What major sports injuries have you suffered? (4 Viewers)

[ex-ghost]

Torn Achilles. Mid-30's. Playing soccer. Had the ball, turned the corner and head what sounded like a gunshot - it was my achilles. Our game and the game on the next field stopped as I writhed around on the ground in pain. Went to doc and she said it was a torn calf muscle. For 10 days I hobbled around and went to a new doc. Too bad, that first doc was a smoke show.

I had no pain with my tear. I had the initial "pop" that felt like someone kicked my heel. It wasn't a lot of pain just a quick jolt that was moderate. After that there was no pain at all. I had a complete tear that didn't even need an MRI to diagnose. Doctor felt the area and said he was open for surgery the next day at 1:30pm and booked me for surgery.

But I had no pain at all.

Mine popped up near the knee, so didn't have that roll up issue. No surgery, but also no more soccer or hoops.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Broken nose and fractured ankle playing rugby but didn't get treatment for either, unfortunately. My teammate re-set my nose on the field and I held a cold beer against it all evening to stem the swelling. Woke up the next morning with two black eyes which was pretty cool. The ankle fracture I thought was just a bad sprain so hobbled around campus for a few weeks and kept trying to run on it but no dice. Then the season ended and I was good to go a month or so later. Many years later a doctor took an x-ray of my ankle for other reasons and noted that whoever set my broken ankle did a crappy job.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Would probably have had Tommy John surgery today for a bum elbow. But it only ever stopped me from throwing a baseball hard (softball didn't do the same thing).

Other than that... knock wood... never really hurt myself. No broken bones even. Just a couple mildish ankle sprains.

 

[Steve Tasker]

• Broken middle finger - football - approx 9 years old
• Broken wrist - football - approx 12 years old
• Absolutely obliterated dislocated right ankle - soccer - 14 years old - required resetting and approx 8 months of rehab
• Torn lateral meniscus - soccer - 18 years old
• Dislocated right shoulder, torn labrum, Hill-Sachs lesion, Bony Bankart lesion
  • Basketball - 19 years old
  • Dodgeball - 19 years old
  • Surgery #1 (scope repair)
  • Football - 20 years old
  • Soccer - 20 years old
  • Surgery #2 (open capsular shift)
  • Soccer - 29 years old (you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by this point)
  • Surgery #3 (Latarjet procedure - there's an FBG thread for this somewhere)
• High ankle sprain - approx 30 years old - this is recurrent and occasionally still flares up

Writing this makes my joints hurt.

 

[Gally]

Dislocated right shoulder, torn labrum, Hill-Sachs lesion, Bony Bankart lesion

• Basketball - 19 years old
• Dodgeball - 19 years old
• Surgery #1 (scope repair)
• Football - 20 years old
• Soccer - 20 years old
• Surgery #2 (open capsular shift)
• Soccer - 29 years old (you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by this point)
• Surgery #3 (Latarjet procedure - there's an FBG thread for this somewhere)

Sounds like you need a shoulder replacement. Ouch. Maybe we should start calling you Riggs.

 

[Mister CIA]

Note to self, don't play basketball.

 

[FarFromHome]

Note to self, don't play basketball.

Or pickleball. Ha ha

 

[belljr]

Meniscus
Concussion
Broken foot
Concussion
Broken hand
Concussion
Broken fingers
Concussion
Bulging discs
Concussion
Torn shoulder
Concussion
Separated shoulder
Concussion
Broken nose
Eye swollen shut
More concussions

Nothing too serious tbh

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Note to self, don't play basketball.

Or pickleball. Ha ha

For real. I have neighborhood friends, my favorite ones!, that play and love it. I just KNOW that my competitive self will blow out what’s left of my knee trying to get to Mildred’s surprise drop shot.

 

[Tecumseh]

Backyard football in high school- went up to catch a pass and caught the defender’s forearm between my ring finger and pinky. Snapped the pinky- thought it was just dislocated, so popped it back in place and kept playing.
Went to the doc that night and it was so swollen that they had to leverage it into correct position by yanking it against this little metal rod, no anesthesia. So that was fun. Still a little bit crooked to this day.

ETA- Oh, and at least 4 concussions

 

[Terminalxylem]

I torn my acl... getting a cup of coffee on Saturday morning, while grading papers, at my house, in my pajamas, and I was only 26 at the time.

This is exactly why I’ve never replaced the carpet with turf.

Seriously though, how did this happen? Just a misstep on level ground?

 

[Terminalxylem]

Fractured my ankles doing seated calf raises. Tried walking to the car to go to the ER. Couldn't negotiate a 3" step at the door. One of the guys picked me up with a bear hug and carried me the rest of the way. Yeah. That was embarrassing.

Doing the exercise correctly? How much weight?

 

[Terminalxylem]

Here goes. Starting from youngest (age when happened) to oldest:

• Broken Clavicle (5-ish years old) - Riding a bike and trying to do a trick. Fell off and hit my clavicle on the curb
• Pulled Groin (sophomore year) - Happened during basketball practice for HS. Out a few weeks.
• Fractured pinkie/torn ligaments (senior year) - Happened during football practice. I was WR running a slant and ball hit only my pinkie. Nothing displaced but immediately swelled. Went to Team doctor and he said fractured with likely torn ligaments. Taped it to ring finger and didn't miss any time. I still cannot completely close that pinkie into a fist
• Dislocated Shoulder (about 25 yrs old) - Playing old man high pitch softball. Slid into home and it was a bid muddy. My shoulder/arm stopped while my body did not. Went to doctor and had x-rays/MRI. Said it sublimated but went back in on it's own. Had PT for 6 months but was never quite the same. About 15 years later finally found something on about the 4th MRI (bone spur impinging on rotator cuff). Went for arthroscopic surgery and they found I had a shredded labrum along with the impingement. They fixed it up. It's still not great but better than it was. Very painful after surgery and recovery.
• Torn Achilles (40 yrs old) - Playing basketball during my lunch break. Took a shot, planted to go after rebound (i should have have missed the shot) and pop. Felt like someone kicked my heel. I asked the guy guarding me and he said he was nowhere near me and I knew at that instance I was done. Felt where my achilles should be and it was nothing but mush. Had surgery the next day.
• Also have had assorted sprained ankles, fingers, oblique etc. Cost of doing sports business.

Of all the injuries sustained the achilles was by far the hardest to come back from and I have never been the same since. Ruined my pickup basketball career.

Uggh. Torn Achilles. I stopped playing basketball at 40 after seeing several guys my age get ACL’s and Achilles. Didn’t look fun. One guy in our group still plays 2X a week. Full court. At 63

Other than shooting and an occasional game of HORSE, never played organized basketball. But based on all the injuries I’ve seen/heard of, you made the right decision.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Note to self, don't play basketball.

Or pickleball. Ha ha

For real. I have neighborhood friends, my favorite ones!, that play and love it. I just KNOW that my competitive self will blow out what’s left of my knee trying to get to Mildred’s surprise drop shot.

No pickling until next spring

 

[AAABatteries]

• Torn right ankle ligaments playing basketball
• Broken nose and concussion kneeboarding when the board went under and projectiled out in to the bridge of my nose
• Torn plantar fascia on right foot - tennis
• Re-tore all the ligaments in my right ankle trail running down a steep hill
• Torn meniscus in right knee- tennis
• Torn iliacus muscle in my right hip kicking a soccer ball
• Aggravated the right ankle yet again and finally had ankle surgery- anchoring my leg bone to my ankle with screws

My right leg is jacked up.

 

[msudaisy26]

I torn my acl... getting a cup of coffee on Saturday morning, while grading papers, at my house, in my pajamas, and I was only 26 at the time.

This is exactly why I’ve never replaced the carpet with turf.

Seriously though, how did this happen? Just a misstep on level ground?

It was our first house and the kitchen was hardwood. I would like to think it was a non contact injury like you see NFL players get, but it wasn't nearly as graceful.

I remember when I stepped down it hurt so bad, I felt it pop, then it felt like my leg didn't work and everything slowed down. I threw my coffee mug in front of me and also sprained my wrist bracing myself for the fall. I propped myself up against a cabinet and just sat there for what felt like six hours, but it was like 15 minutes before my husband got home, got me in the car and took me to the ER.

 

[Terminalxylem]

• Torn right ankle ligaments playing basketball
• Broken nose and concussion kneeboarding when the board went under and projectiled out in to the bridge of my nose
• Torn plantar fascia on right foot - tennis
• Re-tore all the ligaments in my right ankle trail running down a steep hill
• Torn meniscus in right knee- tennis
• Torn iliacus muscle in my right hip kicking a soccer ball
• Aggravated the right ankle yet again and finally had ankle surgery- anchoring my leg bone to my ankle with screws

My right leg is jacked up.

Broke my right tibia/fibula, and that's the side of my torn hammy.

I've wondered if the two were related, as sometimes you alter the mechanics of movement to compensate for injury, which can throw other stuff out of kilter.

 

[rockaction]

A high ankle sprain that made it into a trick ankle, which then healed itself somehow.

A pretty bad shoulder separation/rotator cuff that needed to be clamped to the part bone structure so that it would be stable (which has held miraculously together like my brother had used duct tape on it daily).

I’ve had a bunch of others but they seem par for the course, really,

 

[brun]

Fractured my ankles doing seated calf raises. Tried walking to the car to go to the ER. Couldn't negotiate a 3" step at the door. One of the guys picked me up with a bear hug and carried me the rest of the way. Yeah. That was embarrassing.

Doing the exercise correctly? How much weight?

Still remember this painful experience.
At the time not huge guy nor especially strong but spent a fair amount of time in the gym and moved some decent weight.
Loaded the plates, side loading. 1st set so it was 2 45s & 1 25 on each side.
Adjusted the height of the pad that rested on my legs and when I released the spring loaded pin to secure the pad position, the vertical bar that supported the weight came off the horizontal plate (same plate your feet are on).
Boom. Wasn't ready. Pain. Avulsions in both ankles as tendons pulled away bone.
My guess is whoever used the machine before me positioned the vertical bar so that it wasn't sufficiently engaged with the horizontal plate it rests on. A little jostle and... ouch!
Looking at it afterwards. Bottom of vertical bar was flat & smooth. Plate it rested on was flat & smooth. Convenient but not as safe as it could have been.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Dislocated right shoulder, torn labrum, Hill-Sachs lesion, Bony Bankart lesion

• Basketball - 19 years old
• Dodgeball - 19 years old
• Surgery #1 (scope repair)
• Football - 20 years old
• Soccer - 20 years old
• Surgery #2 (open capsular shift)
• Soccer - 29 years old (you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by this point)
• Surgery #3 (Latarjet procedure - there's an FBG thread for this somewhere)

Sounds like you need a shoulder replacement. Ouch. Maybe we should start calling you Riggs.

Probably someday unfortunately. Not really looking forward to it.

 

[AAABatteries]

• Torn right ankle ligaments playing basketball
• Broken nose and concussion kneeboarding when the board went under and projectiled out in to the bridge of my nose
• Torn plantar fascia on right foot - tennis
• Re-tore all the ligaments in my right ankle trail running down a steep hill
• Torn meniscus in right knee- tennis
• Torn iliacus muscle in my right hip kicking a soccer ball
• Aggravated the right ankle yet again and finally had ankle surgery- anchoring my leg bone to my ankle with screws

My right leg is jacked up.

Broke my right tibia/fibula, and that's the side of my torn hammy.

I've wondered if the two were related, as sometimes you alter the mechanics of movement to compensate for injury, which can throw other stuff out of kilter.

I 100% think my later injuries were in part caused by my ankle injury during my senior year.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Played a ton of sports and the most serious was a broken pinky finger from a catch in cold weather game.

Extremely lucky. I’ve played in multiple games where dudes got their necks broken.

 

[Major]

Played sport throughout my youth (soccer, basketball, baseball) and involved in sport/fitness most of my adult life. Lucky to only have pulled a hamstring playing soccer in college and a few strained calves running in my 40s

 

[Zow]

Played a ton of sports and the most serious was a broken pinky finger from a catch in cold weather game.

Extremely lucky. I’ve played in multiple games where dudes got their necks broken.

Yeah the bold is probably the more interesting question as I've been similarly fortunate to avoid major injuries but for the couple I mentioned above despite playing hundreds of hours of contact sports.

Significant injuries I've witnessed:

I've twice seen a guy's tibia sticking out of his leg. Once was soccer when I was playing in a club tournament ~12 years old. My teammate, playing midfield (he was our best player), pushed the ball forward around midfield. I was maybe ten yards ahead of him (I was playing striker) and tried to get wide and parallel to the last defender. While doing so two defenders converged on my teammate and slide tackled him hard, including one sliding at his shin. I still remember the snap and my teammate's scream and everybody getting really quiet (except for him) when we saw his bone sticking out. Ambulance had to come onto the field and I think we withdraw from the tournament. I don't believe I ever saw the kid again.

Similarly, while playing pickup basketball with some former high school classmates around 19-20 my friend/teammate and I got on a fast break. This particular court - which was inside of a batting cage/arcade type place - had a chain link fence not far behind the hoop. Teammate went up for the layup a bit out of control and must have landed at like the base of the defense. I didn't see it initially but I can still quite audibly hear the snap of his tibia - which at the immediate time I just thought was the fence. He actually didn't initially scream but he saw my facial reaction when I looked down at his bone sticking out of his shin. He then started screaming. I believe he was on crutches for at least a year.

Playing in the ASA national slowpitch softball tournament in 2010 I watched a runner on third (there were no "safety" leads from third allowed in ASA at that time) take a line drive to the head and drop immediately. He later died at the hospital.

I've seen several guys blow out their knees at various times in various sports. Worst was my amateur baseball teammate's knee seemingly explode when he crossed home plate awkwardly in wet conditions (basically his metal cleats slide a but across the plate when all his weight was on that leg). He never played again.

 

[Gally]

Well this thread is pointing out who all the injury prone guys are and therefore who to put on my do not draft list.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Played a ton of sports and the most serious was a broken pinky finger from a catch in cold weather game.

Extremely lucky. I’ve played in multiple games where dudes got their necks broken.

Yeah the bold is probably the more interesting question as I've been similarly fortunate to avoid major injuries but for the couple I mentioned above despite playing hundreds of hours of contact sports.

Significant injuries I've witnessed:

I've twice seen a guy's tibia sticking out of his leg. Once was soccer when I was playing in a club tournament ~12 years old. My teammate, playing midfield (he was our best player), pushed the ball forward around midfield. I was maybe ten yards ahead of him (I was playing striker) and tried to get wide and parallel to the last defender. While doing so two defenders converged on my teammate and slide tackled him hard, including one sliding at his shin. I still remember the snap and my teammate's scream and everybody getting really quiet (except for him) when we saw his bone sticking out. Ambulance had to come onto the field and I think we withdraw from the tournament. I don't believe I ever saw the kid again.

Similarly, while playing pickup basketball with some former high school classmates around 19-20 my friend/teammate and I got on a fast break. This particular court - which was inside of a batting cage/arcade type place - had a chain link fence not far behind the hoop. Teammate went up for the layup a bit out of control and must have landed at like the base of the defense. I didn't see it initially but I can still quite audibly hear the snap of his tibia - which at the immediate time I just thought was the fence. He actually didn't initially scream but he saw my facial reaction when I looked down at his bone sticking out of his shin. He then started screaming. I believe he was on crutches for at least a year.

Playing in the ASA national slowpitch softball tournament in 2010 I watched a runner on third (there were no "safety" leads from third allowed in ASA at that time) take a line drive to the head and drop immediately. He later died at the hospital.

I've seen several guys blow out their knees at various times in various sports. Worst was my amateur baseball teammate's knee seemingly explode when he crossed home plate awkwardly in wet conditions (basically his metal cleats slide a but across the plate when all his weight was on that leg). He never played again.

The neck injuries I never really saw happen because they always happened in the trenches. Seen a few bones sticking out like you said, but the worst was the sound of this dude’s Achilles snapping on his first play coming in for an injured guy. Sounded like a nylon strap snapping.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

Chronological order for me:

• Knocked out cold by a baseball to the nose when I was 8. Woke up on the bench covered in my own blood. Sign of the times that I got no further treatment.
• Messed up my ankle jumping up from playing Tecmo Super Bowl when I was 17. Heard a series of light popping sounds and couldn't walk for a few days. Stupidly didn't go to the doctor and ended up reinjuring it (but never as badly as the original incident) playing basketball over the next couple of years. Surprisingly it's pretty much fine now, but I do have more range of motion in it than my other ankle.
• Relatively minor basketball injuries in my late 20's/early 30's : Badly bruised ribs when I got trucked by a guy while I was setting a pick; Broken left thumb when some jackass I was guarding seemingly whipped the ball as hard as he could trying to get around my outstretched arms; Mallet finger from a badly jammed left pinky that I wrongly presumed would heal properly on its own
• Achilles tendonitis from running in my early 40s that took an annoyingly long time to resolve

Worst one I ever witnessed first hand was during pickup basketball : We were trying to stop a fast break. The other team threw a long pass and my coworker jumped up to intercept, but when he tried to land on one leg he crumpled to the ground because his knee just completely failed. He was laying on the ground screaming and his kneecap was down at his shin. Obviously he needed extensive surgery after that.

 

[SWC]

two resurfaced hips five back surgeries one shoulder rebuild multiple ankle sprains and factures take that to the bank brohans

 

[SWC]

Playing in the ASA national slowpitch softball tournament in 2010 I watched a runner on third (there were no "safety" leads from third allowed in ASA at that time) take a line drive to the head and drop immediately. He later died at the hospital.

this is horrible and i am sorry that you saw that man i bet that was something to deal with for a while take that to the bank brochacho

 

[Alex P Keaton]

Man. Lots of crazy injuries in here. I’m shocked as people in another thread led me to believe the only way people get hurt is playing basketball. (Half joking)

 

[B Maverick]

Note to self, don't play basketball.

Or pickleball. Ha ha

Talking to a PT the other day, she mentioned the majority of injuries she is seeing these days is from pickleball.

 

[SWC]

Note to self, don't play basketball.

Or pickleball. Ha ha

Talking to a PT the other day, she mentioned the majority of injuries she is seeing these days is from pickleball.

what is crazy to me is that the majority of injuries i get these days are from pickles not pickleball just regular pickles watch out for dill that is all i am saying bromigos take that to the bank

 

[Schmeabs]

Tore my UCL pitching in baseball and had Tommy John. Had another surgery on bone spur in same right elbow from pitching. Finally, tore Achilles tendon playing basketball at age 35.

 

[Navin Johnson]

Broken nose
Dislocated finger
Torn meniscus
Facet syndrome (more from bad squat technique than injury, but acquired playing college ball)
Right ankle 2x
Left ankle 8x
Ruptured ligaments in left ankle

 

[Dr_Zaius]

Speaking of freak injuries, in the Championship game for our local little league, the star player for the other team (big lefty), just absolutely destroyed a ball to right center. It was one of those fields adjacent to another field so there was no fence, but it was way over heads. Me in RF and the CF go frantically chasing after it but I'm thinking there's no way this is not a home run. After a long chase CF beats me to the ball and hurls it with all of his might. At which point we notice the batter is laying on first base, having apparently broken his leg trying to round first. Game had a long delay waiting for the ambulance.