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?

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.

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.

Knee Problems

                I have never been a one sport type of person, in fact all throughout school I dabbled in about every sport you could think of. Sometimes this was fun but in other cases it caused problems and interfered with the one sport I really cared about, basketball. Playing all these sports before the basketball season was risky, and I knew that, but I could not just sit on the sidelines and watch other people play.

I was playing volleyball in grade nine, my last year of sports in the small town of LaGlace, when it happened. Being the competitive person that I am I always played hard, dove for every ball, even the ones people thought I could never get. People would say I played with a lot of heart but also a lot of danger. Every dive for a ball would make my parents cringe in the crowd, it is like they knew that one day it would come back to bite me. I played fearlessly every game, I was captain of the team so I had to. It was hard for me to hold back or even take a break from playing. I was always on the court and always on the go. That’s why it was so hard for me to sit out after it happened, the injury that would not only end my volleyball season but also ruin my basketball season and affect my skiing life forever.

In hindsight I guess I should have seen it coming in the way this game was going. I had got to the gym ready for the big volleyball tournament to start when I realised I had forgot my good kneepads at home. I only had my old stretched out pair that slid down my legs as if they were melting like the ice off the roof on a warm Alberta winter day. They sat constantly in a drooping manor, never quite properly covering my knees but they are all I had so I put them on and off I went to play. I did not think that this would be a bad thing until I started diving. Skin rubbing against the freshly waxed gym floor did not feel good but I kept pushing. Maybe I should have taken these two things as a hint to just sit out that game and wait for my mom to get back with the proper knee pads, but I did not.

It was during second set that things went wrong. The other team was only a few points behind us and were starting to push hard. I watched their play work out perfectly. A beautiful pass, flawless set, and bam, an amazing hit! The ball was headed a bit to the right of me so I had to dive or I would miss it and another point for them, one we could not afford at this point in the game, so I dove. It was then that I felt my knee cap shift over as it connected with the floor and seem to rip every muscle in its path.

I had stretched my meniscus, I would find out after a trip to emergency and would be out for the remainder of the volleyball season and for the basketball season as well. During this time all I could do was physiotherapy to help soothe the muscles so I could return to sports the next year. All of this could have been prevented with the proper equipment. From now on I always make sure that I have all the proper equipment packed in my bag before I go anywhere to help avoid any more unfortunate mishaps.