What is the worst physical pain you’ve ever experienced? I’ll go first. I’m a mother of two, and it wasn’t their labor. Kidney stones are immense pain, the worst I’ve ever experienced. The first time I had them, I’ll never forget. It was close to 6:00 am.
I got up and used the bathroom. As soon as my stream hit the bowl, my left kidney felt like labor contractions amplified by 100 without a breath break. It felt like someone came by, flipped my pain on like a light switch, and walked away. After someone started a discussion online about the worst pains people have experienced, these bad boys made their list.
1. Cluster Headaches
“Cluster headaches are sent straight from hell.” One user explains they aren’t a headache or a migraine. A second commenter says they have battled them for years, resulting in them banging their head on things hoping it will subside.
A third individual understood the head banging and explained they had a cluster headache that hurt so badly. They also began banging their head on a cafeteria table. “I just remember WHITE PAIN and vague impressions.”
2. Kidney Stones
I knew I wouldn’t be the only one, but I am surprised it wasn’t number one on the list. Dear Lord, please spare me from cluster headaches. Amen. Multiple respondents explain having injuries, including a torn rotator cuff, torn AC joint, and three pinched nerves in the small of someone’s back. Kidney stones surpass the pain intensity of all of them.
3. Tooth Nerve Pain
Ouch. Tooth nerve pain sounds dreadful by all accounts of these responses. For example, a pain warrior confesses experiencing the last throws of a dying tooth. They allege it’s the closest they’ve been to the “bleeding eyeballs level on the 0 to 10 pain scale chart.”
4. Pinched Nerve
A pinched nerve in the back, or as one puts it, “a no contact back injury,” is mentioned by many as debilitating. One suggests that the pain is disproportionate to the minor movement that triggers it. A second commenter admits they’re actively in recovery: “The thought of it coming back in full force is terrifying.”
5. Testicular Torsion
Testicular torsion is listed by many as excruciating beyond belief. For example, one man who experienced it confesses when his doctor felt down there to check what was happening. He passed out from the pain.
A woman clarifies she had the lady version of that—ovarian torsion. She elaborates that it had twisted itself thrice, cut off its blood supply, and died. “The pain was up there with unmedicated labor at about nine centimeters.”
6. Dry Socket
Another pain warrior shares they had wisdom teeth out and developed a dry socket where the blood clot dislodged, where they removed a tooth. It exposed the bone and nerve endings, causing immense pain in the jaw and the entire half of the head. After a few days, they called the oral surgeon, who instructed them to come in. He packed it with a piece of medicated gauze, and the “pain melted away almost instantly, “noting it was bizarre.
7. Shingles
Oh no. Lord, please keep these shingles away from me too. Amen. I pray this because a user admits that shingles are more painful than kidney stones, elaborating shingles had them “crying on the floor.” I didn’t realize you could get shingles in your face. One swears it’s an excruciating pain you never want to know. Additionally, the pain lasts for a month.
8. Childbirth
Having a baby is no picnic. Sure, the aftermath is cute, but the pain is immeasurable. Labor feels different for different women, pending on front or back labor pains. Mine was in my back and was reminiscent of kidney stones. However, unlike the stones, the contraction pain came and went. In contrast, the stones required IV narcotics.
Nonetheless, labor is painful. One mama confesses that she can’t believe childbirth is so low on the list, citing, “Drug-free labor was the most excruciating pain” she ever felt. Additionally, c-section recovery received several comments about unimaginable pain.
9. Dislocated Shoulder
A dislocated shoulder garners a ton of attention. One suggests it’s hours of unending, forever worsening agony as the swelling grows. “The muscles grind your bones together when they start spasming until you finally get seen at the hospital, and they knock you out to put the shoulder back in.”
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10. Ovarian Cyst
Finally, a woman explains it’s difficult to describe the pain of an ovarian cyst, “But it’s like being stabbed with a knife in the abdomen, and someone is constantly stabbing and twisting the knife in you.”
The pain was so unbearable that she began vomiting, could barely move, and stayed fetal position in a tub so she could throw up without moving. A few women add that ruptured ovarian cyst pain is so debilitating that one admits she passed out after going into shock.
This thread inspired this post.
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This article was originally published and syndicated on Sober Healing.
Featured Image Credit: Edvan Kun From Canva.com.
Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing. She is a freelance writer passionate about opioid recovery and has celebrated breaking free since 09-27-2013. She advocates for mental health awareness and encourages others to embrace healing, recovery, and spirituality.