What’s a painful experience you haven’t had in years?

Heartbreak
- Maybe one day I'll get there too, but not today
  
  You will I promise :) I’ve had my heart broken badly 3 times in my life so far.
  The first one I needed antidepressants to kick me out of the slump, the other two were hard as well but with time and distractions and new hobbies and interests, the pain fades. Just be patient and talk to yourself like you are your own little brother/sister. Treat yourself like another person and take care of that person. Give them the love they need to get through the heartbreak.
- I came here to say the same thing. When someone close to you dies it's painful, but that's still not heartbreaking. When someone you love chooses not to be with you anymore, it's on another level. I hope to never experience heartbreak again.

College exams. Life after graduation has its own stresses but nothing was more stressful to me than having 6-7 exams coming up and having to spend so much time and effort preparing for stuff I don't care about that much.
At some point it got so bad I'd wake up a few times at night drenched in sweat a day before exams. Yeesh. I guess it was partly my fault for taking it too seriously but I couldn't switch that off.
- School in general. It was so much work. Homework is torture, at least now once my day is finished I don't have to worry about it until the next morning.
  
  So few responsibilities while in school, though. I think about this often. I don't know how anyone stays on top of everything that needs doing as an adult. Work, bills, laundry, dishes, cleaning/tidying, cooking, meal planning, shopping, trash, recycling, healthy sleep,..... It's endless.
- I went into the doctor one time explaining all these strange symptoms I was experiencing. Rapidly developing OCD, heart palpitations, it felt like I needed to pee all the time, etc. I thought maybe I was dying. College exams. It was stress. I was having my heart rate spike up to the point where my smartwatch was warning me several times a day. I haven't had it happen once since the day I graduated about 7 years ago.
  It's unbelievable that going through that much stress is normalized.
- I have exams coming in five days. As the exams get near, i really get stressed. I often dont even eat anything and get less sleep.
  
  You should really try to eat. You'll be less stressed and perform better.

Having to go to school for classes I don't like

Swallowing while having strep throat.

When I was little I got stung 6 times between the legs by a velvet ant that managed to get stuck in my bathing suit. It's not as bad as some exaggerated videos on the internet may have lead you to believe, but I did cry for about 30 seconds before I went back to what I was doing.
Not years ago, but a year ago I got covid and for reasons nobody can explain it made a nerve in my lower back malfunction and just start sending out the maximum pain signal it could. That's probably the most painful thing I've experienced. Tied for it at least.

Getting shocked.
I used to help my father-in-law on the farm and he had an electric fencer for the barnyard that was way too powerful for the length of fence it was hooked up to. I knew that; what i didn't know was that it was grounding out on a piece of flashing on the barn. It put me on my ass.
He also has this electric fencing that's made out of rope with small metal strands woven into it. That shit hurts too but in a different way. Maybe because there are more points of contact.
I got shocked doing some wiring last week and it was nothing compared to the electric fence.
- My father told a story about stopping to pee at the side of the road. His buddy peed on the electric fence and "almost blew his balls off".
  
  Didn't Mythbusters debunk this one?
- Interesting. I have a mild (probably healthy) phobia of getting shocked when I'm doing wiring around the house. And I was "acquainted" with electric fences on farms as a kid. I've been imagining house wiring would feel similar.
  
  I was shocked from doing wiring once, it was uncomfortable but not painful. I had just wired up a replacement light switch for a family friend and I had my hand in there moving it to center it for the faceplate when they turned the breaker back on.
  My mom has a similar experience, light switch and all, and it was much more violent.

One time I took a solo 1.5 hour flight and on the descent I suddenly felt a tingling on the top of my head and down my face, which quickly turned into a feeling like someone chopped an axe into the top of my head. I felt an excruciating pain on the top center of my head , behind my eyes and down my face and was trying not to react in front of all the other passengers. The pain was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. By the time we landed and I got off the plane the sharpness of the pain subsided but I had a bad headache for 2 days after. I thought I might die honestly and it spun me into such a bad anxiety attack. I did some searching and only found one post ever of something similar happening to someone else and it was from sinus pressure. I wasn’t sick at all or stuffed up so it was surprising. So now when I fly I pop Sudafed and blow my nose frequently and basically have a panic attack on the descent because of my fear of it happening again.
- I had something similar checked out and I had my inner nose twisted and full of the equivalent to pimples. Perhaps that caused your pain? Idk... I'm not a doctor.
  
  That sounds terrifying!
- I've had it a few times, the first time was the worst because I had no idea what was going on. Didn't have it again for about 10 years and at the time I was flying regularly so I'd take a nasal spray for the descent and also try to breathe out my ears (hold nose and mouth and blow). Only a couple of occassions since that there's been a little, but I do get anxious at times.
  
  Stop holding your nose and blowing, to clear your ears. You can burst your eardrum this way. I have a perforated eardrum, myself (though not from this), and getting a subsequent inner ear infection in that ear is the most painful thing I have ever experienced. Worse than the burst appendix or broken ribs.
  Instead, try holding your nose and closing your mouth and swallowing a few times. With a big gulp of water might help. Should eventually give you enough pressure to clear the blockage, without risking your health.
  
  It was so scary that first time, I also had no idea and I just wanted to start screaming but I could only imagine the chaos that would have caused! I’ve had a couple times since where I feel a bit of pressure but I do the same as you with holding my nose and mouth and blow and it seems to help along with the Sudafed. Crazy hearing someone else had this too!
- I had something similar happen when driving down a mountain, though it sounds like it was not as severe. It was pretty short, but I felt like the back of my throat was going to explode. I was the driver, and I actually had to pull over.
  
  I could definitely see it with any kind of elevation change, that sounds horrible!
- Oh my god same! I'm prone to allergies so I figured it came from the pressure changing upon decent decent but I would have freaked out if I hadn't known what it was! Hurt like a removed, I could even feel my tear ducts pulsing!
  
  It really does hurt! I never even considered it might be pressure, mostly because I wasn’t feeling any sinus issues at the time. At least you were able to think rationally lol.

Loneliness, it got replaced by headache and sleep deprivation. Fair trade tho.
edit: got also financial problems too
- Ayyy, sleep deprivation buddy! I've been up since 5 AM and feel like absolute death. :)
  
  Yeaaaaaah I wish that sleep deprivation was a pain I hadn’t felt in years…
  One thing that I haven’t seen people talk about when dealing with sleep deprivation is how your digestive system slows down or gets grumblier. I’d imagine those who suffer from IBS would get it worse when they can’t sleep. As for me, I find treating myself as if I’m sick can help: warm broth and crackers and other simple, easy to digest foods can settle my stomach after a sleepless night

I haven't crashed my bike for a long time now. But then I don't ride as much as I used to and know that roads are very slippery when the first rain in weeks falls.

Enduring other peoples mental emotional bullshit especially to keep a job. Feeling like I have no choices but to kill myself with work to survive. Mental maturity, having goals to work for, and learning to stand up for myself/not tolerate removed whacky monkey bullshit from fellow human beings has done wonders for me. My young adult years were miserable, it got much better.

Kidney Stones! Seemed every couple of years I went through it. Well, now that I'm typing this I realize it's been a couple of years so maybe I'm due soon.
- Kidney stones for me too! Mine are calcium oxalate based, so I take a supplement of magnesium citrate to help me break them down, but also drinking more water regularly. I should also lay off the salt, but that's a hard one because it's everywhere.
- Might wanna subscribe to HydroHomies. Or lay off the salt, like I should be doing.
  …you first, though.

Gall stones.. thought l had the worst wind,.paced the floor all night....turns out, gall bladder was having a bad time
- Did you end up passing the gall stones on your own or did you have to go to the hospital/ have your gallbladder removed? I have heard that gall stones is the most painful experience ever.
  
  While I can’t confirm “worst”, I can safely say that they were the worst I’ve personally experienced.
  And everyone I know who has had gallbladder attacks agree that it’s the worst they experienced too. Including women who went through childbirth.
  Hell, my first attack I called an ambulance because I thought I was having a heart attack. It sucks, 0/5.

That I haven't had? The two major ones are a sinus infection (1994), which in theory I could have again, and appendicitis (2007), which I will never have again.
As a life long skateboarder and snowboarder, I've had all kinds of brutal injuries, still do on occasion, but no pain has compared to those two.

Heroin withdrawals
- Over 13 years here, coming on 12 years without opioid withdrawals at all (methadone/suboxone withdrawal can be even worse and is certainly not a catch all solution but definitely worked for me). Great job Kava keep it up.
  
  Thank you sir and congrats to you as well. I've been clean from opiates since Dec 26th 2016. I still smoke weed occasionally or use kava so I'm "California sober" but it works for me. Opiates are dangerous substances.
- Ouch.

Haven't touched a windows machine in 25 years.
- neither has Norman Fell
  
  ~~Living the good life.~~

- Unnatural childbirth it is, then

Whenever I used to go out anywhere or do anything social, I'd always be constantly, quietly hoping that someone would come along and fall into my life. That I'd pass by someone that looked like they could relate to me, or that would try to talk to me, or be attracted to me. Anyone that would change my life for the better. It was lonely as fuck to constantly want something unrealistic every single day that never happened, for years and years.
Then I met my future wife, and I nearly forgot that pain ever existed.

Going to meet my father (going to hurt booth of us, i know that he "reguarly" drives the 10 hours from north to south and i exploit him for my move to south)
It will hurt me because he is difficult and him because i will give him no contact information

Breaking a rib. I have brittle bones that break easily, I occasionally break ribs for no apparent reason.
- Is this you?
  
  Sometimes

Dislocated shoulder was the worst for me. The pain meds didn't help at all and I cried like a baby until the anaesthesia started.
- I once had mine popped out then snap back in again while surfing after a hurricane. I got drilled into the bottom shoulder first and felt it separate then it clicked back into place. I then had to get back to shore with one arm, got driven over to a rocky section I had to climb out over (board required minor repairs). I have no idea why I didn't drown that day. My arm was f'd for a long time.
  
  Much cooler story than mine though. I ordered food, went to the door, slipped on the stairs and tried to grab the handrail while falling.
  At least I had some nice Indian food waiting for me when I came back from the ER.
  Edit: btw it was fascinating that I immediately knew it was a dislocated shoulder. I never had it before, never had major bones broken or torn ligaments. I still knew, like three seconds after I fell what it was.

Major surgery. I had back surgery when I was 14 to fix my scoliosis. That was over 20 years ago and I haven't had to have any surgery since.

Getting kicked by the balls

Ingrown toenails.. had that shot all the time as a teen.. hurt like a mf, and hurt even more to let the doctors ripp my nails off....

I accidentally touched mains power when I was 10 while trying to plug in my gameboy charger. It's been 18 years since, but that was definitely something I never want to experience again. I remember I could feel it in my muscles for more than a week afterwards

Active addiction and the hopelessness of hunger, legal trouble, and flexing my principles in order to function.
- What do you mean by "flexing my principles"?
  
  Flexing doesn't quite work in that context but I get what he was going for. Probably bending or relaxing his principles sounds better, i.e. lowering himself to scummy behaviors that would normally violate his principles.

Brain freeze. Does the ability to get it go away as you get older or something?
- It does not, courtesy of this recent brain-freezee lol.
  I think we’re just unintentionally smarter about how we consume things?
  
  Clearly we must all be taking daintier sips.
- Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth to warn it more quickly.
- Drinking water helps it go away faster.
- No, I get them worse than ever now.

First day of school.

Thankfully breaking a bone. The only time I broke one was back in the summer of 1999 on the way out to the car with my family, I think we were headed into town for something when I slipped on our porch and fell weird. As my parents supported me down to the car, out of instinct I put weight on my broken leg.
I can still remember the loss of absolutely everything else, my mind was just flooded with that agony.
- Sorry to hear that. Though a broken pain must not necessarily mean severe pain. It depends on which bone you break, where and how. You got unlucky there. I had a couple of broken bones, my big toe, my hand and part of my hip (not the joint, but the Illium, which has a purely protective function), and in all those cases the pain was managable without painkillers, as long as I didn't move the injured body part at least. It was always a closed wound and there was a crack in the xray but the bone had not moved much out of place and never needed an operation. Also adrenaline played a role, I broke my hand at a Judo competition and at first just thought I just bruised, but the paramedid noticed that it moved where it shouldn't.
  With all my traumatic injuries I was consoled by the fact that soon I will arrive in the hospital, will be cared for and the pain will stop.
  The worst pains I had were a severe tooth ache and strong migrain attacks. It was worsened by the fact that I didn't know when the pain will end.

A cystoscopy.
- Holy shit, came here to say that. Nothing compares to the pain of having a tube inserted in your urethra all the way down to the bladder, and as the tube is turned (it's a camera) it hits the sides of the bladder and it starts to bleed, and it burns like nothing I've felt before.
  
  When they pulled out the camera I asked "Oh, does the camera come out of that big housing?". "No, that is the camera." 😮

I once had an open fracture. What was strange was that I was so hopped up on adrenaline, I didn't even notice at first. The pain I've had from things like a calf cramp was way, way worse. In this case I called my own ambulance and they loaded me in and were like "uh. Does that hurt?" And I was like "Oh, does it hurt? Yeah, I guess it should, shouldn't it?"

Getting hit in the balls.

Stubbing my big toe. Ouch!