What is the most pain you've ever been in?

[davinxtk]

Ingrown toenail removal surgery.

I had a pretty advanced infection and my big toe was swollen to about twice its normal size. It was bright red and extremely sensitive to pressure.
The toenail has grown long, and on either side the forward corners of it are tucked well under tender, infected flesh.
What the podiatrist does is take an incredibly sharp pair of scissors and shove it straight under the toenail, along the side. Snip. Further, deeper than it can be seen past the root of the nail. Snip. Including flesh.
Repeat the same for the other side.
Visualize the toenail now cut into three pieces. There's a strip down the middle that is still perfectly attached, the only part of the nail that's going to stay. On either side of that, there's a weak, soft piece of nail completely detached from its root and the skin beneath it, but held in place by the infection.
Tweezers grip one of the pieces, and pull out out at an angle so it doesn't break. Same with the other one. Blood gushes.
Electric cauterization of the blood vessels inside the toenail.
Cotton swab on a wooden stick, covered in some jelly antibiotic acid. One shoved into each gaping hole left by the pieces of nail.
Bandaged, and wrapped.


The first three times I had this done (ages 7, 9 and 10) I didn't have any kind of anesthesia. The fourth and fifth, I had weak local anesthesia. The last time I had it done, there was so much swelling that the anesthesia couldn't even get to the nerves. A rubber band around the base of the toe didn't cut off the cicrculation enough to numb it, not for an instant.

That was three years ago. I'm so glad I haven't had once since.
My toes started hurting while I was typing this.