# What's the most painful thing imaginable? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436 "2006-11-14T20:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/1 "2006-11-14T20:41:15Z")
And is there something even more painful? (i.e. unimaginably painful) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/2 "2006-11-14T20:52:02Z")
Given a choice between passing a kidney stone and giving birth, I’d rather give birth. Yes, I’ve done both. Of course, I haven’t lost a limb to a hungry rabid dog, so I can’t tell if that would be more painful. But from my own experience, passing a kidney stone was the worst. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/3 "2006-11-14T20:57:10Z")
Burns. Just the thought of a bad burn makes me want to faint. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/4 "2006-11-14T21:00:14Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Given a choice between passing a kidney stone and giving birth, I’d rather give birth. [/QUOTE] My wife said the same exact thing, and meant it. Luckily I have passed neither a child nor stone. Would losing your life-long partner count as the most painful thing imaginable? Or physical only? I would thing either burning alive or as a man, putting glass in the mans penis and breaking it in little pieces (if this really happened, possible rumor from the Vietnam War). ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/5 "2006-11-14T21:01:17Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] Burns. Just the thought of a bad burn makes me want to faint. [/QUOTE] How about a third-degree penis burn, combined with passing a kidney stone? ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/6 "2006-11-14T21:05:07Z")
Being badly burnt. Mind you, it’s never happened to me, but judging by what happens when I get a nasty burn on my finger from the oven, and extrapolating that to oh, say, 80% of my body, I’d say that’s got to be the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/7 "2006-11-14T21:06:19Z")
I’ve been burnt pretty badly. It was with hot oil, though, and not fire, so that probably makes a difference because I still have to say labor is by far the most painful thing imaginable. But perhaps that’s because I don’t want the squalling little rugrat at the end of it, either. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/8 "2006-11-14T21:26:05Z")
A badly scratched cornea ranks as my personal #1 even though I have done some other things like chopping my knee with an axe that were pretty bad as well. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/9 "2006-11-14T21:27:06Z")
There’s that one we heard of as kids… Sliding down a razor blade into a pool of alcohol. Excuse me while I go shrivel up. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/10 "2006-11-14T21:27:37Z")
How 'bout being hit in the cojones. ☹ Both of them at once, by a longboard. ☹ While wearing only board shorts. ☹ And your friends don’t know whether to laugh or cry. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/11 "2006-11-14T21:38:25Z")
I broke my elbow last week. I’ve broken my collarbone three times. I’ve been stung by a jellyfish twice. I [hit myself in the balls](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7406609#post7406609) last year _very hard_. But nothing I’ve yet experienced comes near having a twisted intestine, an experience of pain that crippled me to near-paralysis, took 4 shots of morphine to calm me down, and had me nil-by-mouth on a drip for a week. For guys, I reckon having one’s balls nailed to a plank would be the worst thing imaginable. Being burned alive, though… gaaah. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/12 "2006-11-14T21:43:46Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] For guys, I reckon having one’s balls nailed to a plank would be the worst thing imaginable… [/QUOTE] Especially if it were large, plywood and you were in the middle of a hurricane. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/13 "2006-11-14T21:46:37Z")
In James Clavell’s “Shogun,” a man is slowly boiled alive for hours and hours until he finally expires. I cannot imagine how anything could be worse than that. It would certainly be as bad as being on fire but would take longer. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/14 "2006-11-14T21:47:56Z")
They say that being shot in the stomach is the most painful experiance, although the concept of dying by ‘Buckwheats’ per ‘Things To Do In Denver’ has got to be up there. ‘Buckwheats’ was the term used to refer to beating a victim down onto all fours, and then having the barrel of his/her gun shoved against their rectum. The last step was to fire all of the bullets up the victim’s colon while trying not to leave either an entrance or exit wound, but leaving the victim alive long enough to suffer through excreting out their life blood. ---
**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:** [November 14, 2006, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/15 "2006-11-14T21:58:08Z")
I image being burned to death. The people in the upper floors of the World Trade Center chose jumping over burning :eek: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/16 "2006-11-14T22:02:19Z")
Slamming ones male genatalia into a car door. And then having that car drive off at an ever increasing speed. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/17 "2006-11-14T22:03:15Z")
Being hung, drawn, and quartered strikes me as being rather awful. ---
**Author:** ![Greenback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/18 "2006-11-14T22:32:10Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] A badly scratched cornea ranks as my personal #1 even though I have done some other things like chopping my knee with an axe that were pretty bad as well. [/QUOTE] Been there, done that. And it is not something I wish to repeat. If anyone wishes to get a true measure of how many times you blink try scratching your cornea. Worst imaginable? In _tomorrow never dies_, when Bond and sexy chinese partner are captured, they are to be tortured by some blond haired german. To convince the audience of his sincerity, he picks up a utensil that looks like a socket screwdriver. The difference is that this tool has a pick that is coiled towards the center so as to drive it in to whatever fits in the socket. Whenever I think of pain I think of this tool twisting on one of my testies. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/19 "2006-11-14T22:49:49Z")
Worst imaginable ? How about this : [QUOTE=Yes, Jolonah, There is a Hell] “For … how long?” “How long?” Marishison glared at Jolonah with an incredulous grin. “My son, there is no end to the torments of the damned. Trillions of years may pass, the stars may wink out as entropy quenches their fires, yet She and Her victims will live on in a form fit to survive the cold. The universe itself may die a slow cold death, yet She may burrow through space itself to find another and start anew, the mere second of an infinity of cosmic cycles. She will preserve you in any way possible, in any form possible, mind or matter, for your pain is more precious to Her than the stars that fill the heavens, and thus to Her worthy of an infinitely longer duration.” \< snip \> The lens reached the end of the artery and entered a place of inky blackness. Tiny lights, like a cluster of stars, wobbled slightly in the far distance. As they approached, Jolonah could see that the formless things were somehow alive - they twitched and writhed as if trying to pull themselves apart, wobbling back and forth as if buffeted by constant tides within the fluid that held them. Once they were even closer, Jolonah noticed that the creatures were in the shape of lumpy spheres. Then the motion slowed down almost to a halt, and one could see that they were made up of millions of tiny branching fibres. Even in slow motion, the ends of the micro-thin branches constantly wavered, retracting and extending and retracting and extending over and over again. “What are they?” asked Jolonah. “Pain,” said Marishison. "Pure, distilled, stripped-down pain. They were ones living beings like yourself. But now they are nothing but bundles of nerves; yet multiplied over and over again so that their pain would be unique in all Creation. Their nerve endings have been multiplied many millionfold, their pain receptors many times more. They are unique forms of life with nothing but pain for flesh, and the pain felt by one of them for a second would torment an entire living world for eons. Their suffering is as far beyond the torments of Hell as Hell is beyond the pleasures of the living world. The Primordial Sacrifice dwells among them, his agony so much more exquisite than anything he experienced in that relatively gentle First Embrace. And all the time, the Queen Herself sings to them, for they are her most precious possessions of all. \< snip \> “Have you heard nothing?” said Skalosak. “You are not going to die. You are never going to die. You are going to live forever inside the Queen of Pain, and Pain shall be your universe.” [/QUOTE] That sounds . . . pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436/20 "2006-11-14T22:58:59Z")
One of Ludlum’s _Covert-ONE_ books (I think) had a doctor administer something to keep the guy from going into shock and/or passing out and maybe something to inhibit endorphins, and then directly stimulated pain receptors in the spinal cord. The guy couldn’t even scream. Freaked me out. Of course, **Der Trihs** tops that, since they couldn’t burrow through space itself to start anew. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-painful-thing-imaginable/380436.md?page=2)