How one man landed on the disabled wrist list
Published 6/27/06
When x-rays two weeks ago revealed that none of the 15 bones in my wrist were broken, I immediately began to treat my injury using the R.I.C.E. method.
As all orthopedic experts know, R.I.C.E. stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Eat as much Chinese carryout as possible. Okay, the “E” actually stands for Elevate which any fool would know. But when you’re smarting from an acute physical infirmity, you need to eat as much comfort food as dietary laws allow.
Although I got all the medical attention I needed after my injury, what really hurt was that I didn’t get the media attention that a lot of other newsworthy wrists are getting these days. For example, two weeks ago this paper carried the headline “Oden to have wrist surgery Friday.” Unless your Internet connection is down, you probably know that this surgery patient was Greg Oden, the 7-foot high school Indianapolis basketball star who has attracted Sports Illustrated, USA Today, ESPN and other national news media to the big city south of here. This is a teenager who had his surgery appointment announced in newspapers coast to coast.
As most baseball fans know, the wrist pandemic has touched the carpal bones of Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and both the Dereks, Jeter and Lee.
Like these players, but with a lot less fanfare and no calls from the press, I suffered a direct impact injury to my carpal ligaments and landed hard on the day-to-day list during a key stretch of the interdenominational fastpitch softball season. Now that there’s time and space to tell the story, I was attempting to score on a wild throw to third. I thought I could go in standing up when I realized that the catcher was waiting for me, ball in glove, and a little impatient with my progress toward the plate. As I faced down this catcher who had the advantage of full protective gear I knew my scoring would take a heroic exhibition of acrobatic athleticism. But as I assumed the athlete’s sliding posture, and fortunately memory fails me at this point, apparently, I caught a cleat in the ground and did a handspring that resulted in a hand sprain and an easy out.
For weeknight athletes, the sprained wrist is a fairly common injury. I know this to be true. I broke my wrist in a game of driveway basketball a few years ago. Craaack! And, as they say, the wrist was history.
That’s why it’s important for the injury prone, who don’t have team doctors, to master the RICE approach to wrist treatment…
Rest: The first 24-48 hours following the injury are the most critical, according to wrist specialists, who caution you to avoid activities that cause pain. That’s why I immediately informed everyone that I would not be sweeping the carpets, dusting the furniture, ironing the underwear or taking out the trash until these activities became more enjoyable. (I did discover, however, that since it was my left wrist in need of rest, I could still play tennis almost every day.)
Ice: Ice packs on sprains during those 48 initial agonizing hours can take the form of frozen vegetables so the bag can be re-used, say the more creative practitioners. But I have found that cartons of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, wrapped around the wrist, are a tastier way of treating a sprain. Since it’s critical not to ice the site more than 20 minutes at a time, I suggest that you eat the gallon fast.
Compression: My doctor fitted me in an ugly wrist brace that looks like a hush puppy for the hand with holes for the toes, or in this case, fingers. He said to take notes if my fingers became blue or tingly. I’m glad I have my right hand fingers to take notes because the fingers on my left hand have been cobalt blue and immobile for about a week now.
Elevate: I’m writing this with my wrapped left hand in the air, upwards of my heart, as if I knew the answer and wanted to tell you.
But, hey, if I really knew the answer, I wouldn’t be handspringing into home at this decade of my life, nor would there be ice cream running down my wrist wrap, and I wouldn’t be writing notes to you about how to get off the Disabled List Wrist.
When x-rays two weeks ago revealed that none of the 15 bones in my wrist were broken, I immediately began to treat my injury using the R.I.C.E. method.
As all orthopedic experts know, R.I.C.E. stands for Rest, Ice, Compression and Eat as much Chinese carryout as possible. Okay, the “E” actually stands for Elevate which any fool would know. But when you’re smarting from an acute physical infirmity, you need to eat as much comfort food as dietary laws allow.
Although I got all the medical attention I needed after my injury, what really hurt was that I didn’t get the media attention that a lot of other newsworthy wrists are getting these days. For example, two weeks ago this paper carried the headline “Oden to have wrist surgery Friday.” Unless your Internet connection is down, you probably know that this surgery patient was Greg Oden, the 7-foot high school Indianapolis basketball star who has attracted Sports Illustrated, USA Today, ESPN and other national news media to the big city south of here. This is a teenager who had his surgery appointment announced in newspapers coast to coast.
As most baseball fans know, the wrist pandemic has touched the carpal bones of Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and both the Dereks, Jeter and Lee.
Like these players, but with a lot less fanfare and no calls from the press, I suffered a direct impact injury to my carpal ligaments and landed hard on the day-to-day list during a key stretch of the interdenominational fastpitch softball season. Now that there’s time and space to tell the story, I was attempting to score on a wild throw to third. I thought I could go in standing up when I realized that the catcher was waiting for me, ball in glove, and a little impatient with my progress toward the plate. As I faced down this catcher who had the advantage of full protective gear I knew my scoring would take a heroic exhibition of acrobatic athleticism. But as I assumed the athlete’s sliding posture, and fortunately memory fails me at this point, apparently, I caught a cleat in the ground and did a handspring that resulted in a hand sprain and an easy out.
For weeknight athletes, the sprained wrist is a fairly common injury. I know this to be true. I broke my wrist in a game of driveway basketball a few years ago. Craaack! And, as they say, the wrist was history.
That’s why it’s important for the injury prone, who don’t have team doctors, to master the RICE approach to wrist treatment…
Rest: The first 24-48 hours following the injury are the most critical, according to wrist specialists, who caution you to avoid activities that cause pain. That’s why I immediately informed everyone that I would not be sweeping the carpets, dusting the furniture, ironing the underwear or taking out the trash until these activities became more enjoyable. (I did discover, however, that since it was my left wrist in need of rest, I could still play tennis almost every day.)
Ice: Ice packs on sprains during those 48 initial agonizing hours can take the form of frozen vegetables so the bag can be re-used, say the more creative practitioners. But I have found that cartons of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, wrapped around the wrist, are a tastier way of treating a sprain. Since it’s critical not to ice the site more than 20 minutes at a time, I suggest that you eat the gallon fast.
Compression: My doctor fitted me in an ugly wrist brace that looks like a hush puppy for the hand with holes for the toes, or in this case, fingers. He said to take notes if my fingers became blue or tingly. I’m glad I have my right hand fingers to take notes because the fingers on my left hand have been cobalt blue and immobile for about a week now.
Elevate: I’m writing this with my wrapped left hand in the air, upwards of my heart, as if I knew the answer and wanted to tell you.
But, hey, if I really knew the answer, I wouldn’t be handspringing into home at this decade of my life, nor would there be ice cream running down my wrist wrap, and I wouldn’t be writing notes to you about how to get off the Disabled List Wrist.
posted by Jack W. Williams | 6:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home