What is the strongest pain a human can feel? For instance, is being burnt more painful that a broken bone? Would being stabbed in the stomach be more painful than having your hand chopped off with an axe?
i would rather give birth during a bout of earache, toothach and migrane whilst having one hand burnt and the other chopped off with an axe than have my nuts accidentally whacked again by some dozy bird shotly after arriving home from a circumsision !
I agree with mullein, never damage is pretty awful, i had nerve damage to my legs when I broke my back a few years ago, the pain of my back was nothing compared to my legs, I couldn't even bear to have a sheet laid on them :o(
The strongest pain a human could feel would almost certainly be chemically or electrically induced, rather than physical injury. Electrical stimulation of the spinal dorsal horn project to cell nuclei in supraspinal areas such as the thalamus, the brainstem, the midbrain would produce about as much pain as one is capable of feeling. Taking a bath in capsaicin with sunburned skin would be most unpleasent and might achive a similar effect. A more natural approach might be being stung by a male platypus, which is reputed to be one of the most painful venoms in the world, whose effects can last relatively undiminished for many months.
True pain is that which affects the mind. loss of a loved one for example. The body has a defence mechanism for physical pain which kicks in when severe bodily trauma occurs.
Lots of interesting replies here. As regards childbirth, I suffered from the most excrutiating period pains which would make me be sick, faint, and all I could do was screw myself up in a ball for two hours until it had passed. I knew childbirth may be a similar pain but you do get a break between contractions. I gave birth to twins but was prepared for this pain and managed with gas and air. I don't remember the pain being that bad that I needed anything else.