Ask any of my friends of family, I am almost always injured. It’s a running joke – “what have you done now!?” Even my mate Scotty gets chastised as a ‘bad omen’, seemingly with me at time of injury too often to be coincidence.
As I write this, I’m scraping scabs off one arm and trying to type with a finger in a splint. I can’t even blame my injuries on hard manual work or helping an elderly person up from a fall. No, their all from me trying to have fun playing sport or other exercise. Some were from me being reckless or careless, others just dumb luck.
I had some health issues growing up, but I was never particularly injury prone. For some reason, it all started to unravel when I hit my 20’s.
Here’s a sample of some of my mishaps over the years (at least the ones I can remember):
- Stitched cut on my eyebrow, from rugby
- Stitched cut on my head, from soccer
- ACLF (lateral ankle) rupture, from basketball
- Mallet finger, from basketball
- TFL tendon rupture, from basketball
- Metacarpal (thumb) fracture, from soccer
- Dislocated left AC joint, from rugby
- Dislocated right AC joint, from mountain biking
- 5x right fractured ribs, from mountain biking
- 2x left fracture ribs, from mountain biking
- Right pneumothorax (punctured lung)
- Blood infections from kicked shins in soccer
- Scaphoid (wrist) fracture, from snowboarding
- (suspected) coccyx fracture, from snowboarding
- Back pains, corks, many many grazes, yada yada yada.
- Concussions? Not sure. Probably not a good sign.
I’m not even 40.
Many people that know me well ask when I am going to give up some of my sports. At first, I thought it was tongue in cheek. Now I think some of them are serious.
In all honesty, I’ve never really considered dropping these sports (except for rugby). To me, I see the benefits.
I feel the benefit of being fit (ish) and able to play sports. To explore places. To play with my kids.
I know my dickie heart thanks me for the workout.
I feel the exhilaration of flying by some trees on a bike.
I feel the calmness wash over me as I paddle along our beautiful swan river.
I love the weekly laughs I have with friends as they watch me stumble over a soccer ball.
I love the pub meal that follows.
Yes, any exercise comes with risks. Particularly sports. And for some reason, particularly for me. But what I get out of it far exceeds the injuries I’ve sustained. If you asked me at 20 if I knew what was in store for my body the next 20 years, I still go ahead with it. Perhaps with a few little adjustments on the way.
Besides, I now have a thorough understanding, a ‘lived experience’, of the many injuries I treat.
Keep moving.
Jonny Christie, Exercise Physiologist & Director