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
Make us preferred on Google

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

Ellen Pompeo
Dominik Bindl/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

Ellen Pompeo Sparks Representation Debate After Being Cast As Woman With Hearing Loss In New TV Series

Actor Ellen Pompeo has sparked a debate about representation after announcing her next television gig.

Pompeo, best known for her long-running stint as the titular Dr. Meredith Grey on Grey's Anatomy, is set to star in a new medical drama in development at Hulu playing a character with hearing loss.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rafael "Ted" Cruz; Elon Musk and Donald Trump
PBD Podcast; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Ted Cruz Details How Trump Reacted After Elon Musk Tweeted That He's In The Epstein Files Amid Their Public Fallout—And Yiiikes

The relationship between tech investor Elon Musk and MAGA Republican President Donald Trump might be best described as complicated. Musk and Trump teamed up for the 2024 election over their shared White nationalism.

In the immediate aftermath of the inauguration, Musk held a major role in the second Trump administration, heading up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that slashed appropriated funds' budget line items from agencies and departments across the federal government—something only Congress has authority to do—often based on a label of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) assigned by AI output and carried out by untrained, unqualified "tech bros."

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

It Looks Like Trump's Tacky Monument To Himself In DC May Become A Reality—And People Are Truly Disgusted

Critics pounced on President Donald Trump's latest vanity project after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced that excavation will begin for an enormous arch that will bear Trump's name.

Trump has given significant attention to White House renovations and other pet projects around Washington, D.C., since returning to office. Trump's White House renovations have already cost nearly $1 billion, according to one analysis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kevin Dillon, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Debi Mazar, Doug Ellin, Jerry Ferrara, Rex Lee and Jeremy Piven posing on a red carpet event in front of an "Entourage" step and repeat.
Gregg DeGuire / Contributor/Getty Images

'Entourage' Creator Speaks Out After Debi Mazar Claims Set Became 'Toxic' After Birth Of Her 2nd Child

Loosely inspired by the early days of Mark Wahlberg's rise to fame in Hollywood, Entourage, which Wahlberg executive-produced, was one of the most successful original series ever produced by HBO.

Premiering in 2004, Entourage went on to run eight seasons, and win six Emmy awards, even spawning a film, which premiered on HBO in 2015.

Keep ReadingShow less
Evan Rachel Wood reflects on being recast in Practical Magic 2 after originating the role of Kylie Owens.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images; Courtesy of Warner Bros.

'Practical Magic' Star Evan Rachel Wood Reveals Nobody From Original Film Reached Out To Her Before Her Role Was Re-Cast For Sequel

When Practical Magic 2 was announced last year, fans were ready to head back to the Owens family home—but apparently, not everyone from the original cast got the invitation.

The sequel picks up 25 years after the 1998 cult classic, with Joey King and Maisie Williams taking over as Kylie and Antonia Owens, the daughters of Sandra Bullock’s Sally. The recasting hasn’t exactly worked its magic on everyone, with fans complaining about Evan Rachel Wood and Alexandra Artrip being replaced in the roles they originated.

Keep ReadingShow less