The 11 most painful ways to die, according to science

Death is something natural that sooner or later comes to all of us. Imagining how we are going to die is often a cause of anguish that some people reach the point of obsessing over. Most people prefer a calm ending without suffering., but nevertheless death does not always come peacefully and painlessly.

And it is that there are many ways to die, some of them being practically painless while others involve a long ordeal for the dying person until the arrival of his death. In this article, specifically, we review the 11 most painful ways to die based on what is known about pain perception processes.

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The most painful ways to die

Below you can find a list of the 11 ways to meet our end that are considered to cause the most pain and suffering. Most of those that are part of the list can occur naturally, in emergency situations or accidents.

However, humans can also cause death in extremely painful ways, which is why a category of deaths caused by man (some of which involve a level of suffering as high or higher than the others present in the list).

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1. dehydration

Considered by science one of the most painful ways to die, dehydration is the absence of a sufficient amount of fluid in our body. If this is prolonged and the lost fluids that our body needs are not recovered, the body systems begin to notify their lack in the form of general malaise. Over time the set of organs would stop working, including the nervous system.

In the absence of water, the body will try to hydrate itself with other body fluids, like the cerebrospinal. The kidneys stop secreting urine and swell and the eyes become dry. Fever, dizziness and hallucinations, being able to reach a coma and later death.

2. Starvation

Like the lack of water, lack of nutrients It is also another of those considered the worst ways to die. If we are not able to access any type of nutrient, the body will begin to burn the fats and lipids present in the body to stay alive. If it is not enough, the body will literally start to consume itself, breaking down the components of the muscles and later the organs in an attempt to stay alive.

3. drowning

Drowning and suffocation in general are one of the most distressing ways to die. Faced with the lack of oxygen in the body feels a feeling of internal tearing as the water floods the lungs and stomach, which is combined with a high level of anxiety that causes the fact of knowing that we cannot get air into our lungs. Later the lack of oxygen will cause the heart to stop beating.

4. for burns

One of the most painful deaths is the one produced by the action of fire. The cells and nerves of all the burned parts are activated producing an ever deeper pain as the superficial layers of the skin are destroyed, in a process that can last more than ten minutes. Pain is joined by panic at the knowledge of what is happening. The progressive loss of blood and liquids ends up causing the organism to stop, although the Most people usually die earlier due to poisoning from the fumes and gases emitted in the combustion.

5. implosion

This way of dying is not very common because it is not frequent to find environments where the pressure exerted on our body is greater than that of the earth's surface. However, if the level of pressure on our body rises too much, its content (organs, viscera and bones) will compress and end up causing our death.

6. Depressurization

One of the least common ways to die on this list, but which nonetheless entails one of the highest levels of suffering. It usually occurs in cases of accidents with astronauts, with rapid changes between atmospheric pressures going from a high pressure level to a much lower pressure. This variation generates that the gases contained in our lungs and elements present in our body to expand, generating great pain and obstructing the cardiovascular system and causing death. In extreme cases the body can literally explode.

7. polytrauma

It is a form of death that can be very painful. Apart from the pain caused by broken bones and multiple external injuries, possible internal injuries are added in different organs such as the liver, kidneys or lungs.

In the latter case, the presence of severe incisions in the lungs can already mean an extremely painful form of death: if these are sufficiently damaged they do not transmit enough oxygen to the rest of the organism, filling with blood and causing suffocation slowly. In addition, lacerations cause pain with each breath, so continuing to breathe is a source of suffering.

8. by radiation

Although it may be invisible, radiation is another of the most dangerous causes of death and can cause more pain depending on the type of exposure and radioactive element to which we are exposed. The radiation causes tissue degradation at the cellular level, and even at the DNA level, which can generate a great level of pain and different symptoms. On the other hand, as we have said, this depends on the type of radiation, sometimes not perceiving any symptoms until it is too late.

9. due to sleep deprivation

This is a rare type of death, but possible. There is a rare disorder called fatal familial insomnia in which death is caused precisely by lack of sleep. Continued sleep deprivation can cause discomfort, weakness, anxiety, alterations in perception and mood, deterioration of intellectual functions and, eventually brain dead, since the organism does not have any recovery period.

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10. be eaten alive

Although most animals kill their prey before eating it, certain species do not end the life of their victim before they begin to feed on them. In these cases, the victim perceives and is aware of how the animal opens its meat and tears off and devours parts of it, and it may take a long time to die depending on the parts that the creature attacks.

11. man-made deaths

Most of the previous deaths are produced without the intervention of another person being necessary. However, throughout history, human beings have created numerous methods that cause intense pain in the person who is going to be executed.

In this aspect highlight different methods of execution and torture. Some of the examples that we can give of this type of death are hanging (in which the prisoner could suffocate for around ten minutes if the neck was not broken in the fall), the wheel (in which the victim was tied to dislocate it little by little), the iron maiden, the dismemberment with the use of horses, beating to death, forcing the ingestion of corrosive or burning substances, stoning, crucifixion (in the that the person ends up suffocating over time because the position in which the body remains does not allow breathing normally) or the impalement. This category includes some of the above.