Oofmph

In this post, I wrote about snowboarding. Near the end of the post was this little blurb:

All in all, the only downside was on my very last run. I knew it was going to be my last run, so I wanted to make it count. And I did. At the very end of my last run, I crashed hard. It wasn’t so much the impact of the crash that hurt, it was the way my torso twisted and my upper body contorted in the middle of the crash that hurt. I sat there for a second as I had the wind knocked out of me, knowing full well that the last crash counted and would be painful today.

It still hurts right now and probably will for a few more days. It hurts to yawn. It hurts to get off the couch.

Except…it didn’t just hurt for a few more days. More like a few more weeks. In fact, it still hurts now.

Did you know that you can actually dislocate a rib?

Well, you can. I’m proof of it.

The fall that I mentioned from snowboarding ended up getting more painful as the days went by. At first, it was just painful and sore all around. The pain ended up intensifying to the point where sleeping became difficult, as laying down causes the torso to stretch, thus causing severe discomfort. Eventually I ended up going to the doctor where I received the news of why one side of my torso was on fire every time I did anything, like breathe.

Oh, and hiccups, those are the worst with a dislocated rib.

A month later, I do feel better. The discomfort is just about gone. I can really only feel it a little when I wake up each morning. The only downside right now is that I haven’t been able to work out (no running, no lifting, no hoops, nothing) for a month. I have a ton of pent up energy just waiting to be released, but I will not yet just to ensure I’m fully healed up before I hit the gym/court/slopes again.

In terms of pain I’ve experienced, it fits in the Top 5:

1- Passing a kidney stone

2- Tearing my ACL and MCL in one shot

3- Multiple ear infections (mostly from when I was a young lad)

4- Star Wars Episode 1

5- Stupid rib

Indeed. I have learned my lesson though. Do some torso stretching before snowboarding. And if I’m going to injure myself again, make the crash look spectacular.