Saw this on Twitter and thought it was interesting.
I’ve been lucky to have never broken a bone or have a major injury so I’m having a pretty hard time coming up with an answer.
Like you, I've never broken a bone or had anything but a minor surgery. I think a terrible high ankle sprain I got as a kid was probably my worst. Seemed bad at the time, but was nothing compared to most other things.
As an aside, I have a phobia of getting kidney stones. I've never gotten them and have no family history, so I'm low risk. But something about the stories from people who've had them is horrifying to me. I can make my palms sweat heavily just thinking about them.
Exposed root in a tooth
1. Kidney stone (it’s amazing how bad that little thing hurt)
2. Just recently had a shot in the bottom of my foot instep for plantar faciatis
3. A small patch of shingles on my left side (again, amazing how much pain those cause)
I forgot one - throwing my back out. I've done this a few times, but once in particular, I was immobile for 2-3 days. There was no way to move to alleviate it. Horrible.
posted by Dr Winston O'BoogieThis is how I felt with my stone.There was no way to move to alleviate it. Horrible.
posted by BRF1. Kidney stone (it’s amazing how bad that little thing hurt)
2. Just recently had a shot in the bottom of my foot instep for plantar faciatis
3. A small patch of shingles on my left side (again, amazing how much pain those cause)
Cortisone shots are painful
I’ve had kidney stones twice and first time I was unfunctional.
One of my many ankle sprains was terribly more painful than the other and it was excruciating.
My wife years back was waxing her eye brows and removed stuff from microwave and my young toddler son ran in front of her and she spilled the hot wax on her hands and holy crap....I had to rush her to the ER...they shot her up with whatever they had to to knock her out and then had to peel two outer layers of skin off.
That wax adhered obviously and wasn’t cooling down...nothing we could do. Awful
Have woken up with a bad back a few times and it was barely tolerable for a few days, shifting around in the chair or bed every few minutes trying to find a little partial relief. I was very happy to have work to provide a little distraction.
That was probably the worst overall, though a kidney stone was enough acute pain to nearly make me throw up.
Broke my arm in like 3rd grade but barely. I guess I’d go with that? Wisdom teeth weren’t that bad and haven’t had anything else crazy since then
Gout and kidney stone.
Both are/were far worse than breaking a bone or dislocating a joint.
posted by jmogGout and kidney stone.
Both are/were far worse than breaking a bone or dislocating a joint.
To be honest, a bad case of gout is far worse than even a kidney stone.
It’s absolutely terrible, can’t even lay a sheet over the affected joint without screaming out in pain.
Phantom pain in an amputated leg. It sucks because you can't really do anything about it.
1. Dislocated pinky is my most acute pain. Not sure I how drove myself home. I would never survive in the NFL or NBA. Bad tooth nerve was more intense, but that's just a brief burst once every few hours.
2. Badly-pulled hamstring.
3. The process of getting the needle in for an epidural anesthetic
Ankle sprains are up there. Weird how it happens, and then it takes about 5-6 seconds before the pain hits
I've heard the kidney stone horror stories from several friends, which is why I drink lots of water every day. Also considering the shingles vaccine this year.
Ruptured Achilles tendon. My surgeon was YSU's team surgeon....he told me it was the 2nd worse one he'd ever seen. Snapped in two, one half notted up near my heal, the other up to my calf. The injury was very painful, so was the rehab and recovery. I know why a pro athlete who ruptures the Achilles in week 1 is out for the season.
Awesome scar though.
^^^ It happened when I was 41, complete recovery took 13 months.
posted by Gardens35Ruptured Achilles tendon. My surgeon was YSU's team surgeon....he told me it was the 2nd worse one he'd ever seen. Snapped in two, one half notted up near my heal, the other up to my calf. The injury was very painful, so was the rehab and recovery. I know why a pro athlete who ruptures the Achilles in week 1 is out for the season.
Awesome scar though.
Couldn’t even finish reading once I saw what it was
Have never had gout but when I worked at county highway dept during summer of college years.....the biggest toughest guy there came down with gout and he said he couldn’t function at all. Said he couldn’t let the fan blow on his foot or he had blinding pain. Crazy stuff
posted by jmogTo be honest, a bad case of gout is far worse than even a kidney stone.
It’s absolutely terrible, can’t even lay a sheet over the affected joint without screaming out in pain.
I went a couple years with random foot pain that was inexplicable (no injury) and each time I couldn’t even put pressure on my foot. Dr told me it’s behaving like gout but I was too young for it. They did a blood test and my uric acid levels were off the charts. It runs in my family though.
posted by Gardens35Ruptured Achilles tendon. My surgeon was YSU's team surgeon....he told me it was the 2nd worse one he'd ever seen. Snapped in two, one half notted up near my heal, the other up to my calf. The injury was very painful, so was the rehab and recovery. I know why a pro athlete who ruptures the Achilles in week 1 is out for the season.
Awesome scar though.
I snapped mine at 35. Surprisingly, wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be.
I have a hereditary disease called Anylosing Spondylitis...where my spine joints are literally fusing together. No cure, but is treatment. Unfortunately it took them 9+ months to diagnose. So that’s an easy answer.
Aside from that:
