Here are the worst physical pains, according to science.
- McGill University has developed the McGill Pain Index which classifies pain according to its level of intensity.
- The first is complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic neuropathic pain.
- The tenth is trigeminal neuralgia, a throbbing facial pain.
“Pain is primarily based on the patient’s feelings.”, can we read on the website of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). There is no tool to measure pain. Doctors generally ask patients to estimate it on a scale from 0 to 4, 0 to 10 or 0 to 100.
A pain index
In the 1970s, McGill University developed the McGill Pain Index which allows pain to be classified according to its level of intensity, starting from the most difficult to bear.
According to this classification, the most intense and unbearable pain is complex regional pain syndrome. THE MSD Manual defines it as “chronic neuropathic pain which comes from an injury (soft tissue, bone or nerve), and which persists in intensity and duration in disproportionate proportions compared to the initial tissue lesion.” The symptoms are as follows: vegetative disorders (sweating, vasomotor disorders), motor (dystoniathat is to say sustained involuntary muscular contractions) and trophic (bone or skin atrophy, hair loss, joint retractions).
In second place, the index placed the Paraponera Sting, which is an ant that has a very painful neurotoxic venom and leaves like a bite when it stings. Then the third most intense pain is childbirth. According to one study77% of women use an epidural to avoid pain during childbirth.
Crohn’s disease, the 5th most intense pain
Amputation of a finger without anesthesia is the fourth most severe pain because this part of the body has many nerves. Next comes Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). According to health insurancethis pathology causes both digestive symptoms (abdominal pain, sometimes severe, through attacks, diarrhea, anal pain, nausea and vomiting, etc.) and others (fatigue, rheumatism, dermatological problems, eye damage, etc.).
There rheumatoid arthritis is in sixth position. It is a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints that progresses in outbreaks. Currently, there is no cure for this disease, but existing treatments treat flare-ups, complications and prevent their appearance.
In seventh position, the fibromyalgia which is a chronic condition characterized by persistent pain. Patients who suffer from it also suffer from sleep problems and fatigue.
Renal colic is a very severe pain that is located in the lumbar region. Often, it is due to the presence of an obstacle in the urinary tract. It is the eighth pain according to the ranking. Health insurance defines it as “intense, often resembling a twist” Who “originates in the back, descends and rotates towards the abdomen, groin and genitals”.
Migraines, which affect 15% of the world population according to Inserm, are in ninth position. Finally, the trigeminal neuralgiasevere throbbing facial pain is in tenth position.
