RE: Common Threads: Tell us about your most intense physical pain...
Oh wow. That is freaking intense. Do you still have to get that ear checked up on from time to time?
As for myself, I have a relatively high pain tolerance. I've had various trips and falls from my running over the years. The worst was when I was running around Stone Mountain in Georgia - there is a 5 mile path around it that i would typically run around at least once depending on what i was training for. This particular time i didn't even make the full 5 miles. There were two larger women, one pushing a stroller in the path ahead. They were coming towards me. They could have single filed but didn't. Whatever i was accustomed to people being rude while I was running before. So, i proceeded to run around them by Stepping off the paved path down the curb and then back up behind them. Well, on my coming back up between the grass and the path my ankle twisted or caught on something and down i went. Got a badly scraped left knee. My right elbow dug into my right lower rib/side. If upper body hadn't cushioned / absorbed as much as it did probably would've cracked my patellla.well, they muttered their apologies. I felt like cursing them out but instead just hobbled to my car stopping at 3.4 miles.
I thought i had gotten away wth a mere abrasion but when i went to work the following day, and at attempted to help someone out of bed i got a BAD / unusual pain in my right side. Had to leave work. Boss thought it might be a cracked rib or something. It was. It was the 6th one down on the right side, doctor said it was a very small crack not even a break. But it hurt so much. I asked him if i would have to stop running. He just said "you are limited by your pain ." I was put on light duty at work. I tried to run, REALLY REALLY slow for me like 12 min/ mile. Couldn't even do that. Any sort of labored breathing even if light was causing the rib cage to expand more than it would with rest and made the rib hurt. I couldn't do jack sh*t pardon my French for like six weeks cuz for ribs it is just time and rest. I'm prone to depression anyway, but unlike other running related injuries id sustained i couldn't bike or swim. Anything exertional pulled it. I went into deep depression and gained like 10 lbs. Which i lost later after it healed. But it sucked for like 6 weeks!!
Resteemed ya!
Oh man, Chelsea--your story made me hate running even more than I already do ;) That sounds horrible! It's amazing how something so "small" like a cracked rib can cause so much pain and trouble... not being able to breathe deeply must've been aggravating... ...and yeah, some people need to cursed out ;) Thanks for your story!!