Life is hard. That is a truth that will never not be valuable to acknowledge. I love life and being alive but I am not blind to the fact that life is riddled with strife and pain.
And pain comes in all shapes and sizes. Whether it be physical, mental or emotional, pain is inevitable. But pain is doable. We can learn to experience it, live with it, and most importantly grow from it.
They say without pain, how can we know joy? I hate that mantra too, but it holds some truth. It doesn't always make the pain survival worth it, but it can help. So let's discuss it.
Redditoru/Jergunglefingerwanted to hear from everyone who was willing to share some of their more uncomfortable life moments, by asking:
What is the most painful thing you have ever experienced?
The most physical pain I have ever had the misfortune of living through is all dental. I don't remember much, the dentist was merciful with the gas, thankfully. But I know the mouth holds a certain type of torture.
Hot Shot
Boiling Hot Water GIF by BrewDogGiphy"5 gallons boiling water being poured down my leg. Trying to hold my volume down while screaming. Got to ER and they shot me in the butt with something and it all went away."
- snoo-you
Broken
"Broken foot. Crap has tons of nerves. I had to walk home a block too. I passed out when I finally got through the door. Luckily someone was there to get me to a hospital."
"In high school, I was running a 2 mile race in track. My foot broke halfway through. I didn't realize it and finished. The pain blurred out all of the physical exertion."
Teen Angst
"I broke my ankle when I was a teen. Walked on it for a month because my parents were insistent I'd just sprained it. Nope. Bottom of my foot turned black from the pooling blood. I was a candy-striper volunteer at the local hospital and showed it to a doctor once. They told me I should see a (ortho) doctor about it. I couldn't do that until my parents took me. So I just stuck my white nursing shoes on and did my rounds."
Awake
"I got my thyroid removed, and because of a miscalculation, I got the anesthesia too early, causing me to wake up mid surgery. Fortunately, they noticed right away and put me back to sleep, but for what was couple seconds and felt like hours I was able to feel my whole neck completely open and them taking my thyroid out. It is up to this day the cause of many nightmares."
Full Force
Drumming Travis Barker GIF by blink-182Giphy"I was drumming really hard once and I missed the snare drum, and smacked myself in the testicles at full force. I switched to lighter drumsticks after that."
That is a whole lot of mess. I may have nightmares. And I'm glad I never played with drums. Also, life lesson... stay away from boiling water. What other horrors await?
Oh Hell No!
troll dentist GIFGiphy"My first dental abscess. It would actually knock me to the ground when the pain flared. Fun fact, I ended up removing the problem tooth with a pair of pliers and a bottle of gin."
Farewell...
"Watching my wife take her last breath, watching the machine they had her hooked to flat line. To this day it's the worse pain I have ever felt. She was 43 and I'm here without her. This pain will never heal, I see it in my daughter's eyes when she does something spectacular and her mother is not here."
- MPS007
Off the Ladder...
"This (NSFL) is my leg after a ladder slipped out from under me when I was 3m above some tiles. Foot went through the ladder, then I landed on it. Popped right off and didn't want to go back on. The worst of the pain was after they got it back on and put it in a cast but I had to wait overnight for surgery. During the night it swelled up too big for the cast and basically for a few of hours it felt like someone was slowly crushing my ankle in a vice."
"Not sudden, just slowly crushing it over hours. I was hyperventilating from pain and passing in and out of consciousness. Nurses finally took me seriously and called the surgeon who had them cut the cast off. Immediate indescribable relief better than anything I've ever experienced."
- cl3ft
A Few Things...
"Physical: Having kidney stones, and then the follow up and passing of tiny pieces from the extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL)."
"Emotional: Making the decision with my family to take my dad off life support and then saying goodbye and being there with him when he passed."
People Explain Which Conspiracy Theories They Believe Are 100% True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
The Fire
"My wife grew up with a best girlfriend. They were inseparable as young girls, teenagers throughout school, college, and continued into adulthood. Girlfriend got married, and had two children with her husband. I married into the situation, and we all became pretty much family. Their house caught fire while their kids were upstairs."
"Girlfriend went for the girl, husband went for the boy. He and the boy made it out. The pain of losing her and 10-year-old daughter was the worst thing in my life, and I can't even imagine how it is for my wife. They were going to be old ladies together."
Don't Jump
sister kiss GIFGiphy"Running through a housing estate at night, I didn't see the 10" high railings separating the grass patches from the concrete."
"I cleared the first without seeing it to run on the grass, two metres later I tripped and landed knee first on the paving, smashed my kneecap in three pieces. That was a long time without walking and it still hurts in the cold weather."
Holding Down
"Decades ago, I had something going on w/ my bladder, so I needed a scope, which goes straight down the urethra tube. This was back before they had flexible ones, and the scopes were quite rigid. I was sitting calmly on the table in the doctor's office for the procedure and two huge guys walked in the room. I nervously asked the doctor what was going on. He replied "they're going to hold you down". I was swearing at them through the whole ordeal."
- Mm_Donut
Fresh Circle of Hell
"I definitely don't recommend letting your gallbladder store its awful handicraft stones inside your liver. Gallbladder stone pain is bad enough, but having them essentially overflow to back up into my liver was a fresh circle of hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. I was euphoric upon awakening from the stent procedure to remove them; the relief was so overwhelming that I started crying when the GI doctor doing the stent came to my room for follow up."
The Tumor
"I had a tumor in my vagina that could only be described as "hammock" like. i was young and going through puberty with only my dad raising me, put in a tampon and it ripped one side off. before they removed it, they did an ultrasound, the kind where they basically shove an 8 inch scope inside of you. then to numb it they had to put a needle inside of it as well. i've been through childbirth and not even that compares to the pain that i went through with that damn tumor."
Ongoing Issues
"Ran over by a truck and dragged while cycling, hit and run. No initial pain, unconscious for 2 months. However, upon regaining consciousness, I was lvl 10 multiple times a day for the next 6 mos. Had a colostomy for 2 yrs, the pain from defecation was immense. The stoma became inflamed from constant exposure to stomach acids."
"The pain from daily stoma cleaning with antiseptic was indescribable. I heard of pouring salt on wound would apply I guess. Pain was so excruciating I think I may have passed out a few times. Luckily I'm whole again, if was a difficult 2.5 yrs."
- dal1999
30 Hours
Tom And Jerry Pain GIF by Boomerang OfficialGiphy"Worst physical pain I ever felt was a spinal blood patch after an epidural needle went too far. Worse than 30 hours of labor, worse than anything I've ever felt in my life."
Crippled Dreams
"Got shot in my stomach and leg. Stomach one wasn't that bad, went in the front and out my side, but my freaking leg man. The bullet hit the bone between your shin and foot, and got lodged in there. Literally hurts every day. Few years ago I moved across the country with literally no money or plan, and though the struggles made a whole new life for myself. I am currently in school and have a pretty home with 2 beautiful cats and a girlfriend who believes in me. Better late than never right."
She Snapped...
"Finding out my ex fiancé cheated on me and than hearing her literally say that all our promises and memories and all I had done for her didn't matter and she didn't give a sh*t about any of it. Giggled like the years of us being together was a joke and was nothing."
"This girl up until that point was all over me and acted like I was just the best thing in the world. I had never been so happy for years. And thae one day I just woke up and she just snapped. Like she just changed overnight and a cold unfeeling robot had took her place. What even is this life."
Lay back...
"Woke up during surgery. They were cutting into me and prepping to break my leg and reset it with screws and pins. I was about 4 and I'll never forget it. Woke up with all the medical staff hovering over me, telling me to "Lay back and go to sleep." To this day, I have a phobia of going under/surgery. Forget that."
Marlon Brando Movie GIFSnap...
"Snapped all the tendons in my right foot they were pushed into the bone by a piece of glass nearly died three times on the operating table... dehydration, loss of body heat, then my heart stopped so they had to bring me back."
Emotional pain, I don't want to chat about. And this thread makes me want a drink. So that's the plan. Keep smiling and be careful out there.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
@themanfromvulcan/Reddit
@buffysmanycoats/Reddit
@jadelikethestone/Reddit
