Broken Bones!

[Trekker4747]

Not speaking of Leonard H. here!

After 45 years on this planet, I suffered my first broken bone today - fourth toe on my right foot! It was a bizarre accident I won't elaborate on; but suffice it to say - it was an extremely painful "heard it go snap" type event!

Thinking about it, pretty much everyone I know has endured at least one, often several, broken bones, and I was wondering if I've actually been extraordinarily fortunate? I'm certainly not a stay at home "risk averse" person.

Can anyone top 45 years sans a bone break?

I'm not sure I'd count a broken toe as a "broken bone." Yeah, you broke a bone but a broken toe beyond the pain is hardly a big deal. I've broken a toe, did it as a teenager when I dropped a cinder-block on my sneakered foot. Yeah, hurts like a bitch but all you can do is a buddy-tape and pop some Asprin.

Beyond that I've never broken a bone, and I'm 35.

When I think "broken bone" I think a limb or more major bone that requires a trip to the hospital, a cast, possibly surgery and metal plates. My brother broke his arm at 8 by jumping off the deck and using his arm to brace his fall on the concrete driveway below. No surgery as it wasn't too serious a break, but still required a cast for 6-weeks.

Girl I knew broke her arm in a car accident just outside of high school, this break requiring surgery and a metal plate put in her arm and some physical therapy. IIRC it was a compound fracture.

Then there's me... And dropping a stupid cinder-block on my foot and breaking my ring-finger... toe?

 

[iguana_tonante]

Do you wear rings on your toes? That's cute!

 

[Miss Chicken]

I broke my left collarbone in a car accident when I was 17. Two years later I broke my tailbone while giving birth to my first child.

Since then I have been break-free.

 

[scotpens]

I'm not sure I'd count a broken toe as a "broken bone." Yeah, you broke a bone but a broken toe beyond the pain is hardly a big deal. I've broken a toe, did it as a teenager when I dropped a cinder-block on my sneakered foot. Yeah, hurts like a bitch but all you can do is a buddy-tape and pop some Asprin.

. . . When I think "broken bone" I think a limb or more major bone that requires a trip to the hospital, a cast, possibly surgery and metal plates.

When I fractured a small bone in my wrist, it still required my hand and lower arm to be in a cast for six weeks.

Your body has 200 bones (not counting the three little ones in each middle ear). If you break any one of them, it's a broken bone.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

When I was 9, I fell down the stairs at school, tore the ligaments in my right ankle and fractured my right heel. I had to wear a cast and use crutches for six weeks. I'm jealous when I see people with casts on their feet just walking relatively normally. I guess they've gotten better at making casts that actually immobilize the broken ankle/foot while still allowing some weight to be put on it.

Also... if any of you have ever gone bowling, you know how there's usually a sign telling you not to take beverages past a certain point? There's a reason for that. Beverages drip (even if they're not actually spilled) and liquid gets on the floor. Then people can walk through the drops and get the bottom of their bowling shoes wet. When bowling shoes get wet, they don't slide. When they don't slide, and you're on the approach about to release your ball, your foot stops suddenly but the rest of you keeps going, and you land flat on your face.

At least, I've done that. Twice. And broken both my big toes in the process, about a year apart.

I'm not sure I'd count a broken toe as a "broken bone." Yeah, you broke a bone but a broken toe beyond the pain is hardly a big deal. I've broken a toe, did it as a teenager when I dropped a cinder-block on my sneakered foot. Yeah, hurts like a bitch but all you can do is a buddy-tape and pop some Asprin.

It can be worse than that. Following my bowling accidents I describe above, I've suffered from occasional gout flareups. Gout hurts like hell - I usually walk pretty quickly compared to most people, but when I'm having a flareup, I can only walk at about one-third of my normal speed. I take over-the-counter naproxen (an anti-inflammatory) when I have flareups, but even so, it usually takes three days to a week for it to subside and the swelling to go back down, and to regain my normal walking ability.

(Also: gout is not caused by an excess of rich food or alcohol. Those will cause a flareup, or make it worse, but gout is actually a form of arthritis. Breaking both big toes is what caused it. At least, that's what the doctor at the hospital told me when I went to have it checked out, the first time.)

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Sorry to hear you're in pain, Lokai! I hope you'll get well again soon. Fortunately, toe bones are hardly any thicker than the cardboard back of a notepad and therefore heal quickly.

I made it to about 35 before I first broke something. The smallest toe. Broke that one 3 times by now - it's what happens if you're blind as a mole and try to exit a door quickly without your glasses on (nor any shoes)...

But every cloud has a silver lining: a broken bone never snaps again at the same point because the repaired bit is slightly stronger than the original =)

 

[Shat Happens]

I still am curious about the "bizarre accident" the OP mentioned.

 

[Captain Ice]

I made it to 32 when I dropped a trailer on the fingers of my left hand. Only managed to break one though and had no pain/ Then, a few years later I got one of the fingers of my right hand caught in the door of a truck. No pain here either, but it had to be operated on because skin started to grow over the nail.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Sorry to hear you're in pain, Lokai! I hope you'll get well again soon.

Many thanks, Rhubarbodendron!

I still am curious about the "bizarre accident" the OP mentioned.

It involved a cat, running frantically (and most unwisely) indoors and a very large, substantial wooden object!

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Oh, one of these accidents! Had one of that sort myself when hunting a pet rat that had stolen my best silk scarf and I bumped into a book case. Nothing broken but I lost a toenail (but recaptured my scarf!)

I think I'm a hot candidate for the world championship at stupid/embarassing accidents:
I broke my leg last year in my office when I fell of my desk while hunting a spider *blush*
The spider survived unscathed

 

[Mary Ann]

I'll be 46 in August and have officially never broken any bone yet. I say officially because I may have broken a toe about 20 years ago. Like Rhubarb I was walking around barefoot without my glasses and I smacked my foot into a chair. It hurt like hell and the toe turned purple over the next few days, but it didn't hurt when I flexed it, so didn't have it checked out.

 

[Miss Chicken]

My eldest son - who seems to lack even the most basic of common sense when it comes to danger - has broken a finger, his nose twice, his hand, a couple of ribs and most recently a leg. He has also had his hand badly cut, received a concussion when he ran into a netball pole, and lost his front teeth when he and some boys were fooling around with a swing. He also managed to set his t-shirt on fire which resulted in third degree burns. Most, but not all, of his childhood injuries occured at school not at home. All of his adult injuries occurred when he had been drinking.

My middle son broke his foot as an adult when he jumped over a wall while chasing a thief.

My youngest son has never had a broken bone (or had any other sort of accident that required medical treatment).

 

[TorontoTrekker]

I think I'm a hot candidate for the world championship at stupid/embarassing accidents:
I broke my leg last year in my office when I fell of my desk while hunting a spider *blush*
The spider survived unscathed

I haven't hurt myself (yet - knock on wood), but this week, I've been so clumsy that I'm thinking I should tell my friends to start calling me Rosalind Shays. (Here's a link to Youtube if anyone doesn't know what I mean by that.)

A couple of weeks ago, I managed to slice my finger open while chopping vegetables - not from the blade slipping, but from pressing down too hard on the top of the knife.

 

[mari]

I broke my skull a couple years ago. I was 31. Before that I was break-free, respiratory diseases being more my style.

 

[Marc]

Age 7 - broken thumb (kid at school stepped on it)
Age 13 - broken leg, broken arm, dislocated right shoulder (hit by a car)
Age 13 - broke left wrist on Xmas day (slipped on a wet floor)
Age 18 - chipped bone in right pinkie finger (had hand in the wrong place doing a hip n shoulder when playing soccer).

Thankfully nothing for the past 25 years.

 

[Pingfah]

38, no broken bones, or wasp stings.

 

[Goji]

27, no broken bones. Not from lack of trying, though. It seems like I was always falling hard off of something as a child, I just never broke anything.

 

[Shat Happens]

All bones intact, but I dont have a spleen anymore. Motorcycle accident.

 

[thestrangequark]

My eldest son - who seems to lack even the most basic of common sense when it comes to danger - has broken a finger, his nose twice, his hand, a couple of ribs and most recently a leg. He has also had his hand badly cut, received a concussion when he ran into a netball pole, and lost his front teeth when he and some boys were fooling around with a swing. He also managed to set his t-shirt on fire which resulted in third degree burns. Most, but not all, of his childhood injuries occured at school not at home. All of his adult injuries occurred when he had been drinking.

My middle son broke his foot as an adult when he jumped over a wall while chasing a thief.

My youngest son has never had a broken bone (or had any other sort of accident that required medical treatment).

If we're going to tell family's stories, nothing beats my parents': Once, when I was about ten, my mom and dad were fighting. My mother was so angry she slammed a door in my dad's face, unintentionally breaking his nose. She slammed it so hard, though, that it bounced back and hit her in the face, breaking her nose too!

 

[rhubarbodendron]

LOL I can imagine what the folks at the hospital said upon hearing that accident report! Did the marriage survive that accident?

Miss Chicken, your eldest son sounds a bit dangerous to know. It#s amazing that you didn't get caught up in his accidents, too. I bet the insurance keeps his file in a special folder as he's on the verge of ruining them

I broke my skull a couple years ago. I was 31.

Geez! You're lucky yousuffered no permanent damage (apart from posting here ) Did you have to stay in hospital long?