Injured and out of the Game
Wednesday 27 September 2017
Sunday 11 December 2016
Injuries I Have Seen-Unintentional
As some of you might have noticed I
haven’t posted anything in a long time and this is because I left several
stories in drafts feeling as though they weren’t finished enough to be up on
the blog. It wasn’t until I decided to write this particular post that I felt everything
finally had a place. I have talked about lots of different sports injuries but
had never really went into the details of what was causing them and I believe
this is what had me stuck. I couldn’t just keeping writing about stories and
never searching for the details. The truth is most injuries have quite a back
story because they are done unintentionally, or in other words, are accidents.
How do these accidents occur? And what
sort of injuries am I talking about you wonder? Here is a list of just a few of
the things I am referring too:
Ø As some of
you may recall I talked about a head on collision that occurred between myself
and a teammate a few blog posts back. I talked about how much pain I had felt
but didn’t describe in detail why it had happened. The truth is it was a
complete freak accident that occurred because we were not aware of our
surroundings enough. This is a golden rule in all sports. I can just hear my
coach saying it over and over in my head when I think about this event. This
little lapse in judgement sent two people to the hospital, caused two
concussions, a broken nose, and a cracked skull.
Ø Falling is
also another unintentional injury that can be very detrimental to any athlete’s
game. Just think of the occurrence of Taylor Hall falling during warm-up which
resulted to getting a skate to the forehead and taking him out of the game for
quite some time.(video above) These types of injuries cannot be prevented because it is not
in our control when gravity takes over but the overall effect of them can be
reduced greatly by adding more protection for the players. For example in the
Hall case if he would have been wearing a helmet his head would have been
protected from the skate.
Of course I could not possibly list
all the accidental injuries that occur in sports because the list is endless. I
will save some injuries for other blog posts further down the road, I’ll call
it something for you to look forward to.
Injuries I Have Seen-Intentional
There are several injuries that can
occur when playing sports. They can be self-inflicted or caused by someone
else. No one is ever really completely protected from getting hurt, no matter
how hard they try. I have decided that I would make a list along with examples
of injuries that I have seen. So here it goes…
Intentional Injuries (injuries
inflicted on someone else on purpose):
Ø Swinging
elbows-I have seen this occur multiple times in all sports. A player usually
gets angry with another player and purposefully, either in front of or behind
the referees back, throws an elbow at them with full intent to injure and/or
slow down the opposing player. This can lead to concussions, black eyes, broken
noses, and even the occasional broken rib.
Ø Tripping-
This is a common occurrence in hockey and soccer. Tripping may seem like it’s
just a minor thing but a trip could lead to many things. I have seen people get
concussions, break wrists, and hurt knees from them being tripped and landing
wrong on that particular part of the body.
Ø Charging-
This occurs in both basketball and hockey. It is really just an out of control
run at the opposing player with full intent of knocking them over. Charging can
cause many injuries such as concussions, fractured ribs, broken noses, and so
on.
These offences I have listed are
only a few of the things players do to hurt one another while on the court.
They can all be life altering even though they may seem innocent at the time.
Players need to try and control their feelings while playing and protect each
other by not putting others in danger. Rules need to become stricter to ensure
that players are not put in harm’s way, especially within professional sports
such as the NHL. Referees need to pay closer attention to the players and not
let them get away with offences no matter how minor because after you get away
with it once you will continue to do it from then on.
Weight Classes
Picture this, a five foot tall, 120
pound girl in grade ten playing basketball against a 6 foot, 180 pound girl in
grade twelve. What’s wrong with this picture some of you may ask? Well let me
tell you from someone who speaks from experience, it sucks! I was on the short
and light end of sports all my life. I got thrown around very easily, and got
laid out every game. This is very dangerous even if it seems like it is just a
part of the game.
I played a post position, this is
the position that is usually played by taller and heavier players. I was always
the one who got the blunt force of every ones pushes and elbows, which there
were a lot of. The posts play under the net, this is the most aggressive place
on the entire court because its where you really need to get the ball, either
to get it out of your zone, or try to score again.
For any of you who don’t know this
already, girls are vicious players. You would probably be surprised if you
heard all the times I left the court bleeding from being scratched or saw all
the bruises I would have from all the thrown elbows and hips. I was constantly
on the floor every game. The girls would seem to gain up on me because I was
the smallest player on the court, in other words I was the easiest target. There
was a specific case where I got thrown into a wall, quite literally. I was
jumping up to get a rebound and a larger girl came up beside me, hip checked me
out of the air, and I went flying head first into a wall. This concussed me
instantly. This is just one of many examples of where weight was not on my side
but this particular instance was one that really got me thinking. What would
sports be like without weight difference? What if we divided all sports like
wrestling, with weight classes? Some would say this would make sports more
equal. Whereas others would say it takes the competition out of sports. What is
my take on it you are probably wondering, and if I answer that I feel as though
I would sway your decision so I am just going to leave the conversation and
decision up to you guys. Should weight be considered in sports or not?
Saturday 10 December 2016
Oh Snap
Keegan was in the third period of his hockey game against
Fairview. He was on fire! He had just scored a goal to tie the game 2-2. After
this goal, Fairview won possession of the puck at centre faceoff. Keegan knew
that he could not let them score if he wanted his team, The LaGlace Ice, to win
the game. He noticed an unmanned player in front of the net so he started
skating hard to intercept the puck from getting to that player. Without any warning
the player moved just as Keegan was about to hit him. This sudden movement took
Keegan by surprise and he ended up getting his arm jammed up against the player
causing his wrist to snap. The sound was so loud that parents claimed to have
heard it from the bleachers. Instantly Keegan knew something was wrong, he felt
a slight, but yet constant, pain in his wrist so he got off the ice as fast as
possible. Unfortunately this led to Fairview scoring and eventually winning the
game 3-2.
After the
game concluded Keegan was able to get off the ice and get down to his teams change
room. It is here that a parent, who was also a paramedic, was able to assess Keegan’s
wrist and equip him with a proper brace. After he got changed his parents rushed him to
the hospital. It was a 45 minute drive that seemed like it took years for
Keegan. Every small bump that they hit Keegan felt a shooting pain up his arm
starting at the wrist. Once they arrived at the QEII hospital and checked in
they were surprised by how short they had to wait. It felt as though they had
barely sat down by the time the nurse called Keegan in. Seeing as he was only
12 they wanted to help him as fast as they could.
Once Keegan
was in his individual room the doctor came to assess him. He poked and prodded
at Keegan’s wrist to find out exactly where the pain was coming from so that
the X-ray would be a more accurate representation of the break. After the doctor
had marked out the area they took him to X-ray to see exactly what they were
dealing with. Once the X-ray came back the doctor told Keegan and his Mom that
his wrist was broken and he would need it to be reset and casted. They then
went to an operating room where Keegan got an IV with morphine and a drug that
would knock him out for the procedure. Once he was asleep the doctor reset the
bone and casted the arm with a Plaster cast.
After Keegan
woke up he was in a lot of pain but his arm was set and he was able to go home.
He would have to come back every two weeks to get a new cast on but besides
that he just had to relax and let his wrist heal on its own. He said that the
worst part about the injury was not being able to play the sport he loves. So
now when he goes to hit someone he makes sure his hands are not in the way.
Friday 2 December 2016
A Trip to Weber Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy
was the only fix after years of over exertion of my hips joints. The hip, knee,
and joint specialist told me on one of my regular trips to see him. It was no
surprise to me that the sports I played that were the cause of the pain. In
fact, I suspected it all along. The trips to the physiotherapist would have to
begin two years after my senior year of basketball to start to rehabilitate my
body to normal motion. My muscles had been overworked for years and now that
they were able to relax because I had stopped playing sports, they shortened
and knotted, putting lots of stress on my joints, particularly the hip joints.
A diagnosis of physio was a good thing; it meant the joints were still intact
and all they needed was a little bit of stretching to feel better again. Physio
was no new thing for me, in fact I had been to several physio sessions for
other injuries, but no physiotherapy session had been quite like this…
I had never
heard of Weber Physio Therapy (link to website) before my specialist directed
me there after my appointment and, man, was I in for a surprise when I got
there. All of the other physio places I had been to previously were small, laid
back, and almost comfortable, but when I pulled up to this place I was shocked
because it was big! I had no idea where I was supposed to go and could not
remember the name of the therapist I was supposed to see for the life of me. Good
thing I was twenty minutes early! Thankfully though there was a nice lady at
the front desk downstairs who was able to help me out and direct me upstairs to
see M (ah yes that was his name, how did I manage to forget that?). After a
long trek up the stair case that seemed to take forever to climb (And
ironically hurt my hips even more) I was able to check in at the proper place
and sit down in the waiting room as I was still about ten minutes early for my
appointment. It was a relief when my name finally got called as the waiting
room chairs weren’t the most comfortable things ever. I guess that’s because
people usually do not show up so early for their appointments, or maybe they
were just trying to show me how much I really did need this therapy, by making
me suffer more before the appointment began.
The lady
who called my name led me back into a small room with only curtains as walls
and gave me a pair of small shorts (I’m not kidding, these were so small if you
bend over too far you might moon your therapist!) to put on so that M could
properly assess my hips. As this was my first appointment before they could
start with any treatment, M would have to come and meet me and decide exactly
what areas to focus on. No one told me this was going to be such a personal
experience but maybe that was to be expected as it was the muscles in my hips,
butt, and lower back that were the problem. I do not know how anyone else feels
but I for one do not like to be touched, especially by strangers, so when M
came in (the most attractive and young male therapist I have ever met, he
actually told me he was a male model and a body builder!) and started poking
and prodding me I was very uncomfortable. Thankfully this only lasted a few
minutes as he was only pre-assessing (Good thing because I couldn’t handle
having his elbows jabbing me in the butt anymore!). After he had decided that
the best route was to tackle the hip joints first he called his assistant back
in to hook me up to the first machine, the Inferential Current Machine (IFC).
When the
assistant came in with IFC she explained to me that this is what they will use
before every appointment starts. This machine sends electrical currents into
the muscle and helps it relax. It has four electrodes that are placed on the
skin above the problem area; for me this was the hips. When it was turned on,
it felt as though my hips were falling asleep, just like the feeling you get
when your foot falls asleep. It is a very weird feeling but also very relaxing,
something you would not normally expect to be feeling at physio. Each electrode
is covered in a nasty gel that leaves your skin feeling wet and sticky after
they have been removed. Another thing that goes along with this treatment are
hot towels. These are placed over the electrodes to help stimulate your muscles
even more. The combination of the humidity and gel left me feeling wet and
gross after they were removed, but my muscles felt better than ever!
After about
twenty minutes, the IFC was removed and the Inferential Electrotherapy machine
was put in its place. This machine was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. It
consisted of four big suction cups that had a sponge inside them. When this
machine was on, it felt like I was getting poked in the muscles with a million
little needles. It hurt! Thankfully though, this machine was only on me for
about ten minutes.
After this
machine was removed M came back in to “have some fun” (Well, that’s what he
called it anyways. to me it was more like torture time). It was time to get up
close and personal with my physiotherapist, quite literally. I did not know
that some physiotherapists went to such extremes to help their patients. It was
the first time he was seeing me so I assumed he would give me some simple basic
stretches to do at home and then send me on my way just like my previous
therapists had done, but this was not the case. He poked, prodded, and
stretched every muscle in my legs, lower back, and butt that he could. He
spared no expense. He jabbed either his fingers, knuckles, or elbows into every
muscle, oddly enough focussing on the muscles in my butt (talk about awkward
right?). His fingers jabbed into me so hard you could feel that he was putting
all the weight of his perfectly toned body behind them. He came at me from
every angle. He had me flipping from front to back and side to side so he could
be sure he covered it all. There was even a few points where he jumped up onto
the bed with me and pretty much laid on top of me to be sure he got me all
stretched out (and yes I mean right on top. My leg stretched over my head and
his face centimeters from mine.). Once he seemed to be happy with the painful
and awkward situation he had just put me through he told me he was going to
help me up. M said it would be very hard to get up on my own for the first
time, but being the stubborn person I was I jolted up quickly. This only led to
me falling straight onto his chest (which wasn’t that bad actually because oh
man was he toned!). I felt like a baby horse trying to stand for the first time
in years. It was as if he stretched my muscles out so much they did not know
what to do anymore. But after a little stable support from my male model
therapist I could stand on my own again.
After he
had got me standing he decided to put me through one last final stroke of pain
before I left, acupuncture and cupping. First he started with the acupuncture.
He inserted four large needles into my thigh and then connected a battery to
them to send an electrical shock into the muscle to help it relax. When the
battery was turned up to enough voltage I was able to watch my muscle jerk and
jolt continually as it was being stimulated. This treatment was not painful at
all, in fact it was quite relaxing after the acrobatics I just had to perform
with M on top of me. After this went on for about ten minutes the needles were
removed and cups were put in their place. The cups were used to pull the muscle
vertically to counteract all of the horizontal pulling we had done that
session.
After the cups were removed I was free to go. I was
bruised, beat up, and feeling like a colt walking out of there, but I felt
better than I did walking in. I paid my $80 to the front desk, booked another
torture session for the next week (as I will have to go weekly to keep making
more progress), and made my way out to my vehicle. This time though, I decided
to take the elevator because have you ever seen a new born colt walk down
stairs? Believe me, it’s not a site you would want to see.
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