Whether it be through medical procedures or emotional stress, we’ve all experienced pain at some point in our lives.
A person with long hair and a coat sits on a bench outdoors, engaging in a thoughtful conversation with another person
However, certain kinds of pain are known only to the people who have experienced it themselves. On one Reddit thread, people are discussing the most “underestimated” kinds of agony, and it ranges from physical to emotional.
I’ve rounded up 19 of the most insightful examples below:
1.“Gallbladder attacks are the worst pain I’ve ever felt. One of my friends had two kids before she started having gallbladder issues. She said the gallbladder pain was far worse than the contractions during either of her child labors.”
–chalupa_batman_xx
2.“Grief for pets. When one of my cats died last year, I realized just how difficult it really was. I cried for days, and felt guilty for not being there to say goodbye.”
–hawkeyethor
3.“Chronic pain. People will treat chronic pain sufferers like whiney children, but when they’ve had the same headache for three days, they’re incapacitated. No, Karen, get out in the sun like the rest of us have to be.”
–Bugaloon
4.“Domestic violence. It causes CPTSD, which medical professionals will tell you is common in law enforcement, firemen, war veterans, and domestic violence survivors. That’s if you survive.”
–crionicstone
5.“Mutually being in love then one unexpectedly decides they don’t feel the same. Just happened to me. I’d step on legos and get kicked in the nuts all day instead.”
–JohnnyFatSack
6.“Gout and passing kidney stones. The latter is sometimes described as ‘the closest a man can get to the pain of childbirth.’ I’m sure childbirth can hurt more. The good thing about kidney stones, at least for me, was how quickly I was given heavy-duty pain relief. No arguing, no pleading. Just one look at me, and the nurse was like, ‘Can we get some morphine over here?'”
Person with hands on stomach, wearing a white shirt and jeans with a braided belt, possibly indicating discomfort or contemplation
–zcobb99
7.“Grief. You think that you can handle it, and most days you do…but the soul crush you experience by losing someone close to you, it’s not something you can understand until you’ve gone through it yourself. The emotional pain is incredible.”
–ThinkSleepKoya
8.“Opioid withdrawal. Nobody even tries to understand because we ‘did it to ourselves’ and whatever else. But it’s really harrowing stuff — your entire body starts to malfunction. Every nerve in your body screams at you for a chemical it’s not getting (which translates to full-body bone/joint pain, nerve pain, and muscle pain). And that’s just the pain! Then there’s the massive gastrointestinal reaction, constant yawning/eyes watering, intense depression and anxiety, hot and cold flashes, oh, and it’s impossible to sleep for more than 1-2 hours for DAYS. Yeah, glad I’m sober. Withdrawal feels like being trapped in a nightmare realm.”
–falafelwaffle55
9.“Slipped disc. When people say, “Oh yeah, I’ve had a bad back, nope. Once you do a disc, you are fucked for the rest of your life. Numb legs, sciatica spasms, millions of pain killers that damage your liver and kidneys…look after your backs, people.”
–Slimontheslug
10.“Psychological pain: alienation, bullying, exclusion. In ancient Rome, they considered being excluded from a community so damaging that anyone sentenced to death could choose to be exiled instead.”
–F33dR
11.“A tonsillectomy as an adult. I’ve experienced ruptured ovarian cysts and dealt with endometriosis and adenomyosis for my entire adult life, and I ended up having a hysterectomy at 41. I have never experienced pain quite like that of the scabs slowly coming away from the surgical site of my tonsils. Excruciating doesn’t begin to describe it. I ended up back to the doctor and was prescribed liquid morphine and even that didn’t dull the pain.”
Person sitting cross-legged on a sofa, holding their throat, appearing to cough or feel unwell, with a pillow in their lap and plants in the background
–heyuinthebush
12.“Combat. It’s nothing like video games or movies. It’s gritty, gory, intense, and scary as hell. Also, people don’t respawn. I say this as a multiple deployment veteran who was a medic.”
–DocB630
13.“Sinus pain. It’s absolutely debilitating, to the point that holding a conversation isn’t possible.”
–GildedStrife
14.“IUD Insertion. I screamed and said to the nurse, ‘You said it wouldn’t hurt’ immediately after. Her response was simply, ‘Well, it didn’t last long.’ I vowed on my drive home that I would NEVER get one again. I’d rather be abstinent.”
Person wearing gloves holds medical instrument in a clinical setting, preparing for a procedure
–HarryPickles69
15.“I know a lot of people won’t understand it, having not experienced it before. But for me, the worst type of pain is the emotional pain I experience every day from gender dysphoria as a trans woman.”
–Ropesy101
16.“When you know something is wrong with your body but doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with you. On top of not feeling yourself, it’s extremely lonely and frustrating.”
–unbotheredgal
17.“Healing from a skin graft — having to ‘debride’ the area in question every day — that’s some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Fortunately, it was a very small area. I can’t imagine what burn victims go through.”
–manniax
18.“This sounds ridiculous, but really bad constipation. One of the worst stomach pains I’ve ever experienced. Thought it was appendicitis and had to go to the ER for it.”
A person sitting on a bed, clutching their stomach, possibly experiencing discomfort
–PoeticCylinder
19.“Migraines. If anything available over the counter cures your headache, it isn’t a migraine. It’s another level of pain that people have no idea about unless they experience it. It makes you want to die sometimes.”
–Sylaqui
Have you experienced something that belongs on this list? Let us know in the comments.
Responses have been edited for length/clarity.