Having to go to the emergency room is one of the most stressful experiences you can have. But the circumstances behind your visit, while often painful, sometimes have a humorous silver lining to them. It’s the kind of stuff that might embarrass you, but it’s great for making others chuckle and groan with sympathy.

Inspired by content creator @marield292, former patients revealed the most ridiculous, downright dumbest reasons why they ended up in the ER. Scroll down for a good laugh, and be sure to share these stories with any doctors you know.

#1

I broke my pinky demonstrating to my brother how I broke my other pinky the day before.

Image credits: Tallulah McGillicuddy

#2

I dislocated both of my thumbs making my bed

Image credits: ShortT

#3

I fell out of an ambulance….

Image credits: Erica Rose

Deciding whether or not to call an ambulance and head to the emergency room is a tough dilemma. On the one hand, your health and life are at stake, and they should be your priorities. On the other hand, there’s often a voice in the back of your head telling you that you might, potentially, be overreacting and that everything ‘should’ be fine, and you don’t want to waste ER doctors’ time. (And depending on where you live, healthcare might be prohibitively expensive, so there’s the financial aspect to worry about, too.)

Concordia University notes that many ER visits aren’t actual emergencies, and the issues can be addressed by a doctor, pharmacist, or at home. This way, you might be taking up time and resources that could be used for actual emergency cases. Meanwhile, showing up at the ER without good cause might lead to you getting infected by sick patients.

Here are some serious health problems that mean you should immediately seek emergency help:

1. Suffering severe physical trauma after an accident
2. Losing consciousness
3. Severe abdominal pain, especially with a fever
4. Sudden strong headaches
5. Sudden chest pains
6. Shortness of breath
7. Sudden numbness in your arms or legs or blurred vision
8. Having a rapid pulse while resting, without having exercised or been in emotional stress

#4

Infected elbow from knitting too much in a short period of time….Dr said I was his first knitting related case

Image credits: NukaColaBea

#5

My daughter tore her meniscus walking into a Dunkin Donuts. 😂 She did it a second time years later at the same Dunkin Donuts! 🤣🤣

Image credits: mamabearkim6

#6

My son. Fell down a cliff and broke 3 toes…chasing a lizard.🦎 here’s the kicker, he was 19 years old at the time 🙄

Image credits: Kim Hodge

Meanwhile, according to Concordia University, here are some situations where you should probably not go to the ER:

1. Having a cold or the flu, when symptoms (runny nose, congestion, sore throat, sneezing, fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, etc.) are mild and can be treated at home
2. Getting minor burns, cuts, or scrapes
3. Minor aches or pains
4. Visiting to get your prescription refilled

A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that if you are experiencing a great deal of sudden pain, and your symptoms are very much out of the ordinary, you should call an ambulance. In these cases, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. In the meantime, being slightly uncomfortable is usually nothing to worry about, so instead of heading to the ER, speak to your local pharmacist or family doctor.

As HCA Virginia points out, if you can describe your sudden headache as the “worst headache ever,” go to the ER. This can be a sign of a migraine, an aneurysm, or a stroke.

In the meantime, Medline Plus advises that if you’re ever unsure of what to do, call your primary care provider, health insurance company, or nurse telephone advice hotline so that they can help you as best as they can.

#7

Took out my contact lens because it was too dry. Tore my cornea off together with the lens

Image credits: Sijing

#8

Dislocated my jaw yawning

Image credits: caden

#9

Fractured my wrist pushing a piece of gum out of the foil packet.

What are the most ridiculous reasons why you’ve ever ended up in the emergency room, dear Pandas?

On the flip side, have you been to the ER before due to something incredibly serious? If you’ve ever worked at an ER, how often do you have patients come in who have actual emergencies versus those who overreact?

If you feel like sharing your experiences, feel free to do so in the comments at the bottom of this post.

#10

my husband rolled over on my arm while we were sleeping and it snapped

Image credits: rb

#11

I tore my acl at work doing an Ace Ventura impersonation

Image credits: Cari Stays Human

#12

got a weird headache that didn’t go away for like a week, arms and face started going numb. went to ER, neck is broken. I didnt do anything to injure myself. it just broke. this was 3 weeks ago and I’m in a brace right now

Image credits: FlowerSnacks

#13

slipped and fell, dislocating a toe, while running to show my husband a TikTok, on Christmas Eve

Image credits: themurphymayhem

#14

i coughed too hard and fractured a rib

#15

I inhaled an earring that was in my asthma puffer.

Image credits: Jess

#16

I pulled a muscle in my groin…getting off the toilet….last month. 3 day hospital stay.

Image credits: A2An

#17

Dropped a glass on my finger, tiny cut, no issue, ignored it for a week, finger turned blue and lost feeling. Turns out glass was actually in there moving around

Image credits: vex_11

#18

I slipped in a puddle of dog pee my poor blind dachshund left when he couldn’t find me. I was in the bathroom. Broke my left wrist & left ankle

#19

Ate too much sushi and then got dumping syndrome. (Google it) Fainted from the pain and then subsequently hit my head and knocked myself out on the floor. I was unconscious for half an hour and out of it for 3 hours. I don’t remember most of it. I still love sushi.

Image credits: Bellamy

#20

I had back pain that was not getting better so i went to the ER and found out it was ovarian cancer

Image credits: Kassy Starr

#21

I slipped on a drink in a bar. Blew up my entire knee. Had a whole ACL replacement, meniscus and MCL repair

Image credits: Jess

#22

Stabbed my palm trying to remove an avocado seed

Image credits: anon

#23

i torn my meniscus fully while shopping for shoes 😭 my husband called out to me to look at a shoe, i turned and BAMMM

#24

10 minutes into my shift at the doggy daycare, I trip over a French Bulldog and absolutely shatter my wrist. (Frenchie was fine, he sat in my lap completely unaware as I sat on the ground in pain) I needed surgery and hand therapy after and everything

#25

my husband cut off his finger while chopping pepperoni that I asked him not to do. they put it back. it’s just the audacity. I told him the pepperoni didn’t need chopped

#26

I fell in a hole dug for a large post that was full of water while chasing a goat. fractured my wrist and found out I was pregnant

#27

ate too much potatoes with spinach and my intestines bloated so much that i ended up having a panic attack and had to go to ER becuase I was losing speach

#28

My mother got whiplash from laughing.

#29

snapped my meniscus closing the recliner of my lounge chair

#30

tripped over the plaster cast on my leg and broke my arm.
got up from the sofa and completely detached the meniscus in my knee (needed surgery)
fell off top bunk sleep walking

#31

Got a third degree grease burn making French fried. Urgent care told me to treat it myself. The skin started falling off my leg so I went to the er. I had infection in my blood stream and almost perished.

#32

my friend bent over and poked his eye on a century plant. he’s had to wear glasses ever since.

#33

I tripped over a blind deaf dog and fell down a set of stairs dislocating my shoulder. ER didn’t believe my story

#34

Laughed so hard my waters broke at 35 week pregnant.

#35

I lost consciousness while peeing and my husband called an ambulance. I got rid of too much liquid too fast and the blood rushed to me head 🤷🏻‍♀️$200 trip

#36

I moved my arm in just the right way it tore a muscle in my back. The ER Doctor touched the exact spot with such precision and laughed at me because of how common it is

#37

One time, my dad was home alone and sliced his hand open really bad on a metal clothes hanger. While trying to drive himself to the hospital for stitches, the brakes went out on his car. He’s fine tho

#38

One time I was in the er for one of my twins and my other twin decided to get his head stuck in a chair so they had to have the fire department get him unstuck

#39

A stomachache that didn’t stop for hours already, rushed to e.r and dr. said that I’m already going to give birth😭…. wth 😳 I’m not pregnant, I told her that my stomach is flat, my menstruation is normal and not delayed😭… but dr. said i am one of few rare cases.. we got discharge w/ healthy baby boy😭.. we got home w/ no things for the baby; clothes, ward and etc..
fun fact: 12 yrs married, we did everything for me to get pregnant but were unsuccessful.. we planned to adopt and while processing the papers our house was burned our application got rejected.. we are already at the point of accepting that maybe it’s not for us, being a parent..but after 4yrs. miracle happened in unexpected time and way.

I didn’t believe that kind of pregnancy existed until it happened to me.. it’s a cryptic pregnancy, that’s what it’s called

#40

Inserted a tampon, the string came undone. The tampon was stuck. Went in to get it removed. Found out from my OBGYN later that I can call the office and they can get me in to remove to avoid an ER charge to my insurance company. Good to know.

#41

I was having stroke symptoms and got a full workup and spent 17 hours in the ER to find out it was covid and I has a super weird presentation with no cold symptoms. all neurologic

#42

My daughter was keeled over in stomach pain. Thought appendicitis. We go to er at midnight. Waiting for tests results, she rips the biggest loudest deepest fart. I’m like do you feel better? She’s like yup. Tests came back with ✨nothing✨

#43

i lifted a crate of potatoes, sneezed and herniated 3 discs in my back and my bladder stopped working

#44

I broke my ankle while delivering an Instacart order. I fell flat on her driveway. I saved her watermelon tho

#45

I tore my ACL putting my bag in the overhead bin of an airplane

#46

needed 10 stitches in my lip from eating an Italian beef too quickly

#47

got a coffee bean stuck in my ear once. i dont want to talk about it

#48

Cartilage piercing got so infected it was stuck inside my earrr. Dr had to cut it out of my ear

#49

Walked home wasted from the bar instead of trying to drive. Rolled my ankle off the curb and fractured my ankle. Then proceeded to crawl home and “sleep it off”. Went to the ER the next morning. Was on crutches for 3 months

#50

Broke two toes racing my brother to the charcuterie board… we’re both adults and the wine hadn’t even been poured yet lol

#51

mom told me that she took me to the ER when I was a newborn because I was sleeping too much and even refused food bc I was that sleepy
turns out I just really like to sleep
no, it didn’t go away

#52

Went to wake my kids up for school tripped over nothing and broke my right leg. That’s one way to get out of school drop offs and pick ups

#53

Wound up in the er the day after my wedding. Missed our cruise… had a kidney infection…. When the vows said “in sickness and in health” they meant that… my poor husband lol. That was 8 years ago though. Still going strong!!

#54

Thought a bug flew in my ear and was going to lay eggs. Turns out the sound I thought was fluttering wings was just a really bad ear infection

#55

dislocated my shoulder taking off a mattress cover. 🤷‍♀️been know as the person who got taken out by a mattress ever since

#56

When I was in kindergarten, a girl stuck her chewing gum on the floor. I quickly dashed to look for the teacher so that she could tell her off, and I broke my arm while running to do so 😩 lesson learned, dont be a snitch

#57

Right after attending a silly workplace safety training where I laughed at their segment about using scissors, I promptly cut into my finger ridiculously deep with scissors so bad I had to go to ER. 15 years ago and I still have the scar

#58

I tried to use my dogs as a sled dog team with a skateboard. I ended up with 9 stitches in my lip because my tooth got pushed through my lip when I pancaked into the side of a parked car. 😩 I would do it again.

#59

When I was pregnant with my son, I woke up one night and I thought my water had broken because the bed was soaked so I wake up my husband. He drives me to the emergency room we go get checked out. Everything is fine with me. We leave the hospital and he got really upset and told me that he had peed the bed. He knew the whole time and took me to the hospital.

#60

I once went to the ER throwing up and had diarrhoea, dr came in after seeing my test results turns out my new puppy I got gave me a stomach bug usually only contracted by animals.. dr had to explain that I had been kissing my puppy so much she gave me a dog virus 😭 I was just a tad embarrassed…

#61

Sitting on our front porch a MOTH divebombed my ear. ER 1st said they couldn’t do anything I would have to go to an ENT Monday, it was Sat night. In near tears I begged if there was anything they could do. A Dr came in with a tool he carried in his own bag & pulled the moth out. It fluttering in my ear was one of the worst things I’ve experienced.

#62

I once did 2 jumping squats and ended up with tissue damage in my knee. 2 singular jumping squats. Had to be on crutches for like a month

#63

Thought I was having a heart attack, could barely breathe, it was just an esophageal spasm that went away AS. SOON. AS. WE. GOT
THERE.

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