Monday, April 2, 2018

When one wrong step leads to a painful injury

A few weeks ago I had a very bad fall, quite possibly one of the worst falls I have ever had. Usually when I fall I always end up on my rear and I quickly am able to get right back up. This time was much different as after this fall I could barely move as a result of the pain I was in. The worst thing about this fall is that it was very preventable. I actually slipped on a wet floor in the kitchen after using something called a swiffer to clean the floors. Sadly while exiting the kitchen I caught the one part of the floor that was still very wet. Unfortunately due to the fact I was wearing a pair of men's dress socks when my foot reached this part I slipped and went down right away landing very hard onto the right side of my leg. Right away all I could feel is excruciating pain from my the back of my knee all the way up the rest of my leg. 


At this point I simply couldn't get up it hurt that bad, so my only option was to drag myself across the kitchen floor to the living room where I used our couch to get back up. I sat there for a moment and quickly found out that I was unable to extend my leg without being in major pain. This was highly frustrating as I was to blame for my fall, I should have known to be more careful especially when cleaning the kitchen floor.


Off to visit the family doctor for an X-Ray 


Right away I felt as if I may have pulled a few muscles in my leg which helped to make the next week a very challenging one. Thankful I was still able to walk but depending on how I moved my leg the pain was almost unbearable. To be honest I have never been in so much pain in my life. After the first week I decided to see my family doctor who sent me to have some x-rays done on my right leg. The worst part of the x-ray was having to hold my leg still after they made me stand there in some pretty awkward and painful positions. 


Till this point there was still no bruising but that change the very next day. I guess from having the x-ray done and holding those awkward positions it must have aggravated my injury. As the very next day I was shocked when I saw the amount of bruising that had started appearing on the back of my leg. It was soon after this the pain started to subside. After two weeks of not being able to extend my leg fully it was starting to feel much better. The worst thing about not being able to extend my leg was that I was also unable to drive for those two weeks. Thankfully most of the pain is gone and now life has returned to normal.


In the end it sure was a hard way to learn the lesson that I need to be more careful when cleaning around my home. I already know that one bad fall can easily result in a major injury or even worse broken bones. Even though I am still able to walk I need to continue being extremely careful in avoiding falls, as I know this time I was very lucky.