5 Most Painful Everyday Injuries

We all know the pain that comes from stubbing our toe or hitting the funny bone. Even though they say pain is relevant, we know that these small injuries can sometimes cause major agony. So why do these common, everyday injuries result in such extreme pain and how can we find relief faster?

1. Biting Your Tongue
What exactly happens? The teeth on the side of your mouth (or the plunger cusps) slam down on your tongue and break through the surface of the muscle. Ever heard that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body? Well even further, three of the strongest muscles live in the mouth. The muscles names the masseter, temporalis and medial pterygoid can close the teeth with a force of over 50 pounds and up to 200 pounds on the back molars. Most bites are quite harmless, biting sensitive tissue and nerve endings and veins can bring tears to the eyes. Apply pressure with gauze to halt bleeding. Use ice or an ice pack to reduce inflammation and bleeding. Follow up with a salt-water rinse which will clean the mouth and kill any bacteria.  

2. That pesky Charley Horse: Even though the slang term for a muscle spasm can be fun to say, it is not fun when it happens. Dehydration is often a major proponent as well as fatigue, nerve damage or an imbalance of electrolytes (magnesium, potassium and calcium). The contraction happens involuntarily causing muscles to pull on the tendon junction (where the tendon turns to muscle). How to relieve? Apply firm and direct pressure to the muscle with your hand. Once the spasm passes, the muscle needs to be stretched out in the opposite direction so it doesn't seize up again.

3. That funny bone ain't so funny: We've all hit our funny bone by banging our elbow. It can produce an almost electrical current-like sensation over the forearm and hand.Believe it or not, this injury is not based on the bone being hit, it's because the Ulnar nerve is hit. This nerve is one of three in the arm which travels from the neck to the hand. The positive in the groove of the bones leaves only the skin and fat to protect it. Shake it off to relieve. Your arm should be repositioned by straightening and bending which will help release the tension.

4. Stubbing the toe: The ultimate and arguably most annoying everyday injury. Basically what happens is the tissue jams into the bone, then the bone to the joint which ignites the pain signals. Each toe is lined with a high concentration of sensory nerves and have little to no fatty tissue or muscle surrounding it. Immediately massage the area. The more positive sensation will compete with the pain to the brain, acting as a distractor, to make the pain subside quicker. 

5. Paper cuts: Yes, this can seem the least harmless but fingertips have more nerve fibers than most other parts of the body. A paper cut slices through what's called the epidermal layer of skin, exposing sensitive nerve endings to the air, making them sting. Immediately flush the cut with ice cold water to kill bacteria, reduce inflammation and use soap as well.