# Seemingly small things that actually REALLY hurt... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267 "2017-06-18T02:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/61 "2017-06-19T19:20:57Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Also, chronically sitting on a skinny (practically non-existent) butt, even on the most luxurious cushion. It is more than an annoyance or mild discomfort, it _really_ hurts. Sometimes wounds will even develop just because there is so little insulation or protection. And when a wound develops on a wheelchair-dependent person’s ass, relief gets quite complicated. I mean, you can’t _not_ sit on it. So eventually I developed a system for relief that actually added artificial protection to my butt. I made my own butt cheeks basically. It is quite an involved process that includes adhesive pads, copious amounts of gauze padding and hypoallergenic tape keeping it all in place. When I first started, this process took 45 minutes to complete. I’ve been doing it so long now though that it only takes me 10 minutes. But I hate it with the fire of 1000 suns. The only thing I hate more is the butt pain that it alleviates. That would NOT have occurred to me. Yeah, kidney/gall stones are not really “seemingly small”, but I agree on the broken toe. I broke a pinky toe - who knew that little guy was actually pretty damn important when walking? As an update, my freaking mouth is STILL killing me. The periodontist texted me to check on me and even asked if I needed stronger pain management - so I must not be as wimpy as I thought. I refused it though. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/62 "2017-06-19T19:21:51Z")
I’ll toss mine in: needle biopsy of the thyroid. They don’t inject a local anesthetic (as it would be as painful as the biopsy itself) and then stick a very nice needle in your neck 8 times. I honestly don’t know if the pain by itself is that great, but having it happen in your neck is a definite multiplier. And then they keep warning you not to move while they’re doing it… ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/63 "2017-06-19T19:22:00Z")
I broke my little toe when I was in college. The break hurt, but what was worse was the ongoing pain while it healed. I was on crutches for a stupid broken pinky toe. Without the crutches, though, I couldn’t walk. Who knew the pinky toe could cause so much pain? When I was in my early 20s, I went to the beach (Orange Beach, AL). Playing in the surf, in about two feet of water, I got a tiny piece of jellyfish tentacle in my nose. (The surf was pretty high, and the wave action had pulled tentacles off some jellyfish.) The pain knocked me to my knees, and my eyes immediately watered so much I couldn’t see. The waves were washing over my head, and I couldn’t get my bearings properly to brace myself against them and stand up. I was just wallowing in the waves like a harpooned walrus. For about 30 seconds, I thought I was going to drown roughly 10 feet from dry land. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/64 "2017-06-19T20:01:07Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > I am laying here, full of self-pity. I had a gum graft done on Wed…which sounded like **such** a minor thing. ::makes notes to resume faithful flossing :eek: ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/65 "2017-06-20T02:24:59Z")
About fifteen years ago, I broke my left arm real good. Indeed, both radius and ulna got snapped, so neatly I heard people discuss the x-ray photographs I had taken for the occasion with actual surprise and even admiration. The staff at SF General dug the execution of that fracture _so much_ they opened up my left forearm, just to see it up close! (and ornamented it with tiny little steel plates and screws, hehe) During the 50 hours between the breakage and my surgery, I was not in a cast or anything. With every step I took, the fractured bones rubbed on each other. Have _you_ ever felt the loose ends of two smoothly broken bones rub against and grind into each other, deep in the flesh of your own left arm? I have. It was a strange and deeply unpleasant sensation. Another hospital several years earlier than that: I had an infected ingrown armpit hair which sent me to the doctor’s in a hypochondriacal panic. It got diagnosed, stuck with a needle, and emptied – leaving a wound which got stuffed with surgical gauze, after which I was sent on my way. Three weeks came and went, and I as well – to my follow-up appointment. I remember vividly that white sheeted cot where I sat and watched Dr. Youngdude as he gently removed my bandage, reached closer with his shiny steel tweezers, and then… .\*…and then he yanked that thirty feet of surgical gauze out of me! \*(It sure _felt_ like thirty feet of it at the time, anyway) I screamed, friends. Oh yes, I did. Indeed, I think I might’ve made the local news that night for the record-shattering loudness and duration of my scream. Still, it _was_ just an infected ingrown armpit hair instead of the death-warrant lymph node lump I’d convinced myself it was. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/66 "2017-06-20T15:53:25Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > ::makes notes to resume faithful flossing :eek: Sadly, too much oral hygiene is the issue - I was a “hard brusher”. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/67 "2017-06-20T19:08:52Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > Soak that bad boy in some as-warm-as-you-can-stand-it saltwater. Just FYI to anyone else with paronychia… Soaking it gave some very temporary relief, but not a lot. Couldn’t sleep for three nights until it was suggested I try Neosporin. So last night at 2 AM, in desperation, I went to the 24 hour drugstore and got a tube. Took an hour or so, but I finally started feeling some relief. It appears to be knocking back the infection today, and thank Og the pain has largely gone away. Jeez, just one fingertip… ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/68 "2017-06-20T20:06:32Z")
> [@Periwinkle](#): > > Breaking a toe. The memory still gives me chills. it was pretty bad, but worse for me is i had INTENSE paranoia that someone was going to step on my toe so i would subconsciously back away from people when they tried to talk to me… for months afterward! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/69 "2017-06-20T20:24:09Z")
You know when you’re shaking out a sweatshirt or fleece and the zipper pull snaps the back of your hand? That hurts a bunch. I get back spasms right above my tailbone. They can be set off by the most minor things. When they hit, it hurts for 2-4 weeks, intense pain at first and tapering off. My understanding is that the brain detects a potential spinal injury and makes the body pay. However, there may be no _actual_ reason or injury to the body. It is very much like waking with a stiff neck. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/70 "2017-06-20T21:01:42Z")
I am thirding the infected hangnail pain. I chewed a hangnail on my thumb about a year ago and the damn thing got infected. It throbbed constantly, and swelled up. The pain was bad and absolutely relentless, and got gradually worse for 3 days before I finally went to the doctor for antibiotics and ointment. I never realized how much you use your thumbs until I couldn’t use mine. I could barely dress myself because doing a button or zipper or pulling on socks required a thumb. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/71 "2017-06-21T21:25:22Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Dropping a quarter so that it lands edge-on on your bare big toe, just above the quick. Drove me to my knees… Similarly, don’t drop a liter bottle of water on the base of your big toe. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2017, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/72 "2017-06-21T23:43:43Z")
When something taps a testicle a little too hard. Lets say you are in pajamas and sit down and drop a remote on one. Yeah, that feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/73 "2017-06-22T19:30:11Z")
Fire ant bites. Literally a small thing delivered by a small thing, but dayum they hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/74 "2017-06-22T21:25:14Z")
I’ve had more than 40 kidney stones, and passed one of them while driving on a fairly busy road where I couldn’t pull over. I like to think I managed it well. In fact I like to think I manage pain pretty well in general, and can take sutures more or less in stride without anaesthetic. But this one time, I filed one of my toenails a little too short, and sheesh did that little bastard hurt! I felt sorry for myself something like three days! ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/75 "2017-06-23T06:53:11Z")
I developed severe plantar fasciitis (and heel spurs it seems) rather suddenly a few years ago, and I used to see a podiatrist about it. He gave me steroidal heel injections a few times. Uncomfortable, but it was a nice temporary palliative. Then he moved to a different practice, and the new doc was either less skilled or my feet were worse, or both… She dug in my heel with a large-bore needle for at least 3 minutes (I could feel and hear scraping on a bone, seriously), tried to inject, which didn’t work–the liquid eventually oozed out the skin, and I moaned so badly (and the steroid still wouldn’t go in) that she stopped and said, pretty bitchy, that I was basically a lost case and she couldn’t help me. Lady, I’ve had induced labor, epidurals and 3 spinal taps, plus wisdom tooth removals, and I’d do all of them again versus whatever you were doing to my poor foot. The big male neckbeard nurse came in while I was still sobbing, gave me a big hug and comforted me as I told him what had happened, but as nice as he was, I can’t bring myself to go back there. I crawl a lot or use a cane or the walls to get around. I don’t see any other options in my locale, and it sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/76 "2017-06-23T10:47:05Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Fire ant bites. Literally a small thing delivered by a small thing, but dayum they hurt. As a child I was once checking on a muscadine vine when some tiny insect (bigger than a fire ant, but not as big as a “normal” ant) wandered onto my arm. I just watched it, not realizing that what I know now was the nymph of an assassin bug would stab my arm and inject digestive juices into it. At least as bad as the worst bee sting I’ve ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/77 "2017-06-23T11:22:38Z")
Once upon a time I had a leg ulcer. Stated as a mosquito bite that wouldn’t go away. Ended up as a circle on my leg about the size of a quarter with no skin. That would not heal. Various dressings and treatments were tried, and one day the nurse took the dressing off and went “Oh… it’s overgranulating. I’ll just use a silver nitrate stick on that.” Sounds trivial, eh? Well, she got this thing that look a bit like an incense stick and touched it to the ulcer. Which I swear I saw fizzing like someone had spilled some Alien blood on it. And then it started to sting. And then it stung a bit more. And then when I didn’t think it could possible get any more painful, it just kept going, until I’m writhing in the chair screaming “FUCK!” and simultaneously apologising to the nurse for swearing. Eventually it subsided, and the nurse just looked at me and said “Eh… sorry about that. I know it stings quite a bit.”. ---
**Author:** ![Murph1111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@Murph1111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murph1111)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/78 "2017-06-23T17:44:05Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I’ve been told by some women that kidney stones can be more painful. > > Knocking your elbow. I hate that – it’s not just the pain, it’s also that weird, tingly feeling. > > Plantars warts. I once got a nasty case when I was 17 and even after they healed, it took my like a month to break the habit of walking on the side of my foot. Discussed this with a nurse one time. She thought only childbirth was more painful than kidney stones. I reminded her that I knew many women who wanted to have another baby, but nobody who wanted another kidney stone. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/79 "2017-06-25T03:36:53Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Speaking of gender and pain sensitivity, I have read that women have a higher pain tolerance with regard to internal pain (childbirth, kidney stones, what have you) and men have a higher pain tolerance with regard to damage to extremities. Maybe. But I’m a man and I’m not able to hold bare-handed a tray of piping hot food for more than two seconds, while many women I know (both family and friends) have no problem removing it from a stove and placing it on a table. Perhaps it’s just me or they’re more “hardened up” by traditionally female task such is the art of cooking. On a second thought, every ex-gf loved to shower in very hot, skin-reddening water, while I prefer my showers lukewarm at best. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/80 "2017-06-25T03:59:46Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Oh and Charleyhorses. Have a nice relaxing stretch early in the morning only the be yowling in pain unable to second later, unable to get enough breath together to explain to your bedmate that you are not infact in the process of dying. The most painful charlie horse I ever got was… anal sphincter. I went through a spell where they would regularly attack in the middle of the night out of the blue. Take the pain you feel in your calf or your hamstring and put it in your ass. Gad zooks. Happily (very happily), they stopped. I would also add an episode with stinging nettle is something one doesn’t soon forget. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267.md?page=5)