Pain is a complex topic, as it is subjective and dependent on the individual pain threshold. However, it’s hard to argue with one thing - pain is never pleasant (unless, of course, you are a masochist). It is difficult to ignore, it affects not only the physical condition, but also the psyche, making a person irritable and nervous.
When you experience certain health problems, it can be frustrating to feel that others do not understand how much it hurts you. Well, if your condition is in top 20 types of severe painthat a person can endure, then you certainly do not exaggerate the scale of your suffering. The list is compiled by specialists from the English National Health Service (NHS). All diseases in it are randomly ranked.
20. Endometriosis
This is a condition that, according to statistics, affects one in 10 women worldwide. Endometriosis occurs when the tissue that lines the uterus (called the endometrium) grows and goes beyond it. Under favorable conditions, endometriosis can occur outside the reproductive system, for example, in the navel.
Its most unpleasant symptoms include pain in the pelvic area, pain during menstruation, and pain during and after sex.
19. Cluster headaches
This specific type of headache occurs on one side of the head, usually around the eyes. The NHS considers the pain "very severe", and we add that this condition is sometimes called "suicide headaches." Because people suffering from cluster headaches are even ready to part with their lives to get rid of unbearable torment.
18. Capsulitis
The disease, which is also called the “frozen shoulder”, manifests itself when the joint becomes so tight and stiff that it is almost impossible for them to perform basic movements, for example, raise a hand. Capsulitis is common in people with diabetes.
17. Broken bones
When a bone fracture is not always unbearable pain is felt, and there are not always external manifestations of trauma, such as severe swelling. However, most often a bone fracture is accompanied by such discomfort that the victims literally howl and writhe from it.
A broken bone can grow together, but the older you are and the larger the bone, the longer it will take to recover.
16. Tinea versicolor
One type of herpes manifests itself in the form of a rash or blisters that go along the nerves. It causes a burning sensation or itching, as well as pain even with a light touch. Interestingly, due to shingles, a patient can suffer from lower back pain, which, it would seem, has no direct connection with the disease.
15. Fibromyalgia
This is a long-term illness that causes pain throughout the body. Women are more likely to suffer from it than men. Fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose, since the bones, joints, muscles and ligaments affected by it are usually not damaged, but simply dysfunctional. Lady Gaga suffers from fibromyalgia and talks a lot about how it feels to live with her.
14. Migraine
Those who have experienced migraines at least once will never forget this terrible sensation of throbbing pain on one side of their head, nausea and sensitivity to light. Common painkillers and popular sedatives do not always help with migraines. All that remains is lying in a dark, quiet place, waiting until the attack passes.
13. Integrated Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
It is characterized by severe and prolonged pain that can occur after a bone fracture, burn or cut. The pain, as described by the NHS, is “persistent and intense” and often “completely disproportionate to the severity of the initial injury”.
12. Displacement of the intervertebral disc
Intervertebral discs are flat round “pads” located between the vertebrae. They do not allow the vertebrae to rub against each other. In the center of each such disc is a gelatinous mass - the pulpous nucleus - which is surrounded by a dense fibrous ring.
Displacement of the intervertebral disc is a common cause of back problems, such as pain during movement, exercise, and even coughing.
11. Heart attack
This life-threatening condition is usually accompanied by pain in the center of the chest, which can be felt as heaviness, tightness, or constriction. In some people, pain extends to the jaw, neck, back, arms, or stomach. In some, less common cases, patients with diabetes can experience a heart attack without actually feeling pain due to damaged nerve endings as a result of their illness.
10. Sciatica
An unbearable aching pain that passes along the leg and occurs when the sciatic nerve (the longest in the body) has been pinched or damaged as a result of a back injury. Patients with sciatica, as a rule, do not experience severe pain in the back, instead they feel it in the lower back (and lower than it), as well as in the legs, up to the calf.
9. Sickle cell anemia
An inherited disease transmitted from parents to children causes a “pain crisis” localized in the bones and joints. Outbreaks of pain can occur for several weeks, and sometimes last up to 7 days in a row.
8. Appendicitis
No one thinks about the small appendage of the cecum - the appendix - until he makes himself known. Inflammation of the appendix is called appendicitis and can only be treated surgically.
Pain with appendicitis usually begins in the center of the stomach, and then moves to the lower right side of the abdomen, where it intensifies. It is one of the most powerful types of pain for a person. It is possible for mammals that also have an appendix, but they will not tell about this.
It is curious that before the appendix was considered a completely useless rudiment inherited from our ancestors. However, modern doctors have found that this appendix is still useful to the body, it is involved in the formation of intestinal microflora, as well as in endocrine and immune processes. That's just how - it is not yet clear.
7. Kidney stones
Until the kidney stone leaves the ureter, it will cause sharp spasmodic pain in the lower abdomen or lower back. Some compare this feeling with "cutting off the phallus frenum with a blunt knife."
6. Arthritis
The disease develops primarily in older people and causes constant pain in the joints - usually in the knees, hip and joints of the hand. The pain does not subside even at night, moreover, it intensifies, because during the day the joints “warm up” from movement and hurt less.
5. Acute pancreatitis
When the pancreas is damaged by inflammation and stops working properly, this condition is called acute pancreatitis. Patients experience dull aching pain in the abdomen, which is most severe after eating fatty foods.
4. Gout
The disease occurs when uric acid levels are high, often as a result of eating certain foods. Gout causes joint pain - usually at the base of the big toe.
3. Gastric ulcer
With this disease, a defect forms in the gastric mucosa, causing burning pain in the abdomen, usually between meals.
2. Pain after surgery
An operation is an invasive invasion of the body, so it is not surprising that severe pain occurs. Although its location and intensity vary depending on the type of operation. But the NHS reminds patients that “too much pain after surgery is not good,” and you don’t need to endure it heroically. The best way out is to seek help from a doctor.
1. Trigeminal neuralgia
The rating of the most severe pain in a person is led by a condition, also called Fothergill's disease, characterized by a sudden, severe shooting facial pain. And although pain attacks, as a rule, do not last long - from a few seconds to two minutes - they can occur up to a hundred times a day. According to anesthetist David Yeomans of Stanford University, patients consider trigeminal neuralgia the worst kind of pain in the world. Some even stop brushing their teeth due to the fact that this simple procedure causes pain, comparable, according to the sufferers, with a lightning strike in a part of the face.
Other doctors' opinions on pain rating
Not all doctors agree on which pain is most severe, according to the NHS. Gary Leroy, a family doctor in Dayton, Ohio, said in an interview with The Independent that the pain in the ranking is indeed very serious and common. However, Leroy advised adding two other conditions to the list - back pain, as “the most common thing that we see in primary care” and “toothache”.
According to him, "chronic lower back pain affects 80 percent of the world's population at some point in life." Toothaches are also common and can be extremely painful, especially if the nerve is damaged.
It is also surprising that the pain that women experience during childbirth is not included in the NHS list. It is unlikely that their sensations are less saturated and unpleasant than when a stone comes out of a kidney or stomach ulcer.
