# Pain of hot pepper vs broken bones **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997 "2014-04-25T22:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/1 "2014-04-25T22:56:05Z")
I thought this had the potential to be an interesting question, but the other guy was unable to phrase it properly. Which do you think caused more immediate pain - eating the worlds hottest chilli or breaking a bone? I haven’t eaten the worlds hottest chilli, but I did break my femur, and that was fairly high on the pain scale. I’ve broken other bones (clavicle, various bones in my foot and hand) but they weren’t too bad on the immediate pain scale. From the other thread: > [@](#): > > The carolina reaper is hotter than pepper spray, with an average of 1,569,300 scoville heat units and peak levels of over 2,200,000 scoville heat units. For reference, a habanero is 100,000-300,000 SHU. A jalapeno is 2,500-5,000 SHU. Sriracha sauce is 1,000-2,500 SHU. Merely eating 800,000 SHU hot sauce is described as “pliers clamping down on your tongue” and “10 grit sandpaper on the tongue, as hard as you can” even when TRAINED hot pepper eaters eat it. Don’t underestimate the pain either; it’s unfathomable and impossible to imagine if you’ve never experienced it. . ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/2 "2014-04-25T23:14:18Z")
I’ve only broken one bone in my life, my wrist (OK, probably I’ve broken toes, but who gets that checked out). I wouldn’t even describe this as remotely the same kind or category of pain as too-hot hot sauce. I tried some from my father in law’s collection that sent my brain into a weird sort of fight-or-flight mode - you really can’t think anything else other than “something is very very wrong FIX IT!”. Whereas my wrist breaking was a sharp jolt followed by a dull ache. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/3 "2014-04-25T23:18:15Z")
Depends on the bone. I’ve eaten some pretty damn hot stuff. That level of pain cannot compare to what I felt when I broke my leg. Breaking a collar bone on the other hand wasn’t a sharp pain but a dull ache. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/4 "2014-04-26T00:48:22Z")
I’m not sure the level of pain can be divorced from the subjective aspect of it. When you knowingly eat hot sauce, you put yourself through pain but can tolerate it because you know it won’t do any harm except maybe an upset stomach. Whereas I have definitely (having eaten ghost pepper sauce) experienced much much much worse pain than having blood drawn, but having a needle sticking into you _just feels wrong_, so the subjective experience was around the same even though the actual pain per se was barely noticable for the needle. (I can’t compare ghost sauce to breaking a bone, never having broken one except perhaps a toe for which I didn’t go to the doctor. That was slightly worse than hot hot sauce or blood draw considering I knew it would last for weeks. Much worse than that was an infected wisdom tooth. That was worse than any pain that lasted for more than a minute or so (despite this, I only rated it an [“8”](http://xkcd.com/883/) at the ER.)) ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/5 "2014-04-26T00:53:24Z")
I’d suggest it depends on the bone AND it depends on the gustatory history of the person consuming the hot pepper. I am not particularly tolerant of spicy food (what friends find pleasant I can find quite unpleasantly spicy), so I am sure I would find a hot pepper far more painful than someone that enjoys very spicy food regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/6 "2014-04-26T02:00:59Z")
I’ve broken four ribs. Sometimes when I twisted the wrong way they gave me the sharpest pain I’ve ever felt. I’d far rather eat the hottest peppers I’ve ever eaten again than feel that pain again. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/7 "2014-04-26T02:05:21Z")
Broken ribs suck hard. I was terrified of sneezing. My asshole friends would tell me jokes so I’d laugh. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/8 "2014-04-26T02:14:22Z")
There is no right answer… I’ve broken my leg, and it honestly didn’t hurt that severely, but it was still painful any time I tried to walk even a month later. Peppers can knock you off of your feet, but a few hours later it is just a memory. The leg was definitely more of a burden if that helps at all. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/9 "2014-04-26T04:57:02Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Broken ribs suck hard. I was terrified of sneezing. > My asshole friends would tell me jokes so I’d laugh. Bastards. I’d tell people “It only hurts when I laugh…or breathe.” ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/10 "2014-04-26T05:22:38Z")
I’ve torn rib cartilage before, and for sheer irritation that was up there. When I broke my femur I actually passed out for a period, so I may have missed the most of that pain. I was in traction for about 6 weeks and got a nasty infection (in hospital, of all places) at the site of the pin. That was fairly painful as well. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-of-hot-pepper-vs-broken-bones/686997/11 "2014-04-26T11:58:49Z")
Ope fracture of tib/fib. Passed out, and hit the ground. Impact woke me up, and I was horizontal, but my left foot was still standing up on the ground, bare bones pointed straight up. I didn’t feel a thing, as I think adrenaline kicked in, and by the time I might have felt it, the paramedics had given me some “joy juice”, as they call it. A bit sore later, when recovering, but not too bad. The REAL pain was when they put in a titanium tibial nail (there permanently). The fracture site just above the ankle only gave an occasional dull ache, but the area below my knee, where they made the incision hurt like the Dickens for weeks, and I had to be put on opiates. Hot chilli? No idea. I love that stuff. It can be slightly unpleasant if you overdo it, but it also makes me feel wonderfully alive. So yeah, on balance, I’ll take the broken bone. Pain-wise, that is. The weeks recovering, not so much.