Common Threads: Tell us about your most intense physical pain...
In our last Common Thread, we talked about our most Embarrassing Moments--moments that cause us intense psychological pain, grief and regret. Today I want to talk about physical pain. Whether by malevolent intent, dumb luck or our own stupidity, we have all experienced intense pain and suffering—it’s part of the human condition and it’s a common thread that unites us all. Let’s share our stories...
(If you’re new to Common Threads, click here)
PROVO, UTAH – As I have mentioned in other threads, I was raised as a Mormon and in 1994 (I was 19) I was called on a 2-year mission to Brazil. As is customary for missionaries serving in foreign countries, I spent the first 8 weeks of my mission at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo so that I could get a crash course in Portuguese.
Missionaries, by rule, are never alone. You are always assigned a “companion” and in some cases, due to unusual circumstances, you might have two companions at one time. (Companions are reassigned every couple of months—Missionaries will often have about 12 different companions throughout their mission).
In the MTC I had two companions. We dormed together, studied together, ate meals together, and when we were feeling ambitious, we'd exercise together. On this particular day, we were trading off doing push-ups in our dorm. As I was doing my set, my companions suddenly jumped me and we wrestled around (as boys are sometimes prone to do). During the wrestling, I took a knee to my ear. It didn't hurt, but I noticed that I suddenly couldn't hear as well out of it (kind of like when your ears need to pop).
Throughout the day, I kept expecting my hearing to come back to normal, but it didn't. I came to the conclusion that some earwax must have gotten jostled around and that THAT was the problem. Fortunately, I remembered I had some earwax removal drops back at the dorm...
That night, as I was getting ready for bed, I tilted my head and placed a few of these acidic drops in my ear canal. Now if you've ever used these drops, you know they don't hurt, they just bubble up (quite loudly) in your ear--that's how you know they're working; only this time, that's not what happened—that wasn't what happened at all. Instead, just a couple seconds after applying the drops, I knew something was VERY wrong... I knew the drops had gone too far—they had somehow passed behind my eardrum and they were about to wreak havoc on the now-exposed nerve core.
The pain was the most intense and excruciating that I had ever felt. In a panic, I started clawing at my ear, but it was pointless… the drops had gone too deep. I couldn’t cry out, I just collapsed to the floor. My companions were quick to notice something was wrong but felt helpless… People from other rooms started trickling over to see what the commotion was all about. There was nothing anyone could do.
The pain lasted a couple of hours and eventually subsided enough that I could get to sleep. The next morning, I went to be evaluated by the MTC medical personnel. The doctor examining me said he had never before seen this much ear trauma…
What had happened was that, when the knee hit my ear, compressed air punctured my eardrum—that, of course, allowed the drops through to the exposed nerves.
There is a silver lining to this story: Missionaries aren’t supposed to leave the MTC until they leave for their assigned countries. However, my ear incident required that I see a specialist in another city—and wherever I go, my companions have to (or in this case, get to) go with me. As a result, we all got to take a road trip. The highlight was stopping at McDonalds (which, for an MTC missionary in 1994 was like heaven). When we returned to the MTC with evidence of our McDonalds bounty, we were the envy of all the other missionaries… ☺
Now it’s your turn. The real purpose of Common Threads is to hear from you! Misery loves company, so I would love to hear some of your most Painful stories—and I think others would, too. Add your story in the comments! Or, if you prefer, blog your story separately and link back to this thread so we can find it! If you don’t want to share, then maybe you’ll take a moment to read other people’s stories and encourage them by upvoting the ones you like. Now, without further ado:
Ouch!! When I was seventeen I fell off a motorcycle. The skin was completely torn off my parts of my feet, hipbone, and some of my arm. The adrenaline was pumping through my brain and I couldn't feel it right away, so I got up and dusted myself off, surveying the damage. I saw skin hanging loose off my hip and I proceeded to try and peel it off to the disgusted cry beside me of, "Oh my god, what are you doing?" I stopped and tried to find a way to walk home. Halfway down the street my eyes started going black, which has happened once before when I had a pain reaction. It's like my brain goes to static and my eyes black out. I was feeling lightheaded and sat down in the grass of someone's front lawn close to the curb. I didn't mean to cause a scene but they ended up coming outside and asking if I needed and ambulance. I just waved them off and told them I was fine. After sitting down for a while someone came to walk with me back home and my vision started coming back. I was feeling how sore it was and over the next few days it got infected. The doctor said I was close to needing a skin graft, which would have been horrible, but luckily it healed. The healing and having to scrub it clean everyday was horrible. I've had a severed tendon and other odd injuries but this one took the cake for me.
WOW, @sarahtops9000! I can't even imagine! It's crazy how the brain/adrenaline can do that. I'm so glad you recovered! Thanks for sharing your story :)
My personal worst was the first time my back went out. I was at a Christmas party at a friend's house. I was washing my hands at her bathroom sink and I coughed. The pain was was like a lightning strike down my back through my legs. I suddenly felt like my back was collapsing on itself and my legs were unable to support me. It was terrifying too because I'd never had back problems so I didn't know what was happening! I tried to sit down as gingerly as I could but even that was horribly painful. I ended up hobbling to the living room to lie flat. Some of my friends thought I was faking, and that really pissed me off. Getting into my boyfriend's pickup was agonizing and I could barely get in. Every position hurt so much I couldn't believe it. It's gone out a few more times over the years, but that first time was so scary, it was the worst. Your story and the motorcycle one are pretty messed up! Good post idea!
Thanks for posting your story, Reno! I honestly love reading about other people's experiences. Wow, I feel grateful that I've never had the kind of back problems/pain you've described. That must've been very scary that first time! Glad you seem to be okay now :)
Dude, your ear trauma sounds horrific! It's all relative.
Oh wow. That is freaking intense. Do you still have to get that ear checked up on from time to time?
As for myself, I have a relatively high pain tolerance. I've had various trips and falls from my running over the years. The worst was when I was running around Stone Mountain in Georgia - there is a 5 mile path around it that i would typically run around at least once depending on what i was training for. This particular time i didn't even make the full 5 miles. There were two larger women, one pushing a stroller in the path ahead. They were coming towards me. They could have single filed but didn't. Whatever i was accustomed to people being rude while I was running before. So, i proceeded to run around them by Stepping off the paved path down the curb and then back up behind them. Well, on my coming back up between the grass and the path my ankle twisted or caught on something and down i went. Got a badly scraped left knee. My right elbow dug into my right lower rib/side. If upper body hadn't cushioned / absorbed as much as it did probably would've cracked my patellla.well, they muttered their apologies. I felt like cursing them out but instead just hobbled to my car stopping at 3.4 miles.
I thought i had gotten away wth a mere abrasion but when i went to work the following day, and at attempted to help someone out of bed i got a BAD / unusual pain in my right side. Had to leave work. Boss thought it might be a cracked rib or something. It was. It was the 6th one down on the right side, doctor said it was a very small crack not even a break. But it hurt so much. I asked him if i would have to stop running. He just said "you are limited by your pain ." I was put on light duty at work. I tried to run, REALLY REALLY slow for me like 12 min/ mile. Couldn't even do that. Any sort of labored breathing even if light was causing the rib cage to expand more than it would with rest and made the rib hurt. I couldn't do jack sh*t pardon my French for like six weeks cuz for ribs it is just time and rest. I'm prone to depression anyway, but unlike other running related injuries id sustained i couldn't bike or swim. Anything exertional pulled it. I went into deep depression and gained like 10 lbs. Which i lost later after it healed. But it sucked for like 6 weeks!!
Resteemed ya!
Oh man, Chelsea--your story made me hate running even more than I already do ;) That sounds horrible! It's amazing how something so "small" like a cracked rib can cause so much pain and trouble... not being able to breathe deeply must've been aggravating... ...and yeah, some people need to cursed out ;) Thanks for your story!!
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