ITT: The worst physical pain you've ever experienced

Originally Posted by volatility smile

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Last 250m of a 2k. Probably worse than it seems, since it's entirely self-inflicted.

Of the self-inflicted variety, this sure as **** is towards the top.

I've never had any acute injuries like broken bones and such. I had a pretty bad case of scoliosis when I started middle school (abnormal curvature of the spine). Had to always miss PE classes because of how much pain I had in my lower back. Daily chiropractor appointments over the course of a year or two fixed things right up though.

From around 13-18 I had severe stomach issues, never really found out what caused it, but years of dealing with the symptoms made me cut out milk, alcohol, any food with more than a small amount of fat <---(hard to do when you're a teenager!) It's pretty hard to describe the type of pain as I dont have many other painful encounters to go on, but I'd say it's on par with having something like a knife stuck in your gut and twisted around for a few minutes. It was even much worse when I'd wake up in the middle of the night to this, spend 20 minutes in tears hoping I'd die, and going back to sleep knowing I'd probably go through the same thing another 2 or 3 times that week.
The worst part was probably the fear of even leaving the house for all my teenage years, as these painful bouts often came with less than a few seconds notice, so I'd avoid being in a car, bus, or anywhere else without a bathroom within a few feet.

The plus side is it seems to have fixed itself. Can't even begin to tell you how glad I am

Originally Posted by rjmaiorano

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Of the self-inflicted variety, this sure as **** is towards the top.

The third split is the worst for me since I still have a sense of self-preservation that gnaws on my already-frayed nerves. At the turn of the fourth split I stop caring about the pain and that eerie syncopatic calm anaesthetizes my senses and worries. Pull recover pull recover pull recover recover recover recover recover recover recover recover.

Originally Posted by Davidko19

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so Im wondering what the pain gauge is of like a ... colonoscopy

I recently had a colonoscopy (family history) and it did not hurt at all. The worst thing about it is the prep, which involves not eating for 24 hours and drinking half a gallon of saline laxative.

For the actual deed you put on a gown, get injected with anesthetic and wake up an hour later feeling fine (or better than fine, as the drugs are pretty good). Then you go eat a giant meal and sit around watching DVDs for the rest of the day or until the drugs wear off.

On the pain gauge I'd give it a 0/10, and I am a giant ***** when it comes to pain.

If you should get one (over 40, or family history, or any symptoms) then go get screened... it's not the most fun thing you can do with an hour of your life but it sure beats dying from ass cancer.

Originally Posted by v0rtex

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I recently had a colonoscopy (family history) and it did not hurt at all. The worst thing about it is the prep, which involves not eating for 24 hours and drinking half a gallon of saline laxative.

Hmm... I woulda figured the worst part would be getting a big foreign object stuck up your butt. But I guess your right, I dont want to pull a Farrah.

Pneumothorax at age eleven(ty)

I'm told it was probably whatever my body experienced falling about 2 1/2 stories onto a truck windshield about 25 years ago.

Thing is, I only remember the sound. I've got no memory of any physical sensation.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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Had these. Dull pain for a while, then significant pain. Just when I decide I can't bear it anymore..."Plink, plink" and no more pain.

You got lucky. I had kidney stones that were too big to pass without surgery. Near-total ureter blockage at the site of the kidney, which was excrutiatingly painful and required an immediate trip to the emergency room and a heavy dose of morphine that barely took the edge off. You know things are bad when morphine doesn't even do the trick.

The best part is that they didn't even take the damned things out with the surgey. All they did was electroscopically zap them into smaller, jagged-edged fragments that I pissed out over the course of the next few days. Nothing says fun times ahead like the prospect of passing razor-sharp gravel through your john thomas in a constant stream of blood every hour or so.

Originally Posted by v0rtex

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I recently had a colonoscopy (family history) and it did not hurt at all. The worst thing about it is the prep, which involves not eating for 24 hours and drinking half a gallon of saline laxative.

For the actual deed you put on a gown, get injected with anesthetic and wake up an hour later feeling fine (or better than fine, as the drugs are pretty good). Then you go eat a giant meal and sit around watching DVDs for the rest of the day or until the drugs wear off.

On the pain gauge I'd give it a 0/10, and I am a giant ***** when it comes to pain.

If you should get one (over 40, or family history, or any symptoms) then go get screened... it's not the most fun thing you can do with an hour of your life but it sure beats dying from ass cancer.

I had one recently as well, and it was mostly uneventful, though I was only mildly sedated and conscious throughout the procedure. If you do remain awake you can actually watch the scope on a full color monitor which is kind of cool. At one point I did feel a sharp pain and exclaimed a bit; I figure either the scope went zig when it should have zagged, or it was when a polyp was removed (benign), though I think the latter is generally supposed to be painless. All in all, no big deal, and as vOrtex suggests above, it sure beats the alternative.

Originally Posted by Cary Grant

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I'm told it was probably whatever my body experienced falling about 2 1/2 stories onto a truck windshield about 25 years ago.

Thing is, I only remember the sound. I've got no memory of any physical sensation.

Well, the obvious questions: how did you manage to fall 2 1/2 stories, how bad did it **** you up, and did the doctors tell you something like "that windshield probably saved your life..." ? Inquiring minds, etc.

You got lucky. I had kidney stones that were too big to pass without surgery. Near-total ureter blockage at the site of the kidney, which was excrutiatingly painful and required an immediate trip to the emergency room and a heavy dose of morphine that barely took the edge off. You know things are bad when morphine doesn't even do the trick.

The best part is that they didn't even take the damned things out with the surgey. All they did was electroscopically zap them into smaller, jagged-edged fragments that I pissed out over the course of the next few days. Nothing says fun times ahead like the prospect of passing razor-sharp gravel through your john thomas in a constant stream of blood every hour or so.

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Nice. I have a friend who gets these almost annually to varying degrees, and he has been through the procedure you mention on several occasions. He describes it as a most exquisite form of torture.

Originally Posted by CDFS

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Pneumothorax at age eleven(ty)

I've had one of those in highschool - spontaneous kind of thing, no particular trauma I know of cause it (it was at the beginning of football season, though we werent going full-contact yet). At any rate mine didnt hurt at all, my voice just sounded all funny and it was weird feeling the crispiness of air under my skin. Worst part of it was getting a bronchoscopy through my nose.

Originally Posted by Davidko19

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I woulda figured the worst part would be getting a big foreign object stuck up your butt.

I was unconscious the entire time. Wouldn't even have known anything had been up there if it wasn't for the pictures they show you afterwards. Just like Spring Break!

Originally Posted by AJL

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Nice. I have a friend who gets these almost annually to varying degrees, and he has been through the procedure you mention on several occasions. He describes it as a most exquisite form of torture.

Yeah, that's the scariest thing about kidney stones. Once you get them, you've got a greater than 50% likelihood of getting them again within the next five years. You're almost guaranteed to get them again in the course of your life, and you're lucky if you only get them every decade or so. They are highly heritable, too, so you'll pass the curse onto your children.

7th Grade, playing four-square in the gym, slap the wooden bleachers behind me going for a ball, get a splinter jammed under my index finger (the splinter was about 2/3 as wide as the fingernail itself). Hurts a bit but not too bad. Go to the school nurse, who soaks it in epsom salt waiting for my mom to show up.

Go to the doctor, who throws a fit because the nurse softened the splinter so much they'll have to cut off my entire fingernail to get it out. Without anaesthetic.

Damn. I have nothing.

But my XC student of a few years back dislocated his patella in a soccer game - it was the third time for him, and as it turned out, the patella actually turned sideways and lodged into the space between his femur and his lower leg bones. We went to the ER, they sedated him, his team came in after the game, and they closed his door and ushered us well down the hall and into a closed room.

We could still hear his screams as they tried to re-set it. Imagine 10 reasonably macho guys, all wincing and shaking their heads.

Eventually they called a surgeon who had to put him under to get it done.