metal stake to loosen the earth and I would scrape it out. Alas he punctured my hand instead.

My brother swears it's passing a kidney stone - I thought it was childbirth - but once we did the math it turned out that a man passing a stone the size he had would be comparable to a woman giving birth to a 20lb. baby - I conceded at that point LOL

Yeah, I've known a couple of people who have had kidney stones and I would take childbirth any day over them.