# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/81 "2017-06-25T04:31:25Z")
All you infected hangnail people–you want a lemon. Squish it around a bit to release some juice then cut a hole big enough to stick the infected digit into. You think it’s going to hurt but it absolutely doesn’t, and after you leave the finger in there for an hour or so it opens up the infected area perfectly and drains all the yuck out. Wash it out, squish some neosporin on it and bandage it and in a day you won’t even know it happened. Learned the trick from a restaurant dishwasher who was constantly getting infected cuts on his hands. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/82 "2017-06-25T16:53:44Z")
I will third or fourth or whatever the broken tailbone. I missed a stair and landed ass-first on a wood floor. Damn, that hurt. The only way I could get comfortable for weeks was laying on my stomach. It hurt to sit, hurt to lay on my back, hurt to pick anything up. And there’s nothing you can really do to make it feel better. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/83 "2017-06-25T19:10:16Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > The most painful charlie horse I ever got was… anal sphincter. Dammit. I didn’t even know that was a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/84 "2017-06-25T19:47:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I know it’s fairly temporary, but whacking a shin on something can be incredibly painful! Seriously! It’s almost like one getting their nuts grazed. It takes a second to sink in and is just a deep seated bone hurt ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/85 "2017-06-25T19:49:58Z")
Looks like this thread has drifted from ‘small things’ so I’ll throw in inner ear infection. I’ve gone to the emergency room twice cause i couldn’t take it. And in any “If you time travelled to ancient times at age 10, how would you have died.” thread…“Ear infection” is my answer. That would be a horrible way to go. ---
**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, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/86 "2017-06-25T20:26:30Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Dammit. I didn’t even know that was a thing. Me, either – till it bitch-slapped me once in the middle of the night. Then it happened a couple more times. Saw a doc… he explained it is a thing but mercifully rare. No insights into what causes it. I was very glad when I stopped experiencing these episodes. Gives a whole new meaning to the expression, “tight ass.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/87 "2017-06-26T14:10:51Z")
I once had a tooth abscess that popped when I bit down on it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/88 "2017-06-26T21:55:50Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Looks like this thread has drifted from ‘small things’ so I’ll throw in inner ear infection. I’ve gone to the emergency room twice cause i couldn’t take it. > > And in any “If you time travelled to ancient times at age 10, how would you have died.” thread…“Ear infection” is my answer. That would be a horrible way to go. Yes! I had one as a teenager that lasted weeks. Finally they added cough syrup with codeine to the ear drops (I mean, I drank the CSWC :)) and I wouldn’t have minded if it went on forever… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/89 "2017-06-27T01:12:59Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I once had a tooth abscess that popped when I bit down on it. IME, the pain of a tooth abscess stops when it pops, precisely. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/90 "2017-06-27T05:38:10Z")
> [@DLuxN8R-13](#): > > 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. There are a myriad of videos on You Tube of wounds being packed, and unpacked. It’s amazing how much they can stuff in there. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/91 "2017-06-28T04:48:28Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Fire ant bites. Literally a small thing delivered by a small thing, but dayum they hurt. Fire ant bites are no big deal, because they sting. Other end of the critter. OK, they do bite, but that’s just to hang on while stinging. For a pain quite a few magnitudes larger than a fire ant sting from a creature not that much bigger, try a velvet ant sting. No, really, don’t. They don’t call 'em cow killers for nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/92 "2017-06-28T11:12:48Z")
I still hate that calf cramp that hits about 2am in the morning and wakes you up screaming. I know I wouldn’t keep a loaded gun by the bed. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/93 "2017-06-28T13:27:58Z")
I have two: I had fillings put into my furthest back lower molars as a teenager, the only cavities I ever had. Fast forward two decades, I’m chewing ice, which I know I’m not supposed to do, and I feel a cracking on the left molar. No pain really, just the sound. The next day, I am eating Doritos and apparently some of the tooth fell away at some point, and the nerve was exposed. One of the chips pointy ends went directly onto that nerve while eating them and…oh man. Talk about a bright white flash of instant pain! It was relentless and overbearing. Next day I go to the emergency dental clinic and am presented with two options: rebuild the tooth over the course of several visits for thousands of dollars (no dental insurance at that time) or extraction for $75. I opt for extraction, and the dentist warned me that it might be problematic, and was it ever. The tooth kept breaking into smaller and smaller shards as she tried to get it out. I spent an hour in the chair with that mouth-opening device stretching my face into a joker’s grin while she poked, prodded and excavated with what I can only call a water laser. Finally, she stopped and told me that there were still small shards buried in my gum but that their small size was beneath some acceptable threshold to leave them. It took a YEAR for the largest of the shards to work it’s way out, and it was SHARP. You know how when you have a sore or something in your mouth and you can’t stop worrying at it with your tongue? I cut the tip of my tongue countless times working on that shard until it finally came out one day with the help of a tip of a knife and a mirror. My other is simply the pain from appendicitis. Man is that ever crippling. Doubled over, nauseous, feverish, horrid pain. The pain of the sutures upon awakening from the appendectomy was laughably relieving by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/94 "2017-06-28T19:44:21Z")
I stepped on a tree branch last summer and it sproinged up, cartoon-style, and hit me on the side of my nose. I figured I had hairline fractured/bruised the nose sidebone and didn’t bother to go to the ER (what are they gonna do – put a cast on my snout?) Damn, that side of my face had a deep-seated ache for two months and it hurt like a mo-fo to do any nose-related activities (snot removal, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/95 "2017-06-28T20:35:52Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Scratched cornea can be pretty bad, especially in bright sun. I once, while opening mail at work, used a bit more force than necessary to pull a piece of paper out of an envelope and hit myself in the eye. Spent the next few hours weeping from one eye. It hurt to see plus there was a bunch of sand in my eye that no amount of rubbing or flushing would get out. My boss finally had someone drive me to the ER. Yeah, I paper cut my own eyeball. The worst part was they eye-patch I had wear for a week. I tried to go to work but I couldn’t walk with it on. It gave me vertigo so bad, I felt nauseous all the time. All that from a tiny scratch. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/96 "2017-06-29T02:26:34Z")
> [@Periwinkle](#): > > Breaking a toe. The memory still gives me chills. This – and unluckily I’ve had several. I’ve had broken legs and arms that didn’t hurt as bad. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/97 "2017-06-29T04:53:42Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I have two: > > I had fillings put into my furthest back lower molars as a teenager, the only cavities I ever had. Fast forward two decades, I’m chewing ice, which I know I’m not supposed to do, and I feel a cracking on the left molar. No pain really, just the sound. The next day, I am eating Doritos and apparently some of the tooth fell away at some point, and the nerve was exposed. One of the chips pointy ends went directly onto that nerve while eating them and…oh man. > > Talk about a bright white flash of instant pain! It was relentless and overbearing. Next day I go to the emergency dental clinic and am presented with two options: rebuild the tooth over the course of several visits for thousands of dollars (no dental insurance at that time) or extraction for $75. > > I opt for extraction, and the dentist warned me that it might be problematic, and was it ever. The tooth kept breaking into smaller and smaller shards as she tried to get it out. I spent an hour in the chair with that mouth-opening device stretching my face into a joker’s grin while she poked, prodded and excavated with what I can only call a water laser. Finally, she stopped and told me that there were still small shards buried in my gum but that their small size was beneath some acceptable threshold to leave them. It took a YEAR for the largest of the shards to work it’s way out, and it was SHARP. > > You know how when you have a sore or something in your mouth and you can’t stop worrying at it with your tongue? I cut the tip of my tongue countless times working on that shard until it finally came out one day with the help of a tip of a knife and a mirror. > > My other is simply the pain from appendicitis. Man is that ever crippling. Doubled over, nauseous, feverish, horrid pain. The pain of the sutures upon awakening from the appendectomy was laughably relieving by comparison. IANAD, but you made the right decision. That tooth was not salvageable. and YEEEEOWTCH!!! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/98 "2017-06-29T08:45:59Z")
Bump on the head. Nothing. Not even worth worrying about. Bump on the head in _exactly the same spot_, from _exactly the same object_ a few seconds later. Who knew that such a little thing could hurt so much? My eyes watered. My legs went rubbery. My breath came in short gasps. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/99 "2017-06-29T08:57:27Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I had an ingrown toenail on my right big toe.[…] > So, whenever they ask me to rate my pain from 1 to 10, I ask if 10 hurts so bad that you vomit and pass out, and it reminds me of that incident. Without a doubt the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. The deadening shot is a walk in the park. I’ve read (some time ago, no citation) that “needles under the fingernails” is actually 10 on the scale of 1-10. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267/100 "2017-06-29T16:19:27Z")
I was once on a medication that needed to be taken with food. It was a little tiny pill. And if you didn’t take it with enough food you knew it - I felt like a flaming sword had been shoved down my throat into my chest and then little flaming swords grew off it all around my chest. It was excruciating and nothing could soothe it, I just had to wait for it to pass which was like 45 minutes. Who knew such a little pill could cause so much discomfort. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seemingly-small-things-that-actually-really-hurt/789267.md?page=6)