A colic that leaves you bedridden, an interminable childbirth, an ant that burns your arm like a hot iron: the human body has more than one way of making you scream in pain. But among all these sufferings, which one comes at the top of the podium?
To answer this, McGill University in Canada cross-referenced patient questionnaires to establish a scale of 10 most intense pains. At the same time, in France, 23.1 million adults report living with chronic pain, far from being just a detail of everyday life.
How McGill ranked the 10 most intense pains
McGill researchers asked patients to describe their pain in specific words and rate it on a scale. By cross-checking these responses, they obtained a ranking that measures the intensity felt, not the medical seriousness.
This top list includes both chronic illnesses and life accidents. We find, for example, trigeminal neuralgia, nicknamed “painful tic”, renal colic caused by kidney stones, childbirth without an epidural, the sting of the Paraponera ant, or even the Complex regional pain syndromeconsidered the most extreme suffering on the scale.
The 10 most intense pains, from least to most unbearable
Ranked from 10th to 1st position, these pains cover almost the entire body, from the face to the intestines:
- 10. Trigeminal neuralgia: electric shocks on one half of the face.
- 9. Migraine: throbbing pain on one side of the skull, with nausea and sensitivity to light.
- 8. Renal colic: kidney stone that blocks urine; no position provides relief, hence the adage “renal colic, frantic patient”.
- 7. Fibromyalgia: diffuse pain in muscles and joints, without visible lesion.
- 6. Rheumatoid arthritis: autoimmune disease of the joints, where even clothing can hurt.
- 5. Crohn’s disease: attacks of acute abdominal pain, similar to appendicitis.
- 4. Amputation of a finger: highly innervated segment, sometimes with “phantom limb” pain.
- 3. Childbirth: intense uterine contractions then stretching of the perineum.
- 2. Paraponera sting: extreme burning and involuntary contractions for hours.
- 1. Complex regional pain syndrome: after trauma, burning, swollen, hypersensitive limb for months.
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In France, when intense pain becomes chronic
In real life, the most significant pain is not always that of an accident, but that which settles. The Analgesia barometer recalls that “Pain constitutes the first reason for consultation in emergency services and at the general practitioner”, cited by Santé Magazine. According to this survey, “musculoskeletal pain” dominates, it is “the most common” among patients followed for chronic pain.
Among those questioned, “nearly one in two people have intense chronic pain (more than 6 in 10)”. He emphasizes that “half of patients present an impaired physical and/or mental quality of life”, with “sleep disorders, anxiety, depression or cognitive disorders”. Only “a third of patients suffering from chronic pain” say they are “satisfied with their care”, the others resorting to “self-medication with pain medication or even opioids (27%)”.
