According to statistics, more than 130 million people visit the emergency room in the U.S. every year. The reasons for visits differ from person to person, of course: a flu is nowhere near as urgent as a cut off finger or an ongoing heart attack. While only 14% of ER visits result in hospitalization, the most frequent reasons for going to ER include digestive symptoms, chest pain, muscoskeletal injuries, and skin cuts.
However, some folks go to the ER for much less. As a fellow hypochondriac, I feel for them: it's not hard to convince yourself that a simple headache might actually mean you might have bacterial meningitis. But the comment section online where one content creator asked, "What's the dumbest reason you went to the ER?" had heaps of entertaining stories of folks panicking and going to the ER for the dumbest thing. Scroll down to see the real power of self-persuasion.
#21
One time I went to urgent care and they told me my appendix ruptured and I needed to go to the ER immediately.. so I go and they tell me it’s an ovarian cyst and the pain wasn’t even on the same side as my appendix
28points
#22
I had intense pain in my abdomen. Thought it was appendicitis turns out I was just pregnant.
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26points
#23
the dumbest reason was bc i ate glow stick by accident
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26points
#24
I went to the er, cuz I sat down wrong and somehow my knee cracked and it started swelling. On the x-ray they also found out I have bone cysts
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26points
#25
My parents thought my eyes were caving into the back of my head and I was going blind. Turns out I just have allergies.
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25points
#26
I thought I was having a heart attack it was in fact a fart
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25points
#27
not me, but my wife was prepping for a colonoscopy when she found out she's allergic to miralax after about 8 doses in
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23points
#28
I passed out on my mom's birthday at a restaurant so they called 911 and I ended up in the er waiting room lobby for 8 hours sleep deprived. I had the flu and my blood pressure dropped so I passed out
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21points
#29
I had the worst stomach pain and cramping of my life, like completely unbearable. I was almost in tears and basically passed out. Woke up still in the lobby and had a crazy powerful fart and then was totally fine.
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20points
#30
I tried opening a can of chicken with a knife and my thumb…I went to the ER and had five stitches. Same thumb that I cut a year earlier trying cooking. Now I buy pre-cut veggies.
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19points
#32
The health visitor rushed me to a&e and said my son was having infantile seizures. Turns out it was autism
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18points
#33
My kid's plan was to slide across the frozen puddle & say "I'm slick!". Their head bounced 2ft off the ice. After, at dinner, they kept wondering who was eating their dumplings. It was them.
16points
#34
Went to the ER with severe abdomen pain, was there for a total of 11h. Had ALL the tests under the sun (lost my insurance because of this one single day), was prepped for surgery to “look for the problem”…turned out I had…gas.
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16points
#35
I ate a whole pomelo and went to bed right after..
The wait for getting checked out by a doctor at the er was so long that my stomach eventually just absorbed the gas? Idk though just my guess hahah, pain went away fully the next day. Doctor just took blood tests and examined my stomach. It was hella awkward… ”I can’t fart”
The wait for getting checked out by a doctor at the er was so long that my stomach eventually just absorbed the gas? Idk though just my guess hahah, pain went away fully the next day. Doctor just took blood tests and examined my stomach. It was hella awkward… ”I can’t fart”
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15points
