# How many times have you been to the emergency room? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831 "2010-12-20T13:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/102 "2010-12-22T02:39:04Z")
Once in my teens for spraining my knee. Twice in 1995 due to food allergies. January 2007 due to norovirus that hit me really, really hard. So four times for me. I have, of course, gone to the ER other times, but it was accompanying someone who had an emergency other than myself. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/103 "2010-12-22T03:42:21Z")
3 OD/Failed suicide attempts: I’m feeling much better now. 1 vertigo 1 herniated disk: 9 days in hospital 1 fractured femur/concussion/stitches in right eyebrow: 3-4 days in hospital 1 bad cut on shin—result of falling onto a broken bottle 1 broken knuckle 1 cracked rib more than I can remember for migraines ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/104 "2010-12-22T04:44:33Z")
Partially severed index finger. Concussion, head injury while body surfing. Head laceration, hit by beer bottle. Lacerated other index finger. Lacerated palm, industrial accident. Head laceration, car accident. Perforated ulcer. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/105 "2010-12-22T16:27:47Z")
I’ve gone to the ER for myself on the following occasions: Cut off the tip of my pinkie Shingles Had a seizure at work There were a few other occasions when I was a kid, but I don’t remember details. I think both resulted in stitches. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/106 "2010-12-22T19:59:46Z")
Quite a few times, I was taken to the ER because I got hurt/sick at inopportune times and there was no pediatric urgent care near us. Fractured skull, age 5 Sliced wrist while doing dishes, age 8 or so 2 or 3 badly sprained ankles my mom thought were broken Slammed finger in door, age 10 Double ear infection plus strep, age 8 or so edited to add: age 8 or 9, one trip for a pencil point that broke and flew off into my eye and another trip when my sister stabbed me in the eye with a fork. My mother was in college during this time period and she wrote an article about me for her school newsletter. It was called Nightmare on Perkins Street and was about how she was certain the nurses were in the other room calling Child Welfare on her while I was being examined. After age 10, my ER visits pretty much disappeared because my mom finally got a car and was able to get me to urgent care in the middle of the night or on holidays. I don’t get sick/hurt during normal business hours. Very bad strep, dehydration, UTI, age 18 High fever and ongoing dehydration, 3 days later Sent by my doctor after he found more blood in my urine than urine. Turned out to be a really bad kidney/bladder/UT infection caused by severe dehydration/over-hydration (I’m talented), age 21 Sliced into my thumb at work, wouldn’t stop bleeding, age 26 Cut off the pad of my little finger at work, age 29 Throughout all that, there have been many (many many) trips to urgent care for strep, ear infections, and sprained ankles. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/107 "2010-12-22T20:04:45Z")
I can only think of two. 1. Got my ear ripped off. 2. Got hit in the head. Both were sports-related and involved colliding with someone when were were both trying to occupy the same space. ---
**Author:** ![tpatsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tpatsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tpatsfan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/108 "2010-12-22T21:18:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > 5: Fell off basement steps, landing on my head > 19: Panic attack > 28: Severe abdominal pain (told them it was my appendix; the bastards sent me home) > 28: Next morning: ruptured appendix (rushed into surgery; almost died) > 42: Numbness, growing from extremities. > 63: Sliced open hand with cat food lid (9 stitches) > 65: Bad infection on leg. Let me guess they didn’t do a thing for your panic attack? And I have a feeling being in a ER only made it worse. Most times they think people fake panic attacks because they are pill poppers so they do nothing for them. Fun fun fun. Next time stay home relax or call your doc and have him put you on something for them. That is if they are an on going problem. Because they are no fun. It is like being in a box and you feel like your going to die. (well really bad ones are) The mild ones are manageable. ---
**Author:** ![tpatsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tpatsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tpatsfan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/109 "2010-12-22T21:30:37Z")
When I was really young too many to count and to young to remember. I was that sick baby. Since then I would say Once for cutting my foot on glass-- stitches And 5 times that I can remember for seizures. I managed to get away before the ambulance got there many other times. Too damn expensive. Stupid people call 911 when you tell them not too. Only one of those times did I need stitches (7 split my head open) and this was when I was near my house. And twice I was out within an hour but because I was a school (college) I was forced to go and unable to demand that I didn’t want to. After the 2nd trip they didn’t make me anymore because I would show up at school an hour later and I think they got the picture. I was pretty much flipping them off. And no I don’t drive just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/110 "2010-12-22T21:34:57Z")
Wow. Can’t believe I forgot the one time I was taken to the ER in an ambulance. It was shortly after a large pickup truck turned in front of my little car (which was going 55 MPH). My sister and I both got ambulance rides for that one. She had a bad case of whiplash and I had minor whiplash, chemical burns on my arms, and seat belt abrasions on my neck and chest, along with a very nasty bruise traveling down the diagonal between my boobs. A bunch of x-rays, pain killers, muscle relaxers, and a referral to a therapist for the panic attack that wouldn’t go away and we were released. It was actually my shortest ER trip ever. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/111 "2010-12-22T21:42:13Z")
Hmmm, it’s been a few times. Now that I count 'em, it’s been 7 visits (not bad for 45 years, IMO): - Crashed face-first through a window when I was 5 (six stitches across the bridge of my nose) - 104-degree fever when I was 17 - Kidney stones (3 times) - One side of my face was paralyzed (we were afraid it was a stroke; turned out it was Bell’s Palsy) - Chest pains (turned out to be a stress attack, rather than a coronary issue, but that’s also where they figured out I was diabetic) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/112 "2010-12-23T00:56:31Z")
Let’s see… going backward: 4 years ago: Drug interaction, passed out completely; 14 years ago: Motorcycle accident, broken leg; 16 years ago: Car accident, possibility of neck trauma; 26 years ago: Laboratory accident, aqua regia burn; 28 years ago: Car accident, possibility of neck trauma; I think that’s it; when I was a kid, I escaped life-threatening injury; anything less than that, Mom made an appointment with my regular doctor. If I had any emergency room visits when I was little, I don’t know about it. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/113 "2010-12-23T01:44:15Z")
I’ve lost count. Must be more than 10 times. I’ve lived an interesting life. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/114 "2010-12-23T05:01:19Z")
> [@ecseas](#): > > I had the exact same thing. it caused 4 hospital visits, 2 ambulance rides and three drips. The labyrinthitis was the damnedest thing. I had no ear infection that I was aware of, no stuffiness or plugged up ear. And it came on all of a sudden, sometime during the night. The numbness in my face was about covered by the area where you might rest your cheek on the palm of your hand. And half of my tongue, and half of my lip. But the doctors said if it was a brain injury in would encompass all of one side not just that local area. Apparently there is a nerve that runs through this area of the ear that gets pressed against bone by swelling and causes the numbness. The unsteadiness got better after a few days but took around 6 weeks before I realized that I had all of my balance back. The numbness took much longer to go away and I still, almost a year later, get a funny feeling in that side of my lip. Perhaps the nerve damage is permanent. At least I got some pretty pictures of my brain and it all looks good in there. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/115 "2010-12-23T05:08:42Z")
Twice. Both for the same complaint, but the first time they didn’t diagnose it, though I stayed overnight. The second time a more intelligent Doctor figured it out as being gallstones. I have accompanied others to A&E about five times, for various things but probably the most interesting was for a stingray barb in the leg. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/116 "2010-12-23T05:09:11Z")
Probably about 6-8 times before age 13. One time in the last 37 years, a kidney stone. as an aside, I have never been in an ambulance. {knock on wood} ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/117 "2010-12-23T06:23:53Z")
47 years old…only 3 times. 3 yo - rocked so hard in the rocking chair I flipped it and hit my head. Stayed overnight under observation. 46 yo - thought I “just” had the flu. On New Year’s Eve, decided I was “scary sick”. Was admitted to small town hospital (temp 95, BP 68/40 - no wonder I was passing out when they wheeled me in…) Was there for three days before transfer to big city hospital. First ambulance ride. All I remember is being mad because it was one of only about 3 days all winter that it actually snowed. Visibility was bad and I was cheated - CHEATED I say - out of my helicopter ride. ICU in the big city and 14 days in the hospital with 2x pneumonia. 46 yo - 2 weeks ago. Left side of my face swelled up like a basketball overnight on a Saturday. Hobo spider led to MRSA led to IV antibiotics for 4 days. I now have a small hard knot on the side of my nose. They tell me it should be gone in a couple months :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Euryphaessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Euryphaessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euryphaessa)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/118 "2010-12-23T08:48:39Z")
Age 2 or so, I fell off a chair and into a kitchen counter, cutting the back of my head open. Age 19, gallstone attack. Age 21, feeling like I was losing my mind. I’ve been to the emergency room lots more times for more minor illnesses (i.e. not actual emergencies, things like strep throat and ear infections), simply because my family doctor wasn’t available or as is the case now, I don’t have a family doctor in the city. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/119 "2010-12-23T09:43:49Z")
Grammar school age: stitches in forehead. High School age: broken finger. Early Adult age: Panic Attack. Damn it’s embarrassing when you think you’re dying and the E.R. doc gives you a paper bag to blow into and you walk out minutes later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831.md?page=5)