The most painful physical ailment you've experienced?

[Mr Silver]

A recent bout of severe toothache inspired me to start this thread. I have been fortunate because I have not - as of yet - suffered any broken bones or muscular tears, etc. I have suffered from various teeth related problems though and I have to say that it tops the pain scale for me.

The worst pain I've ever experienced came from a dental abcess right on the root of one of my premolars. The pain was excruciating and had no give to it. I had to take painkillers just to function and even then the pain was only slightly diminished. I remember going for the root canal that finally got rid of the pain and it was so chronic then that the anaesthetic didn't actually work and I had to recieve another dose!

Toothache is milder than a dental abcess, but it's still a pretty formidable condition. I've always had a pretty high tolerance for pain but with toothache, there is just no way that I can totally block it out. I'd rather recieve a blow to the testicles than suffer with toothache!

What is the most physically painful thing you've experienced?

 

[RoJoHen]

Recovery from a tonsilectomy. Easily the worst two weeks of my life. I couldn't eat anything without excruciating pain, and the drugs they gave me did nothing except upset my stomach. I was crying by the end of the first week because I was so hungry and unable to do anything about it. I ended up losing 30 pounds during that recovery, most of which was muscle mass.

 

[Starbreaker]

I had a kidney stone last year. It was awful. I was crying and curled up in pain in the ER and the nurse had the gall to turn around and ask if it "really hurt that bad."

 

[Mr Silver]

Recovery from a tonsilectomy. Easily the worst two weeks of my life. I couldn't eat anything without excruciating pain, and the drugs they gave me did nothing except upset my stomach. I was crying by the end of the first week because I was so hungry and unable to do anything about it. I ended up losing 30 pounds during that recovery, most of which was muscle mass.

I had a tonsilectomy when I was 6 years old - it's not so bad when you're a child. I do remember feeling like my throat was falling out occasionly during the recovery period - that was particulary unpleasant!

 

[SeerSGB]

Broken arm: Car wreck, shattered the bones in my shoulder and cracked or broke everything down to the tips of my fingers on that side. No piece big enough that was stable enough for a pin or plate and I was having dangerous reactions to pain meds and refused to be put under. So they splinted me, wrapped the arm, shot me full of antibiotics, and sent me home.

 

[SmoothieX]

Shredded two of the three ligaments in my ankle playing a game of pickup basketball in college. My foot was too swollen to get in a shoe for a couple weeks, not to mention the lovely rainbow of bruising from my little toe halfway up my shin.

 

[backstept]

I was 12, bounding down the stairs at home, barefoot, and my right foot caught on one of the slats that hold up the bannister. Hairline fractured my middle toe.
Also, I once took a chunk out of my left index finger with a sword.
Also, my brother once hit me in the head with a fastball when we were playing catch with my pa. Big goose egg bruise . . . you could even see the stiches from the ball on there.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Prolonged labour 60 hours plus, which ended with the baby had to be turned and pulled out with forceps without any pain relief.

 

[sojourner]

Serious infection that started in my left foot. It destroyed the nerves there over a 24 hour period. The process literally felt like I was on fire from the shin down. I spent the first hours of it in the hospital screaming until I passed out.

Good thing House made canes sexy.

 

[1001001]

I broke a bone in my foot when I was 10. I had a cast for seven weeks. That was pretty bad at first.

I've also had Shingles. I had never even heard of them. Apparently, the chicken pox virus can reactivate. The lesions from that were extremely painful.

 

[DonIago]

Funny seeing this thread only because shortly after a potluck at work on Monday my stomach cramped up or something badly enough that I wondered if I'd contracted appendicitis or something. For about an hour I was considering my options and worst-case scenarios. It went away about as quickly as it flared up.

Interestingly enough a coworker experienced the same problem...we compared what we'd eaten and had eaten only one of the same thing, so maybe there was an issue there.

Aside from that, probably when I was a kid and had 7 teeth pulled (4 one day, 3 about a week later)...just so I could get braces put in.

Never had a broken bone or otherwise been an ER patient...wouldn't mind keeping that record intact.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I had a kidney stone last year. It was awful. I was crying and curled up in pain in the ER and the nurse had the gall to turn around and ask if it "really hurt that bad."

Yeap, Kidney stone, and i cant believe the pain, it was so intense that it also had me curled up in utter agony as well....knocked me right off my feet, and i was also nearly crying, and i never cry....... managed to get myself to the hospital were they gave me a examination and then some really strong painkillers which really helped while i waited for it to pass..........and that part was another whole other level of pain.

 

[Kestra]

I've also had Shingles. I had never even heard of them. Apparently, the chicken pox virus can reactivate. The lesions from that were extremely painful.

Never had that but I've heard it's a bitch. Doesn't it mess with your nerves or something?

I'm not going to post my most painful ailment since some things aren't meant to be shared.

 

[RoJoHen]

Recovery from a tonsilectomy. Easily the worst two weeks of my life. I couldn't eat anything without excruciating pain, and the drugs they gave me did nothing except upset my stomach. I was crying by the end of the first week because I was so hungry and unable to do anything about it. I ended up losing 30 pounds during that recovery, most of which was muscle mass.

I had a tonsilectomy when I was 6 years old - it's not so bad when you're a child. I do remember feeling like my throat was falling out occasionly during the recovery period - that was particulary unpleasant!

Yeah...I was 20 years old. It sucked. Halfway through my recovery, the scab fell off while I was sleeping, and I woke up drowning in a pool of my own blood.

 

[B.J.]

I had a kidney stone last year. It was awful. I was crying and curled up in pain in the ER and the nurse had the gall to turn around and ask if it "really hurt that bad."

Yeap, Kidney stone, and i cant believe the pain, it was so intense that it also had me curled up in utter agony as well....knocked me right off my feet, and i was also nearly crying, and i never cry....... managed to get myself to the hospital were they gave me a examination and then some really strong painkillers which really helped while i waited for it to pass..........and that part was another whole other level of pain.

Count yourselves lucky. I'm one of the unhappy few that have chronic kidney stones, typically 2 or 3 a year for the last 15 years. Many pass without much incident, but a lot of them put me in agonizing pain so bad that even the Hydrocodone prescription I have does nothing, and even the ER drugs aren't much help. You'd think that something in my diet or lifestyle would affect this, but no, there's really *nothing* I can do about it.

BTW, I've known one woman who had both given birth (without painkillers) and passed a kidney stone. She said the stone was worse.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'd be inclined to say cluster headaches but those range beyond "physical" into damn-near ethereal and aren't necessarily "painful" as much as they hurt every aspect of your life deep down to your soul.

So other than the cluster headaches I used to suffer from (currently under control by medication) I'd say.... an ingrown toenail.

 

[T'Bonz]

Hmm....lot of contenders in my life. It would have to be a tie between: my first labor (no pain meds) and my last neck disc herniation. The last one made me cry out in pain if I moved the wrong way.

A broken toe and an abscessed tooth were no fun either. Also migraines. Forgot about them. Come to think about it, that is tied with the other two.

Pain sucks.

 

[Amaris]

Lots of different kinds of pain, but so far, the most vexing is the arthritis in my wrists and knees. On a wet, cold, rainy day, I can barely move.

 

[Gojira]

A year ago I was diagnosed with Costochondritis an inflammation of the chest muscles and it is very disabling. There are days when the pain makes it difficult to breath and when it feels I am been squeezed like a tube of toothpaste.

 

[scotpens]

. . .So other than the cluster headaches I used to suffer from (currently under control by medication) I'd say.... an ingrown toenail.

Yeah, I had a couple of those on both my big toes for a while. Definitely not fun. Finally I had them laser-zapped by a podiatrist. I needed pain medication for a few days after the treatment because it hurts like a sonofabitch (it's basically a small, controlled full-thickness burn).

Prolonged labour 60 hours plus, which ended with the baby had to be turned and pulled out with forceps without any pain relief.

Holy crap. I don't believe any man can imagine what it's like to have labor pains, let alone to be in labor for 60 hours. To paraphrase Rita Rudner, I wouldn't want to do something that feels good for 60 hours.

I suppose I've been lucky in the pain department. The worst pain I ever experienced was when I had diverticulitis a few years ago. It's bad, but not as bad as a third-degree burn, or a dislocated shoulder, or a flogging with a cat-o-nine-tails.