15 Of The Worst Pains Humans Can Feel

Quick Links

• A Bullet Ant Sting

• A Torn Achilles Tendon

• Animal Attack Injuries

• Labor And Childbirth

• Kidney Stones

• Cluster Headaches

• Second Degree Burns

• Tetanus

• A Stonefish Sting

• Dental Abscesses

• Peritonitis

• Gonadal Torsion

• Penile Fracture

• Dercum's Disease

• Trigeminal Neuralgia

Highlights

• In late February, the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) warned of a potential shortage of vaccines for tetanus, one of the "worst pains" on this list.
• The bullet ant sting is ranked as the most painful insect sting, described as "pure, intense, brilliant pain."
• Some of the most excruciatingly painful experiences include severe animal attacks, torn Achilles tendon, and cluster headaches.

As unpleasant as it is, pain serves a very important purpose: it warns us that something is wrong, or tells us to withdraw from what is hurting us. Acute pain resolves quickly, generally when you remove your body part from damaging stimuli.

Chronic pain may last for years and greatly affect the quality of life. Whether pain is chronic or acute, there may be ways to get rid of it, or to at least manage it.

It has been estimated that $50 billion dollars a year or more is generated each year, just through medication to manage pain ... and some people have profited enormously from the suffering of chronic pain patients:

Some pain is so severe that withdrawing from the source of pain or treating it with medication won't resolve it. Other times, pain is chronic and incredibly different to manage.

There are several different types of pain, and in countries like the United States and Canada, pain is the most common reason for visits to the doctor. Most of us will experience different types of pain throughout our lives.

However, there are a number of pain sources which are more extreme than others, and are often described as "unbearable."

On occasion, a person experiencing these severe levels of pain never recovers. Their pain may be so severe their body goes into shock, or completely shuts down.

Some people live to talk about these horrific pains, and those who hear their stories can only hope they never have to experience it themselves.

Here are 15 of the most painful things a human being can experience, with the caveat that perceptions of pain can be subjective.

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15 A Bullet Ant Sting

The video above illustrates how much pain the Paraponera clavataca (more commonly known as the "bullet ant") can cause.

The brave fellow in the video is Hamish Blake, who voluntarily placed his hands in gloves that were filled with bullet ants - an act that can lead to the ants stinging the glove wearer over 100 times in just seconds.

Blake knew it would sting, but as the practice is part of a Brazilian tribal initiation, he may have underestimated its intensity.

According to Dr. Justin Schmidt (who created the Schmidt Pain Index, ranking the most painful insect stings), the bullet ant has the most painful sting on the chart, at a level of 4.0+.

Schmidt described the pain as "pure, intense, brilliant pain, like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch rusty nail in your heel."

14 A Torn Achilles Tendon

Because it is the strongest and largest tendon in the body, when the Achilles tendon ruptures or tears, it is said to be one of the most painful injuries in the world.

The Achilles tendon is located from the middle of the calf down to the heel, spanning roughly six inches, and it enables us to flex the foot, jump, run, and do most anything on our feet.

When this tendon tears or ruptures, which often come from a sports trauma, patients articulate the sensation as feeling like they "were shot in the back of the ankle."

For severe tears, surgery is likely necessary, but for more minor injuries, intense rehabilitation will often be effective.

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13 Animal Attack Injuries

Unfortunately, most people who are attacked by large animals like lions, tigers, and bears will not live to warn about the pain of these attacks.

These huge and powerful animals deliver debilitating blows, bites, and scratches to the humans they attack. These attacks often leave victims missing limbs, large chunks of skin, and other body parts.

One man who lived to talk about being mauled by a bear described some of his injuries as such: "a total of twenty-eight wounds, including a claw puncture to my right eye.

"One of my top vertebrae was broken in five pieces, and I would undergo multiple surgeries, including a skin graft from my back onto my scalped head."

Just one of those injuries sounds unbearable, let alone all of them at once.

12 Labor And Childbirth

Until recently, the pain of childbirth was something only those who had experienced it could understand.

Now, a few brave men have undergone simulated labor contractions thanks to properly placed electrodes. Though we'll never know if the pain they felt was as extreme as what women feel while giving birth (probably not), they sure act like it is.

The pain of childbirth, while undoubtedly worth the result, has been described as feeling like being stabbed in the stomach, menstrual cramps infinitely multiplied, having one's hips pulled apart, or having internal organs yanked out.

As we'll soon discover, extreme pain is not gender-specific.

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11 Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are crystalline lumps that form in the kidney or urinary tract.

Their medical name is "Nephrolithiasis" and they consist of either calcium, struvite, uric acid, and cysteine. People with kidney stones usually experience a sudden onset of pain below the ribs and right shoulder.

Along with being unimaginably painful, kidney stones often result in fever, blood and pus in the urine, and vomiting. These stones generally need to grow to three millimeters before they cause a blockage.

When that happens, the afflicted will experience waves of pain until the stone is either passed naturally, or surgically removed.

Shocking fact: The largest kidney stone ever extracted from a person was almost six inches wide. Yikes.

10 Cluster Headaches

Most of us can relate to the pain of a headache, but cluster headaches are a whole new level of discomfort.

These headaches are a result of a neurological disorder that results in severe pain on one side of the head, typically around the eye. These headaches – which are not migraines – occur in groups over a period of six to twelve weeks, hence the "cluster" moniker.

Those who experience cluster headaches often say it feels as though a hot poker is being pushed into their orbital socket, and they usually occur a few hours after sufferers have gone to bed.

The pain caused by these headaches is so severe the condition has been called a "suicide headache" for the occasional tragic impact the condition has on acute sufferers.

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9 Second Degree Burns

While it is natural to assume third degree burns would be the most painful, they are so damaging to all layers of the skin that there will be little to no pain initially.

Second degree burns with deep or partial thickness, however, often affect almost all layers of the skin, but severe pain will still be felt.

Second degree burns often appear to be wet or moist, and involve blistering and red and white patches. The pain of second degree burns is often so severe that the afflicted can go into shock or even lose consciousness.

Because of all the areas of exposed and vulnerable tissue, infections are common following burns, and they must be treated very carefully to prevent further pain or tissue damage.

8 Tetanus

Even though the tetanus shot is regarded as one of the most painful to receive, the condition it prevents is a far worse experience.

Updated, February 2024: On February 28th, several outlets reported on a warning from the Centers For Disease Control (CDC), pertaining to a potentially looming shortage of tetanus vaccine. According to the CDC's updated guidance on tetanus vaccines: "Despite [efforts to bolster supplies of tetanus vaccine], it’s anticipated that the supply of Td vaccine in the U.S. market will be constrained during 2024."

In coverage of the CDC's updated guidance, CBS News reported: "This year's shortage risk stems from a decision by nonprofit vaccinemaker MassBiologics to discontinue production of its Td vaccine, branded as TdVax.

"Supplies of the shot will likely run low as soon as this summer from the shot's distributor Grifols, the CDC told a panel of its vaccine advisers [on February 28th]."

However, CBS noted that tetanus cases had become exceptionally rare in the United States, adding: "Preliminary CDC data tallies just 15 cases in 2023 and 28 in 2022 reported from the infection."

Tetanus is a bacterial infection caused by Clostridium tetani. When it enters the body, it releases a poison that causes the muscles to become painfully rigid.

Tetanus is often referred to as "lockjaw," as it commonly affects the muscles in the jaw and face, rendering the victim incapable of opening or moving their jaw.

Tetanus is widely associated with a puncture injury in people who have never received the tetanus vaccination, or those whose immunity has waned.

This infection requires emergency medical treatment which includes anti-toxins and drugs to control the painful muscle spasms, and patients often require assistance breathing until they recover.

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7 A Stonefish Sting

Stonefish are a type of fish found in coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific; they have glands at the base of their sharp fins that excrete deadly neurotoxins when they feel threatened.

True to their name, stonefish can blend in with the stones on the floor of the ocean, totally camouflaged. This means that people often mistakenly step on them, which results in an unbearably painful stonefish bite.

The amount of toxins a stonefish will release is proportional to the amount of pressure applied to it. If it releases enough of its toxins, stonefish bites can prove fatal within only two hours.

First, the victim will experience extreme pain and swelling at the sting location, and this pain and swelling spreads quickly. It also turns into delirium, nausea, paralysis, and seizures, and worsens.

With immediate treatment and anti-venom, stonefish bites can usually be treated within 48 hours, although it depends on the severity of the bite.

If the bite occurs in the chest or abdomen, it tends to be fatal.

6 Dental Abscesses

Tooth abscesses are just as unpleasant and painful as they sound.

Abscesses can occur all over the body, but dental abscesses are thought to be especially painful due to their proximity to so many nerves.

Often, due to decay, bacteria enters the tooth and causes infection and swelling. Even worse, this infection can spread to the bones around the affected tooth, leading to serious complications.

Along with excruciating pain, those with a dental abscess tend to experience fever, facial and glandular swelling, an unpleasant taste in their mouths, and general uneasiness.

Luckily, antibiotics often treat abscesses, otherwise a root canal or surgical draining of the abscess may be necessary.

5 Peritonitis

The peritoneum is the thin lining that covers not only the inner wall of the abdomen, but most of the abdominal organs as well.

When this lining is inflamed, it is called peritonitis, and it is horribly painful. There are different causes of peritonitis, including appendicitis, a perforated gastrointestinal tract, lesions, and foreign body reactions after abdominal surgery.

Those experiencing peritonitis will generally endure rapid onset abdominal pain, fever, nausea, and vomiting. If left untreated, this condition is almost always fatal.

When caught within 48 hours, most cases can be treated with a strong dose of antibiotics, rehydration, and occasionally surgery.

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4 Gonadal Torsion

When a man experiences testicular torsion or a woman experiences ovarian torsion, the impacts are just as painful as you would anticipate, if not worse.

When a man's spermatic cord becomes twisted, blood supply to the testicle is cut off, resulting in rapid onset testicular and abdominal pain. With immediate surgery, there is a good chance the testicle can be saved.

Ovarian torsion repair is the fifth most common gynecological surgery, and it usually occurs in women under 30. When an ovary is twisted to such a degree that the connecting artery or vein is cut off or reduced, it results in serious lower abdominal pain, among other unpleasant symptoms.

The ovary can often be saved if it is quickly surgically repaired.

3 Penile Fracture

A penile fracture, also known as "Every Guy's Worst Nightmare," is said to be one of the most excruciatingly painful injuries ever.

Penile fractures are generally the result of blunt trauma ... also known as overenthusiastic sexual activity. This trauma leads to the engorged penile corpora essentially cracking and popping from the strain much in the way a bone would, although it technically is not a bone.

Victims of penile fractures experience a sudden bout of horrific pain, swelling, and bruising.

Luckily, if treated quickly (generally with surgery), the structure can wholly restored ... but the memories may take longer to fade away.

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2 Dercum's Disease

Dercum's disease is characterized by multiple, fatty, benign tumors that grow generally on the trunk of the body, and 85 percent of diagnosed cases occur in women; the condition is often co-morbid with obesity.

However, it has also been found in men, and people who are not obese. The pain from the tumors is so severe it renders some people completely incapacitated.

These tumors can feel burning hot, and things as simple as showering or getting dressed can trigger extreme pain.

The cause of Dercum's disease is not known, and treatment generally consists of treating symptoms as they come.

1 Trigeminal Neuralgia

It's commonly described as feeling as if lightning is striking one's face, but trigeminal neuralgia, which can be felt almost anywhere on a person's head, actually originates from the trigeminal nerve's function being disrupted.

It is more common in women than men, and it is estimated that at least one in 20,000 people experience it. There is no cure for trigeminal neuralgia, but it can often be managed with therapy and medication.

Episodes can last from just a few seconds to several hours, and in particularly nasty cases, something as light as a gush of air can set it off.

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