Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe The Worst Physical Pain They've Ever Experienced

Silhouette of woman rubbing head
man holding forehead under sunset

No two people have the same threshold for pain.

Some people don't even notice pricking their fingers, while others might equate doing so to being fully amputated.

No matter one's threshold, however, being in pain, big or small, is never a good feeling.

Particularly if it's the sort of pain that aspirin or ibuprofen can't take care of.

Some pain is so horrific that those suffering from it genuinely can't imagine going through anything worse.


Redditor Idontknowwhereiam23 was curious to learn about the absolute worst physical pain people every experienced, leading them to ask:
"What's the worst physical pain you have ever had?"

Ineffective Anesthesia

"I am a heart-transplant recipient."

"The absolute worst experience of my life was when the tool used to take tissue samples of the heart (biopsy) to check for rejections got stuck and the doctor tried to use force to get it out, he failed."

"Mind you, you shouldn't be able to feel anything in the transplanted heart."

"I felt everything."- Beastrix

Seriously, What Haven't They Been Through?

"Kidney stones."

"Having A UTI after covid that also had light pneumonia."

"Falling on my hands and knees while my backpack full of school books to return [2011 for book reference] that slammed into my back."

"I have scoliosis already and it threw my back out."

"Or my hip dislocating."

"It still dislocates."- Fluffy-Doubt-3547

Ouch...

"Bowel obstruction."

"Like 10,000 knives in my stomach."- coffeedogsandwine

You Know Its Bad When Surgery's The Only Solution

"Gal stones."

"Ended up having my gal bladder removed."

"Unimaginable."

"And I've broken my knee skiing which also required surgery."

"Minor annoyance in comparison."- Fracture_98

Necessary Pain...

"I had a doctor once reset a broken bone in my wrist."

"He pushed it back."

"Worst pain I have ever felt."

"I screamed at him 'F*CK YOU, MOTHERF**KER!!'"

"He was nice about it though, and just laughed."- OttersOfNorthAmerica

Headache's Are Never Fun

"Chronic Cluster Headaches."- noiamnotyourfriend

"Worst headache of my life with migraine."

"And with it, an increase in blood pressure."

"I just lay on the floor and couldn't move."

"It cannot be described in words, but I have already vomited everything that is possible, and instinct made me writhe in the urge to give out something that has not been there for a long time."- Exciting_Composer_86

Wrong Tooth!

"I had a root canal done on a tooth that wasn’t numb."

"I didn’t realize it until they scraped the nerve out of the bottom of the root."

"It hurt so bad I completely blacked out."- victrola_cola

Dairy Overload

"Welp I guess now's the time."

"If you're squeamish turn away."

"Allow me to tell you the story of the gigash*t."

"I always had stomach issues."

"One holiday I ate too much dairy and gravy and it didn't agree with me."

"I already had constipation issues, most likely due to college stress, under hydration, and lactose intolerance that I didn't know I had at the time."

"I was hunched over in pain for hours."

"I had been stuck for a week or so and I wanted it out."

"The pain got progressively worse and worse across the day, and then it got to a height. It hurt so bad I cancelled my holiday visits and hobbled to the toilet."

"Little did I know what horrors awaited me."

"I don't know how long I was in there fighting for my life."

"At some point I had pulled a dresser over to lean my head and arms on because I was so exhausted and in pain, and I needed something to help keep my legs up."

"I clung to it like a castaway clings to flotsam."

"I felt like I should have seen a doctor, but I was already hell bound now, couldn't quit after all this work."

"I actually tried to use wipes to pull some of it out by hand, but it was like chiseling at hardening clay, and it was stuck like glue to my dying organs."

"I was certain I was dying too, but I wasn't going to give up."

"I wasn't going to let the football in my guts win."

"I clenched and pushed and suffered for what felt like hours."

"Then, at the height of my pain, it fell like a single brick with a clunk."

"I was huffing and puffing."

"It was like I just gave birth, and my a** was obliterated to the point where it was sore for the rest of the day."

"My guts actually felt empty."

"It's hard to explain, but I never felt so light in my life, despite how horribly the rest of my body ached."

"I was but a husk for the small football shaped demon spawn to shed, and now I was free."

"I immediately went to bed, still unbelievably sore."

"I recovered, but that was the absolute worst."

"Moral of the story, drink your water and eat your fiber, and for God's sake don't eat too much cheese."- mysterious_greenbean

Just When They Thought The Worst Was Over

" Woke up to to a huge spider right next to my face on my pillow."

"My reaction was to jump out of bed screaming bloody murder."

"I landed on the leg I had surgery in the day before, the leg gave out and I hit it hard on the bedframe and tore the wound."

"I passed out from the pain."- mistaekeish

Hopefully Not Simultaneously?!

"Kidney infection and tooth infection have been the absolute worst."- SexyChronicPain

Our Bones Are More Delicate Than We Might Think

"Skull bone infection (osteomyelitis) stemming from a tooth abscess, ended up with 3 front teeth out through high school."

"It took around 11 extraction/bone graft/implant surgeries for like 5 years of my life."

"But I’m all good now."

" Oh and f*ck broken ribs."- throwaway19273919

Thankfully, not all pain is chronic, and only lasts a short time.

If pain is unbearable enough, however, the memory of it can last a life time.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

dog and cat snuggling together
Krista Mangulsone on Unsplash

Times Pet Owners 'Severely Underestimated' Their Pets' Intelligence

I've lived with cats—because no one owns a feline—most of my life. Some have been very clever creatures while others were real dingbats.

Family members have owned dogs whose talents also ran the gamut.

Keep ReadingShow less
Scott Bessent
Meet the Press/NBC News

Scott Bessent Blasted Over His Bonkers Suggestion For How To Bring Your Own Inflation Rate Down

Continuing to follow the example of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on Meet the Press Sunday to blame Democratic President Joe Biden for the financial downturn caused by Trump's tariff fiasco, then lied repeatedly about the state of the economy.

Meet the Press host Kristen Welker played a clip of MAGA Republican Vice President JD Vance telling a conservative audience at a Breitbart News event that Americans owe the Trump administration "a little bit of patience"—apparently while they figure out what tariffs are and how they work since they're rolling back more of them to lower consumer prices despite claiming Trump's tariffs don't affect consumer prices.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lindsay Lohan attends the men's final during day fifteen of the 2025 US Open Tennis Championships at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Elsa/Getty Images

Lindsay Lohan Is Now Sporting A New Accent—And Fans Aren't Sure What To Make Of It

In a twist freakier than a sequel to Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan has debuted yet another new accent—this time at the Fashion Trust Arabia Awards in Doha, Qatar.

Draped in a maroon, jewel-trimmed gown by The New Arrivals Ilkyaz Ozel and accompanied by her husband, Bader Shammas, and their 2-year-old son, Luai, the actress looked serene, elegant, and completely unbothered by the collective whiplash she was about to inflict on the internet.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jameela Jamil
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

Jameela Jamil Speaks Out Against The Rise Of The 'Aesthetic Of Emaciation' Among Women In Hollywood

Content Warning: eating disorders, thinness as an aesthetic, emaciation in Hollywood

There's no denying that we've been gifted with some incredible music, television shows, and films this year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Screenshot of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour 2"
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images; New Line Cinema

Trump Is Now Using His Presidential Sway To Pressure Studio Into Making 'Rush Hour 4'—And, Huh?

President Trump has reportedly pressured Paramount head Larry Ellison to make another sequel to Rush Hour, his favorite buddy-cop movie, as the company looks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

The first Rush Hour film, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, was released in 1998, received positive reviews, and made $245 million worldwide. Chan and Tucker returned for two sequels released in 2001 and 2007 respectively.

Keep ReadingShow less