The Accident Prone Person's Survival Guide

Alright these things are never a fun subject. There are many ways to pull a muscle and once they have been pulled…well you know they hurt like a biznitch. By definition, a muscle pull is well, when a muscle is pulled out of regular position or has been overworked.

So, what have i learned from my multitude of muscle pulls? Well first you need to make sure it is just a pull and not something more serious…like a broken bone. If it is a broken bone refer to the previous post. However, with a muscle pull the first step you take is to heat the muscle (with a heating pad or something of that sorts) for 20 minutes. After heating it is best to stretch and massage the muscle out for about 10-15 minutes. Then after that you must go and ice for another 20 minutes. Once completed wait about 45 minutes and go through the whole process again!

If you follow these steps and rest for about a day, your muscle should be healed and good to go!!

what you wear when you have a head injury and are playing soccer!!

Sarah Shuster and I with our concussions..we wore the braces for the majority of the season so we could head the ball without being injuring our brains more (:

this is how injuries in sports happen…crazy people!!!

Alright now everyone has to admit it, at one time in your life you have most likely broken a bone. It does not matter if it was a pinky or your clavicle but at one point in life you have probably one. (if not, i congratulate you!)

Personally, I have broken my wrists, toes, foot, clavicle and a few fingers. How do you accomplish this you might ask? Well me? I am just a clutz, oh, and i have been playing soccer for 13 years and have run track for 2.

So, how do you know if you have broken somthing? Well there’s multiple ways to find out; sometimes you can hear that it cracked, or it sort of pops out of place and sometimes it can even emerge from its socket. However, if you are lucky enough to not experience any of these symptoms, a simple xray can tell you right or wrong. After the xray, if it is broken, you will be given either a brace or a cast! Now casts? they are very stylish these days as they come in a variety of colors and even glow in the dark!! (I’ve never seen one but I have heard they exsist)

After you have been casted or braced or whatever they did to you, there are a few different options. If you play sports and the sport doesn’t generally require your hands to play, you can continue to participate….but, if the sport does you will out of luck. During this time, again with any other injury, you have to relax, the more restless you are the greater chance of a longer recovery time, which is something you definetly do NOT want with bones. The casts start to get itchy anddd it is just not good results.

So don’t fuss around with bones, they tend to heal best when your patient, they always say good things come to those who wait and thats just what you need to do!

Hi everyone, this first post will be about concussions because I am currently going through one!

By medical definition, a concussion is most often caused by a sudden direct blow or bump to the head. The brain is made of soft tissue. It’s cushioned by spinal fluid and encased in the protective shell of the skull. When you sustain a concussion, the impact can jolt your brain. Sometimes, it literally causes the brain to slosh around in your head. Traumatic brain injuries can cause bruising, damage to the blood vessels, and injury to the nerves.

The result? Your brain doesn’t function normally. If you’ve suffered a concussion, your vision may be disturbed, your pupils will generally be two different sizes, you may lose your equilibrium, or you may fall unconscious, the light may begin to disturb your eyes, forget simple things and you may feel nauseous. In short, your brain is confused. That’s why Bugs Bunny often saw stars!

So what generally happens after you get a concussion? Well first off if the pupils are two different sizes and you feel any of the symptoms above you should go to the hospital or a doctor’s office right away. From there they will tell you how long you will be out of daily activities like driving or sports. (which is generally two weeks minimum)

Whats the first thing you do after you get out of the hospital? GO GET A BASEBALL CAP! It will be your best friend for the next week or so as it will block out the light (natural or not) that tends to strain your eyes. Second? Well that is really up to you, personally after my fourth I learned that sleep is just about the best thing to be doing. After you sustain a concussion, your brain thrusts into full mode where it attempts to fix itself of the damage that has been done, such as the different bruises on various legions of the brain. By sleeping, it 1) gives you more time away from the excrutiating headache and 2) allows your brain to repair faster. Also, over the next few days don’t be freaked out if you forget small things, like the day of the week or your phone number as it is very common.

Symptoms can also be continued during Post Concussive Syndrome which generally last for 2-3 weeks after the concussion and entails many of the same symptoms after the original blow to the head, including migranes which are also very common…

In short, concussions are one of the nastier injuries as it makes simple everyday tasks much harder, so attempt to stay away from bumping the head (: but if it does occur follow these steps and you should have a quick and speedy recovery!