Most Painful Things Humans Can Experience According To The NHS

Content warning: Discussion of chronic health conditions and illness.

Just in case you’ve ever wondered, the NHS has revealed a list of what it deems to be the worst pains that humans can experience.

While of course, ‘pain’ itself is quite subjective and can vary hugely from person-to-person, with different people having varying pain thresholds, the NHS has compiled a list of what it considers to be the 20 medical conditions and illnesses believed to cause the most discomfort.

Acute pain can take a toll on not only physical health, but also mental health - particularly if left untreated - and many of the most painful conditions on the list are ‘hidden’, meaning some people can suffer with them for years before they are properly diagnosed.

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What is the worst pain a human can feel?

In no particular order - here's the list of the 20 most painful and disruptive conditions. 

• Broken bones

• Pain after surgery

• Fibromyalgia (FMS) - A disease-causing widespread pain, fatigue, sleeping problems, and other medical issues

• Stomach ulcer

• Gout - An inflammatory arthritis of the joints

• Arthritis

• Migraine

• Sciatica - compression of the spinal nerves

• Endometriosis - Tissue that usually lines the uterus begins forming outside the uterine wall, causing painful cysts and other symptoms

• Acute pancreatitis - inflammation of the pancreas

• Trigeminal neuralgia - Chronic pain in the nerves of the head and face

• Sickle cell disease - Malformation of blood cells that causes a variety of painful symptoms

• Slipped disc - The bulging and degradation of the disc padding between spinal vertebrae

• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) - prolonged pain after a traumatic injury to the limb

• Frozen shoulder - a degenerative disease of the shoulder joint that can make it nearly impossible to lift one’s arm, with constant aches and pains in the area

• Cluster headache - sudden and excruciating headaches that center around the eye

• Shingles - a painful rash caused by the varicella-zoster virus

• Kidney stones - Deposits of minerals in the kidneys that pass through the urethra, causing excruciating pain as they move

• Appendicitis - inflammation or rupture of the appendix

• Heart attack

The list includes chronic conditions such as Fibromyalgia - a long-term condition characterised by 'pain all over the body’ as well as fatigue, sleep problems, and emotional or mental distress according to the NHS and Endometriosis - a long-term condition which affects one in 10 women and is 'where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes’.

Appendicitis - one I can personally vouch for - is a painful swelling of the appendix, a  finger-like pouch attached to the gut wall. Symptoms include sharp twinges of pain when moving or breathing deeply - especially on the right side of the abdomen.

In severe cases, the appendix can burst, which is potentially fatal, so an urgent operation is often required to remove it when symptoms arise. 

Trigeminal neuralgia is described as 'a sudden, severe facial pain’ like having an electric shock in the jaw, teeth or gums, while a slightly more obvious one is ‘broken bones’, with a fractured ankle, hip, arm or nose among the most painful things you can experience, especially when any kind of pressure is applied on or close to the affected area.

Cluster headaches - another one I’ve had the pleasure of sampling - are a rare form of headache known for the excruciating pain on one side of the head, often around the eye, and the pattern of occurring in clusters.

On top of these, 'toothache' and 'back pain' are also noted by Dr Gary LeRoy as making the list.

He told The Independent: "Chronic lower back pain affects 80 per cent of the population at some point in their life because as homo sapiens who are bending, stooping, pushing and pulling, we end up with musculoskeletal back pain.

"[Regarding toothache] We often overlook the things above the neck and again, it is such a common thing."

If you are experiencing debilitating pain and can't 'work, sleep or provid[e] nutrition' for yourself, you should contact a medical professional and seek help immediately.