weird injuries | Pad Patter 15 May

[bellbird]

So i know they are called 'accidents' because they are not really forseeable or planned but whenever i really injure myself, it's doing mundane or random stuff.

Like the last time I really stuffed my back, it was just grabbing an old towel out of the cupboard to mop up something and they're on the very bottom/floor level shelf and although i've grabbed things from it tons of times before without thought or consequence, for some reason, that time, it was instant agony, immobility and physio for a few weeks afterwards.

This week, in another random event, i managed to aggravate the muscles in between my ribs on one side, to the point that i realised i was trying to cope by just holding my breath to avoid going to the medical centre, which is obviously not a good long-term strategy and makes me feel bad for anyone or anything with respiratory problems, especially now.

What did i do to cause it? Well, for a while we've been 'humidifying' our bird because of his respiratory issues (he's much better but as we're heading into winter here and he's getting older, we've kept it up). Initially we were putting the whole cage in the bathroom with the humidifier (like i made a page of here) but the last time we visited the vet, she said he needs a more closed environment and suggested a big clear rectangle tub with lid and a pipe that feeds the steam from the humidifier into it (and he's small enough that he won't run out of oxygen in the time he's in there). So DH constructed it but the current method involves catching the bird (who is free range inside most of the time) and physically putting him in the box, which isn't easy and is how i stuffed my 'intercostals' - i'm now using heat packs and painkillers with less breath-holding but did end up at the medical centre after a few days in case it was something else, and hearing waiting room conversations, I felt a bit better about my random injury (one lady was 'chopping' an avocado open and somehow dropped the knife on her barefoot).

So after all that, it brings me to today's question - Have you injured yourself in a weird or unusual way? Was it doing something that's usually safe or that you do all the time?

 

[LynnG]

Oh boy ....

A couple of years ago I was hanging washing to dry on an indoor rack and managed to become entangled in it (yeah, I am so co-ordinated!)

I had a split second to decide whether to fall backward and smash my head against the table then the floor, or throw myself forward. In neither case could I break the fall because my arms were so entangled in the rack and wet clothes (again, so co-ordinated)

Not surprisingly I chose to fall forward, which meant my whole weight folded over my left foot, breaking all the toes in a line.

Six months later I was running to go to a photo assignment and fell into a pothole, but couldn't break my fall properly because I wanted to save the camera. I carried on to the assignment, where I stood for an hour. Couldn't walk properly for weeks, but kept thinking "it's just a sprain". Found out 3 months later I had actually broken my ankle....

Not fond of that leg at all.

Here's me just after falling in this rockpool on a Spanish beach last year, when I also couldn't break the fall because I needed to save the camera.

Photography is a risky business!!

I was so wet I was able to have fun amusing Rosie though ... (I was travelling with her parents assisting with her care and greatly enjoying her company!)

I believe I am what they would call in the States "a doofus".

 

[meganmecrazy]

Ouch! So sorry that happened to you. I have managed to do this same with muscles in the middle/side chest area by doing laundry!!! Something I do every single day?!!?! I don't know if it is from reaching a little too far into the washing machine sometimes or if it has to do with laundry basket carrying. I have no clue but it happens.

 

[bellbird]

Oh boy ....

A couple of years ago I was hanging washing to dry on an indoor rack and managed to become entangled in it (yeah, I am so co-ordinated!)

I had a split second to decide whether to fall backward and smash my head against the table then the floor, or throw myself forward. In neither case could I break the fall because my arms were so entangled in the rack and wet clothes (again, so co-ordinated)

Not surprisingly I chose to fall forward, which meant my whole weight folded over my left foot, breaking all the toes in a line.

Six months later I was running to go to a photo assignment and fell into a pothole, but couldn't break my fall properly because I wanted to save the camera. I carried on to the assignment, where I stood for an hour. Couldn't walk properly for weeks, but kept thinking "it's just a sprain". Found out 3 months later I had actually broken my ankle....

Not fond of that leg at all.

Here's me just after falling in this rockpool on a Spanish beach last year, when I also couldn't break the fall because I needed to save the camera.

Photography is a risky business!!

View attachment 395173

I was so wet I was able to have fun amusing Rosie though ... (I was travelling with her parents assisting with her care and greatly enjoying her company!)

I believe I am what they would call in the States "a doofus".

View attachment 395174

OMG! Never in a million years would I have thought those indoor hangers could be so dangerous! (I think you are taking too much of the blame for that one, clearly it's a very precarious object that should come with lots of warning stickers over each rack (like how they have stickers all over the cords of toasters & hairdryers)

The DSLR ones I totally get, I should hash tag most of my pages from rock pools & coastal walks with #savethecamera - I can't imagine how much pain you were in but I think that is a perfect story to illustrate how sometimes we down play things so much for the benefit of others, & that sometimes it's not just a sprain!

 

[bellbird]

Ouch! So sorry that happened to you. I have managed to do this same with muscles in the middle/side chest area by doing laundry!!! Something I do every single day?!!?! I don't know if it is from reaching a little too far into the washing machine sometimes or if it has to do with laundry basket carrying. I have no clue but it happens.

A heavy washing basket is a bad back's worst enemy, for sure! If we had occupational health assessments of all the things we do at home, I don't think we'd vacuum, steam mop or iron anything, let alone wash anything again without PPE like some medieval knight's body armour!

 

[meganmecrazy]

If we had occupational health assessments of all the things we do at home, I don't think we'd vacuum, steam mop or iron anything, let alone wash anything again without PPE like some medieval knight's body armour!

HAHAHA!!! So so so true!!!! I'm always feeling the pain here or there no matter what I do around the house!

 

[littlekiwi]

Ummmm where do I start.....think I’d win an award for clumsiest quite easily

Just got through two weeks of my upper back being sore.....have no idea what I did to it or how it happened.

Easter weekend, I tripped and fell while walking out of my bedroom at night, didn’t turn my bedside lamp on and tripped over my closed laptop which was in the wrong place.

Last December, was walking on what I thought was a flat piece of concrete (the same concrete I’ve walked up and down for 24 years on our driveway), tripped on something and fell ending up on the ground

That’s just what I can remember off the top of my head but I’ve fallen down stairs, tripped over tree roots, misjudged puddles and fallen into holes over the years too. I’m also known to smack my nose with my ipad on occasion too.

 

[bellbird]

Ummmm where do I start.....think I’d win an award for clumsiest quite easily

Just got through two weeks of my upper back being sore.....have no idea what I did to it or how it happened.

Easter weekend, I tripped and fell while walking out of my bedroom at night, didn’t turn my bedside lamp on and tripped over my closed laptop which was in the wrong place.

Last December, was walking on what I thought was a flat piece of concrete (the same concrete I’ve walked up and down for 24 years on our driveway), tripped on something and fell ending up on the ground

That’s just what I can remember off the top of my head but I’ve fallen down stairs, tripped over tree roots, misjudged puddles and fallen into holes over the years too. I’m also known to smack my nose with my ipad on occasion too.

far out! ok not a contest but you're winning!

 

[IntenseMagic]

Hope you feel better quickly, Justine!!
I'm trying to remember an injury that I got that wasn't related to something mundane haha. There's a reason my daddy called me Grace growing up
Let's see... sprained my ankle doing a pirouette in my dorm room in college and another time just stepping off a curb into a parking lot, deep bruised my thigh running in to the couch, bruised my face and blackened my eye on a kitchen cabinet (more than once), and cut my foot tying up a garbage bag (there was a piece of glass in the bottom. I didn't think that sucker would ever stop bleeding). Those are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. There are many more!

 

[jenn mccabe]

I concur - it is just too easy to pull out the back when reaching and straining. For me it's not usually doing laundry but opening a pair of windows over my corner sink in the kitchen. The unlock feature is at the furtherest point and I'm short so it's tortuous. I literally just tried to open them to let the morning breeze in, got one open, strained my back and gave up on the 2nd one.

I recently was home alone - early March, while the hubby and kid were visiting colleges (just before the lockdowns) and I decided to give my 30+ pound little pug a bath down in our basement bathroom. He jumped out of the tub and got water everywhere. I grabbed him and while walking back to the tub ... I slipped on the smooth wet tiles of the floor. Having that weight in my hands didn't help for balance. I knew I didn't want to lean back (like Lynn G said "HEAD" and all) and the toilet was that way too. So I went forward. My hands still had the dog until he jumped out at the last second to save himself. So I kind of collapsed on my own leg and foot. I saw stars! I just laid there for like 30 minutes. My phone was upstairs and no-one was due home for a few days. I cried a little. When the pain subsided a bit ... I dragged my self up the steps on my knees and crawled to the couch - where I stayed for the rest of the day. It ended up only being a strain and bruised. I will never wash a dog while home alone again.

@IntenseMagic My mom did the same thing while stepping off a curb into a parking lot. She really wrecked her ankle with that one.

@bellbird ouch! and I hope you and your bird feel better. The story about the knife and the avocado makes me cringe!

@LynnG I love that you have photos of this! You are too cute.

Right now I'm nursing a big open blister on the bottom of my foot - I walked the other night after work and this thing split open and was really irritated after work yesterday. Now I can see raw bloody flesh/tissue. I can't even walk on it - it's so gross. I've never had a blister on my foot like this and am not looking forward to an immobile weekend - especially since the weather is beautiful! I don't even know what to do for it! Gah!

 

[bellbird]

Hope you feel better quickly, Justine!!
I'm trying to remember an injury that I got that wasn't related to something mundane haha. There's a reason my daddy called me Grace growing up
Let's see... sprained my ankle doing a pirouette in my dorm room in college and another time just stepping off a curb into a parking lot, deep bruised my thigh running in to the couch, bruised my face and blackened my eye on a kitchen cabinet (more than once), and cut my foot tying up a garbage bag (there was a piece of glass in the bottom. I didn't think that sucker would ever stop bleeding). Those are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head. There are many more!

I concur - it is just too easy to pull out the back when reaching and straining. For me it's not usually doing laundry but opening a pair of windows over my corner sink in the kitchen. The unlock feature is at the furtherest point and I'm short so it's tortuous. I literally just tried to open them to let the morning breeze in, got one open, strained my back and gave up on the 2nd one.

I recently was home alone - early March, while the hubby and kid were visiting colleges (just before the lockdowns) and I decided to give my 30+ pound little pug a bath down in our basement bathroom. He jumped out of the tub and got water everywhere. I grabbed him and while walking back to the tub ... I slipped on the smooth wet tiles of the floor. Having that weight in my hands didn't help for balance. I knew I didn't want to lean back (like Lynn G said "HEAD" and all) and the toilet was that way too. So I went forward. My hands still had the dog until he jumped out at the last second to save himself. So I kind of collapsed on my own leg and foot. I saw stars! I just laid there for like 30 minutes. My phone was upstairs and no-one was due home for a few days. I cried a little. When the pain subsided a bit ... I dragged my self up the steps on my knees and crawled to the couch - where I stayed for the rest of the day. It ended up only being a strain and bruised. I will never wash a dog while home alone again.

@IntenseMagic My mom did the same thing while stepping off a curb into a parking lot. She really wrecked her ankle with that one.

@bellbird ouch! and I hope you and your bird feel better. The story about the knife and the avocado makes me cringe!

@LynnG I love that you have photos of this! You are too cute.

Right now I'm nursing a big open blister on the bottom of my foot - I walked the other night after work and this thing split open and was really irritated after work yesterday. Now I can see raw bloody flesh/tissue. I can't even walk on it - it's so gross. I've never had a blister on my foot like this and am not looking forward to an immobile weekend - especially since the weather is beautiful! I don't even know what to do for it! Gah!

Oh man, you guys! You make me feel so much less uncoordinated & basically blessed with good luck!

@jenn mccabe I hope you have some sterile gauze or something you can cover your foot with; not that I'm a nurse or anything so I don't know that it's an 'iodine/betadine ' treatable thing & I can almost feel the 'I can't help but mumble swear words' level of stinging just thinking about it, but iodine then gauze taped over it is our go-to short term treatment (& unfortunately it's something I've learnt the hard way)

 

[wvsandy]

I threw my back out at work reaching for a monitor (old style box) when the cords got tangled. To this day my back is still iffy especially if I bend over. I also tripped going out the front door and turned my foot sideways. I couldn't walk on it forever.

The one that got me worst though was when my left arm went numb for 6 months. I figure it was something in my neck but I don't know what I did. Really makes you appreciate what you have and can do.

 

[michelepixels]

Hugs to you all!

I was wondering if this thread was a spin-off of the recent one where I mentioned my tendency to injure my hands in the kitchen.

Last month I did something to my knee. I don't even know what. I was sitting at my computer in my usual chair (dining table style) in my usual way -- legs all the way up on the chair and crossed, criss-cross-applesauce -- and I decided to shift my position, putting both knees to one side, feet to the other, but my left knee wouldn't work! It wasn't really a pain, but like it couldn't move and if I pushed it it would hurt. It was late at night so I decided to go to bed. I had to walk up the stairs in a way that protected my left leg, stepping up to each step with my right leg and bringing my left leg up to the same stair.
Unfortunately, in the morning, my knee did not feel better. I was able to walk and considered trying to walk it off on my usual morning walk, but my husband suggested just relaxing for the day. I had pretty much no pain but if I did anything involving crouching, like sitting on the toilet or the floor, my left knee wouldn't support me. I sat around reading and watching things for two days, not venturing back downstairs until the third day. After that it took a few days before I didn't feel the weakness in my left knee anymore and now it's back to normal. I'm guessing I twisted/pulled a tendon or ligament or something like that.

 

[HavaDrPepper]

@jenn mccabe I know exactly what it feels like to slip on water and not being able to get up.

Back when I had my 2 dogs, I gave them a bath in the bathtub and dried them off the best I could before letting them out of the bathroom. When they were let out, they ran the house and shook all the water onto the laminate flooring. I stripped my wet clothes off in the bathroom and threw them down the laundry chute. So I had to go to the bedroom to get dry clothes. As I walked out of the bathroom I slipped on the wet floor and fell flat on my back. I couldn't get up. I live alone. There I laid... naked. After I cried and tried to calm down, I was finally able to get up. Was probably 10 minutes though. I was hurting since I have a bad back to begin with so I spent the rest of the evening on the couch. I was able to go to work the next day and immediately went to the chiropractor after work. By the next day, I was feeling better. But it was scary not being able to get up and of course my phone was no where close to me that I could even call for help.

 

[BevG]

cut my foot tying up a garbage bag (there was a piece of glass in the bottom. I didn't think that sucker would ever stop bleeding).

Twins!!! Except my cut required I go get stitches... and hurt so bad I could not walk.

Broke (cracked) a bone in the my finger during a pillow fight during final weeks at college my freshman year. I was being "dainty" and had my pinky sticking out, like when you drink tea, and it got bent down.

Broke my toe by hitting it against the wall when trying to jump up from the floor to answer the phone.

Numerous cuts from knives - once almost sliced the entire top of my thumb off, right through the nail.

And from back in February - tripped over a rise in the sidewalk, landed on my belly, tried to keep my head from hitting, but bruised my chin very badly. I developed post-concussion symptoms 3 days later and had to do complete bed rest for 4 days. Finally over that one.

This is my sister's story. I was the oldest of the 6 of us and home babysitting while my parents were out to dinner. We decided that it was great fun to run down the hallway into the living room and slide on magazines across the carpet. All was going well until my sister's foot slid under the world globe and the bottom axis cut the top of her foot between two of her toes. Needless to say, we had to tell my parents because she had to have stitches.

 

[cookingmylife]

Fortunately I have nothing to add to this topic! I did have a couple of odd accidents before I started school and have the odd scar still. But hoping not to jinx myself by saying nothing since age 4 or so!

 

[jenn mccabe]

Oh man, you guys! You make me feel so much less uncoordinated & basically blessed with good luck!

@jenn mccabe I hope you have some sterile gauze or something you can cover your foot with; not that I'm a nurse or anything so I don't know that it's an 'iodine/betadine ' treatable thing & I can almost feel the 'I can't help but mumble swear words' level of stinging just thinking about it, but iodine then gauze taped over it is our go-to short term treatment (& unfortunately it's something I've learnt the hard way)

It's better today. I stayed off it yesterday & I let it air dry most of the day & overnight - propped up on a little pillow and now I'm keeping it covered with these blister bandaids we found. I only washed with water yesterday bc it was crazy raw. Today I'll clean it better. Always something, I swear.

 

[jenn mccabe]

@jenn mccabe I know exactly what it feels like to slip on water and not being able to get up.

Back when I had my 2 dogs, I gave them a bath in the bathtub and dried them off the best I could before letting them out of the bathroom. When they were let out, they ran the house and shook all the water onto the laminate flooring. I stripped my wet clothes off in the bathroom and threw them down the laundry chute. So I had to go to the bedroom to get dry clothes. As I walked out of the bathroom I slipped on the wet floor and fell flat on my back. I couldn't get up. I live alone. There I laid... naked. After I cried and tried to calm down, I was finally able to get up. Was probably 10 minutes though. I was hurting since I have a bad back to begin with so I spent the rest of the evening on the couch. I was able to go to work the next day and immediately went to the chiropractor after work. By the next day, I was feeling better. But it was scary not being able to get up and of course my phone was no where close to me that I could even call for help.

That commercial "I've fallen and I can't get up" is the real deal. It's scary when your alone and something like that happens. Being alone might be worse than the actual paint of the injury! Your story is so very similar to mine! The hazards of bathing dogs!

 

[HavaDrPepper]

That commercial "I've fallen and I can't get up" is the real deal. It's scary when your alone and something like that happens. Being alone might be worse than the actual paint of the injury! Your story is so very similar to mine! The hazards of bathing dogs!

It really is scary. My aunt fell when she was coming back into the house from the garage. She had taken some garbage from the kitchen to the garbage can. My uncle had died 18 months earlier. She couldn't get up and had no way to contact anyone. Her son stopped to check on her on his way home from work over 9 hours later. He had to call the squad and she spent several days in the hospital. She refused to go out of the house for quite awhile after that. They did get her the life alert and our small town has a phone in to the fire department system for the elderly that live alone. She is also signed up with them and if she doesn't report in by a certain time, they try to get phone contact and after a period of time of no answers someone is sent out to check on the person (unless they are notified that she will be out of town).

So yeah, it is scary.

 

[SharLamb]

Mine is a weird NON-injury story. We were in Puerto Vallarta with 2 other couples, walking from a shopping trip back to our cruise ship. The sidewalks were broken everywhere, with as much as 4 or 5 inches between levels, so I was walking very carefully. But I looked up at one point tripped, and started falling. Everything went in to slow motion. I have never been trained in the "correct way to fall," but somehow DID! I tucked and rolled, ending up on my back on the broken concrete. I was in my 60s when this happened!!!!! Nothing hurt. Nothing was broken...not even any skin. Everyone around me, friends and strangers were horrified. I just sat up and looked across the road and saw a hospital, and thanked God our cruise was not going to be ruined by this, or that I would have to go to that hospital. Yes. I DO believe in Guardian Angels. When people have ever asked me what are my goals in life, since a fall I took in my 50s I've answered, "To NEVER fall again the rest of my life is my only goal." I renewed that ambition that day in Puerto Vallarta. I actually DID fall in a sand trap on a golf course several months ago, but it was pretty soft, and DH was right there to pick me up.