Frustrated :-)

[bladeracer]

The thumb is progressing very well but I am still treating it very gently.
There really is no pain in it at all now. I believe they like to give tendons a good six weeks of rest to heal. I can't count the first four days or so as I was knocking it about a bit, but it's had two weeks without being banged or knocked, at least not enough to cause a scream

Yes, those situations do frustrate
The occurrence that lead me to post was following that fox around the house last week and not wanting to risk further injury trying to hunt it.
Sadly, he somehow managed to get into one of the water tanks and drowned, I'm sure he would've preferred a bullet
He'd been coming though late mornings so we think Thursday morning or we would've heard him shouting.

20210308_124854b.jpg (734.01 KiB) Viewed 4375 times

Which ever way Mate,,,,,, I hope the thumb recovers

And just to let your mind wander and forget it for a few blissful moments,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Heh,,,, you don't know the full meaning of "Frustrated" till you experience this,

A week ago I attended another new property to ping some foxes for the owner.
Come the end of the period I was prepared to stay for,,,, and before packing up I did one more scan and bingo,,,,, there was a pair of dogs (dingo type)
An adult, and a juvenile (judging by sizes) way out past where I had been picking off foxes.
They were play fighting in a grassy area, approx 500 meters out maybe more.
I watched avidly for just on 1/2 hr hoping and wishing that they would work their way into a reasonably comfortable shooting range.
But it was not to be,, and they eventually headed off into the far distance till I lost sight of them altogether.

Now that,,,,,,,,,, is frustrating.
When your sight picks up possible victims that are outside of the realms of sure shots, and all you can do is watch.

[wanneroo]

Tendons take a while to heal I know that much so some of this stuff can't be rushed.

I injured some ligaments in my knee when my sneaker caught on a carpet runner at a vacation house and I fell down a whole flight of stairs. After my doctor looked at it, he said I could take it easy for six months and it would mostly heal fine or I could do a bunch of physical activity and end up with surgery. In the end it took about 5 months for the black and blue marks all over my body to heal and over six months for the knee to feel normal.

[Wm.Traynor]

6 months is a helluva long time to be patient, wanneroo.

[Member-Deleted]

Sadly, he somehow managed to get into one of the water tanks and drowned, I'm sure he would've preferred a bullet

I suppose the water will taste a little funny going forward, is that what lead you to looking in the tank?

[wanneroo]

6 months is a helluva long time to be patient, wanneroo.

It is but the alternative was going out and doing a bunch of physical activity and risking making it worse. I could walk but not much more. In the end it took almost a year and it still flares a bit from time to time. I take collagen, this stuff called Flexuron which is basically krill oil and glucosamine/Chondrotin and that seems to help. Also I find for health and injuries in general, doing the cold/hot thing the athletes do helps. I swim in a cold pool and then use the hot tub and sauna.

And then once I healed from all of that I got rear ended by a drunk driver doing 40 mph sound asleep at the wheel.

And then once I healed from all of that, at work I got launched into an earthen bank, shot straight up into the sky, barrel rolled in the air and then on impact rolled multiple times . Fortunately when I saw the sky through the windshield I let my body relax as I could see what was coming so only had a nasty bruise on my arm and some soreness.

These days what I realize is the importance of looking after your body, eating well, a good exercise routine of various activities, extra supplementation, sleeping and resting, vacation, etc. When you are younger you tend not to think about this stuff so much.

[Wm.Traynor]

I take my hat off to you wanneroo. That is a hellish time that you have had. You must have a terrific lot of fortitude. Good luck to you mate

[bladeracer]

Sadly, he somehow managed to get into one of the water tanks and drowned, I'm sure he would've preferred a bullet

I suppose the water will taste a little funny going forward, is that what lead you to looking in the tank?

No, we have several tanks, he got into the fire-fighting tank, which is open for easy access to water, it's basically an in-ground swimming pool behind the house. Rose was addressing a small leak at a trough and happened to see him floating in the tank. We have boards in our troughs to allow animals to climb out, but for some reason he wasn't able to.

[bladeracer]

Tendons take a while to heal I know that much so some of this stuff can't be rushed.

I injured some ligaments in my knee when my sneaker caught on a carpet runner at a vacation house and I fell down a whole flight of stairs. After my doctor looked at it, he said I could take it easy for six months and it would mostly heal fine or I could do a bunch of physical activity and end up with surgery. In the end it took about 5 months for the black and blue marks all over my body to heal and over six months for the knee to feel normal.

Yes, I'm aware, I much prefer broken bones than torn or ruptured tendons

In '86 I ran down a four-storey stairwell without touching the stairs, I jumped from one landing to the next, eight jumps. But at the bottom, instead of keeping my foot pointing forward, I turned it early to make the final turn to the door. Foot stopped, rest kept going, rolling the left ankle badly. That hurt for several years but I only had it strapped up for a few months (I was young).

In 2018 I rolled the same ankle even worse while trying to find our dog in the dark and rain (turned out he'd been killed by a car). I unknowingly hooked my right foot under a branch buried in the grass, stepped over with my left foot, but stood on something that rolled the ankle. Normally, my instinct would be to roll out of it to protect the ankle. With my right foot anchored though I couldn't roll to the ground, and hopped my whole weight on the bad ankle three times before my right foot came free. Then I didn't roll to the ground, I simply collapsed onto it I've had it strapped up from July 2018 until about six weeks ago. It's still weak but I think it's now strong enough that I can get by without strapping, as long as I'm careful.

[bladeracer]

6 months is a helluva long time to be patient, wanneroo.

It is but the alternative was going out and doing a bunch of physical activity and risking making it worse. I could walk but not much more. In the end it took almost a year and it still flares a bit from time to time. I take collagen, this stuff called Flexuron which is basically krill oil and glucosamine/Chondrotin and that seems to help. Also I find for health and injuries in general, doing the cold/hot thing the athletes do helps. I swim in a cold pool and then use the hot tub and sauna.

And then once I healed from all of that I got rear ended by a drunk driver doing 40 mph sound asleep at the wheel.

And then once I healed from all of that, at work I got launched into an earthen bank, shot straight up into the sky, barrel rolled in the air and then on impact rolled multiple times . Fortunately when I saw the sky through the windshield I let my body relax as I could see what was coming so only had a nasty bruise on my arm and some soreness.

These days what I realize is the importance of looking after your body, eating well, a good exercise routine of various activities, extra supplementation, sleeping and resting, vacation, etc. When you are younger you tend not to think about this stuff so much.

You should've gotten into Superbike Racing, much safer

[Member-Deleted]

In '86 I ran down a four-storey stairwell without touching the stairs, I jumped from one landing to the next, eight jumps.

[wanneroo]

I take my hat off to you wanneroo. That is a hellish time that you have had. You must have a terrific lot of fortitude. Good luck to you mate

Thanks, a lot of bad things have happened these past few years but also a lot of good ones and overall it's not been bad. As I have learned from sports and the military community I often work with, a lot of success or overcoming issues comes down to mental attitude and strength and as I often say use the bad times to prepare for the good and the good times to prepare for the bad. I went from being very employed and busy up to corona and not so much after and I have used that time wisely for physical fitness, getting projects completed, learning more about various investments, etc. and then when I get busy again soon with work, it will be time to refresh savings, invest in my next business, etc. and prepare because probably 5, 10, 15 years down the road something else will happen and there will be some set back in life.

[wanneroo]

Yes, I'm aware, I much prefer broken bones than torn or ruptured tendons

In '86 I ran down a four-storey stairwell without touching the stairs, I jumped from one landing to the next, eight jumps. But at the bottom, instead of keeping my foot pointing forward, I turned it early to make the final turn to the door. Foot stopped, rest kept going, rolling the left ankle badly. That hurt for several years but I only had it strapped up for a few months (I was young).

In 2018 I rolled the same ankle even worse while trying to find our dog in the dark and rain (turned out he'd been killed by a car). I unknowingly hooked my right foot under a branch buried in the grass, stepped over with my left foot, but stood on something that rolled the ankle. Normally, my instinct would be to roll out of it to protect the ankle. With my right foot anchored though I couldn't roll to the ground, and hopped my whole weight on the bad ankle three times before my right foot came free. Then I didn't roll to the ground, I simply collapsed onto it I've had it strapped up from July 2018 until about six weeks ago. It's still weak but I think it's now strong enough that I can get by without strapping, as long as I'm careful.

What the heck were you doing jumping from landing to landing?

Sorry about your dog. Sounds like you might want to have a doctor look over that ankle too. These days there are some good sports medicine docs that can recommend different exercises that will benefit parts of your body you might have injured and/or work with a physical therapist as well.

[wanneroo]

You should've gotten into Superbike Racing, much safer

I'm not a big motorbike person but I do follow Irish road racing, Isle of Man, Northwest 200 and the guys that do that, impressive. I think I'll stick with caged cars, I'm too old to learn motorcycles.

[bladeracer]

What the heck were you doing jumping from landing to landing?

Sorry about your dog. Sounds like you might want to have a doctor look over that ankle too. These days there are some good sports medicine docs that can recommend different exercises that will benefit parts of your body you might have injured and/or work with a physical therapist as well.

Just enjoying myself

I had ultrasound and x-rays of the ankle, torn tendons and ligaments as expected.

[JohnV]

To help your injury heal quicker use hot and cold contrast baths . Get two buckets , one filled with Ice and the other hot water , not so hot it scalds you but hot enough not to be able to keep your hand in it for to long . Put your hand in the hot until it gets uncomfortable than plunge it in the ice until it gets uncomfortable , then back in the hot water , keep doing that till the water has gone cool and the ice got warm .
Do it everyday for a week .

[bladeracer]

To help your injury heal quicker use hot and cold contrast baths . Get two buckets , one filled with Ice and the other hot water , not so hot it scalds you but hot enough not to be able to keep your hand in it for to long . Put your hand in the hot until it gets uncomfortable than plunge it in the ice until it gets uncomfortable , then back in the hot water , keep doing that till the water has gone cool and the ice got warm .
Do it everyday for a week .

I used this technique with my wrist injury, but since then I have trouble differentiating between hot and cold water on my skin, making it decidedly uncomfortable.
I was surprised when I discovered that 45C was the hottest water I could comfortably keep my forearm immersed in for long periods.

[bladeracer]

I just went and put six-ounces of #9 through the drowned fox as the birds are not tearing it apart.
Nearly hurt myself opening the gun, but realised just as the pain started as I pushed the lever across, wow, that could've set me back a couple weeks of healing

[Oldbloke]

Blade. A surgeon once told me. Almost all soft tissue injuries are the same. Just like a cut to your finger. If you keep bending the finger the cut starts to heal, then you undo it when you move finger.

You need to immobilise it (the thumb) for a few weeks, then gently and slowly start using it.

Moving the injured part (especially too early) slows the healing process.

P.S. if it hurts when you move it your probably doing damage.

[Wm.Traynor]

FWIW,
My thumb was immobilised for only a week and the loss of flexibility was B A D. Granted, rheumatoid and osteo arthritis have stuffed my joints but I was shocked by that result as well as the weakness.

[Nails]

At least you’re used to pain lol. I won’t list my injuries but there’s been a lot mainly due to motorcycles, but I just wanted to say that I injured my right thumb two weeks ago using a powerful drill with a 100mm auger to save some time digging a post hole and it caught on a root. It was very painful the first 5 days or so and it’s still a little swollen and sore especially at night, so I’ve decided its worth taking the time to see the doc and check it out, I’m getting too old to ignore health issues these days. If you haven’t already, it might be worth doing the same...I hope its not serious

[Member-Deleted]

At least you’re used to pain lol. I won’t list my injuries but there’s been a lot mainly due to motorcycles, but I just wanted to say that I injured my right thumb two weeks ago using a powerful drill with a 100mm auger to save some time digging a post hole and it caught on a root. It was very painful the first 5 days or so and it’s still a little swollen and sore especially at night, so I’ve decided its worth taking the time to see the doc and check it out, I’m getting too old to ignore health issues these days. If you haven’t already, it might be worth doing the same...I hope its not serious

I'll just mark another tally down for amount of people who have had terrible incidents with motorcycles.. It's almost as risky as marriage by the sounds of it.

[JohnV]

To help your injury heal quicker use hot and cold contrast baths . Get two buckets , one filled with Ice and the other hot water , not so hot it scalds you but hot enough not to be able to keep your hand in it for to long . Put your hand in the hot until it gets uncomfortable than plunge it in the ice until it gets uncomfortable , then back in the hot water , keep doing that till the water has gone cool and the ice got warm .
Do it everyday for a week .

I used this technique with my wrist injury, but since then I have trouble differentiating between hot and cold water on my skin, making it decidedly uncomfortable.
I was surprised when I discovered that 45C was the hottest water I could comfortably keep my forearm immersed in for long periods.

I have never experienced that but it sounds more like some nerve damage from the injury that will most likely pass in time . You don't want the water to hot . I learnt it in the Military and it's worked well for me over the years . Not to be used if you have an open cut type injury

[cz515]

There was a time when doctors were more like witch doctors, here have this drink made out off cow piss and you will live 500 years.

But now a days you don't have doctors but specialists in their fields. Even a physio which for a very long time i thought was a glorified masseuse can do wonders. Not all are good, but when you find a good one, hold onto them.

Last year i tripped, fell and actually dislocated my shoulder, then popped it back in. I went to a physiotherapy and after a couple of months i am nearly as good as gold. If i didn't goto a physio i might still be in pain or have less mobility than before.

Similarly did my back last year (disk rupture/compression)... getting old i suppose. Even though i am really lazy and don't do enough excersise to strengthen the muscles. But most importantly i was back at work in a few weeks. Without taking anything more than panadol/nurofen for pain relief, and seeing i work for myself and it involves a lot bending and lifting, i sort of need my back.

[bladeracer]

I have never experienced that but it sounds more like some nerve damage from the injury that will most likely pass in time . You don't want the water to hot . I learnt it in the Military and it's worked well for me over the years . Not to be used if you have an open cut type injury

The temperature issue is a result of viral encephalitis.

I don't have nerves in the back of the hand as they weren't repaired, or failed to heal, after the circular saw injury. I hit it with a drop of burning nylon many years ago and didn't realise. It burned deep into the flesh and the pain hit me an hour later, very impressive pain too

[wanneroo]

I used this technique with my wrist injury, but since then I have trouble differentiating between hot and cold water on my skin, making it decidedly uncomfortable.
I was surprised when I discovered that 45C was the hottest water I could comfortably keep my forearm immersed in for long periods.

That's where working with a proper physical therapist with a pool and hot tub in conjunction with oversight from a sports medicine doctor might be of benefit.