Think of the worst sprained ankle you have ever had. I couldn't do anything but rock back and forward in pain. When the doctor wrenched it back in place I fainted (I was 12). There was a great sense of relief when I realized it was back in place. Hurt for several weeks, mostly as a dull ache.
Other injuries included some breaks:
Upper left arm bone (football)
Left hand (girlfriend with NO sense of humor)
Right pinky (football)
Right lowermost rib (son)
Left collarbone (motorcycle accident)
Left shoulder socket (same motorcycle accident)
Left shoulder blade (ditto motorcycle accident)
Fractured skull (as above, motorcycle accident)
Right knee (Taekwondo tournament)
Left lower leg (twice, being generally stupid)
and 25+ fractures in the right foot (sandcastle competition)
Blunt trauma:
Horse kick to upper thigh
Horse bite to upper arm
Hmmm. What else? Several snake bites (non-poisonous). Knocked clean over a fence by a bull one time. Knife-fight cut to right hand. Knocked out by fumes in a chemical accident one time. Knocked out by smoke in a fire one time. Flash-blinded when a lightning bolt grounded through my car (at 60 mph, of course).
I gather that the paralysis was quite freaky. It went away on its own a month or two later. He's suffered no ill effects.
mikemunsil's got most of your injuries covered for you (man, you make me feel like a slacker! although if it weren't for that motorcycle accident, I'd so have you beat...)
The key thing is to make sure not to stint on rehabilitation. There is scar tissue generated that can inhibit movement long term. A lot of that can be avoided by good rehab right after the injury. Motion is Lotion.
I had an inoperable broken shoulder five years ago. Same thing. I had to be in a sling for four weeks and it took eight weeks of rehab to get all my motion back.
Thanks for all your input, guys. I'm thinking a dislocated shoulder might be too severe an injury for my purposes. It sounds like that student you encountered, Kitti, is something of an exception--maybe because it happened so frequently to him.
I'm looking for an injury that's shocking and perhaps painful at first doesn't require an immediate trip to the hospital and wouldn't prohibit daily activity too much (i.e. you could still host a BBQ). I might have to just settle for a sprain or a bruise.
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited May 06, 2009).]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subacromial_bursitis
It's also really simple to put back into place, it's just a matter of rotating the arm a certain way and then folding it up on itself.
My doctor's office was gaga excited when I brought my then-4 year old in with this. It had happened in the gym playroom while I was working out. She was upset, but nobody could tell why because she said she was fine and was mostly just mad about something that had happened earlier (when she's mad, she's a force of nature, LOL) and she was just being really careful to not move that arm. It was winter, long sleeves, coat, etc. I didn't really notice it, until an hour later I decided she hadn't really moved that arm at all.
So the doc's office was excited because usually kids with this go to the ER, where the ER docs pop the joint back into place quickly. But since we had already delayed seeking treatment, I just went to the doc office to avoid the upcharges of the ER, and they were able to see it and then to do the twisting and folding that needed to be done. I think I have a picture of her with the funky arm somewhere if you want me to dig it out.
For her, it was only painful when it was moved (after the event that caused the partial dislocation) - the arm looked really funny, but didn't hurt her if she kept it still.
Hope this helps! Enjoy putting your characters through some torture.
I accidentally put my hand and arm through a glass door once; my parents pulled out all the glass, bandaged up my arm, and gave me a popsicle. Life went on. I probably wouldn't have all the scarring if we'd gone to the hospital and gotten stitches, but it would have been a two-hour drive to get there so they decided not to bother.
My character is 36, and athletic--he works out a lot, lifts weight, runs, etc. But he's never really been injured. He needs a somewhat frightening injury that happens quickly, frightening and painful enough to make him feel vulnerable and enable an epiphany, but not serious enough that he needs to go to the hospital right away or stops him from hosting a BBQ later, and one that his brother (former EMT) can help him with. I initially had him falling from the attic stairs and dislocating his shoulder. He freaks out thinking his arm is broken until his brother pops it back into place. He can't really move it, but he can still flip burgers later.
I'll look into the nursemaid's elbow thing--that will let his brother laugh at him a little, too--and think about the bruised ribs.
If I remember correctly, one of the times (after the first time) was while he was rappelling down a cliff to assist his son who had a tangled rope problem. He just popped the thing back in and went on with helping his son (who had forgotten to take ascenders down with him which would have given him the slack he needed to untangle the rope).
I don't know how bad the first time was, but I could probably ask him--if he isn't off on some rappelling trip this weekend (my husband doesn't always go with him--he wasn't on the above-mentioned trip, or--so he says--he would have made sure they were using ascenders on the rappel).
If it is, may I just tell you that it is excrutiating. I could best describe it as hitting a funny bone, but one that covers an entire side of your torso. I lay there for about five minutes and asked for no one to touch me. I finally got up with some help and walked back to the dugout. I was still in about the same amount of pain as when it first popped out. I lifted it at the elbow over my head and it popped back in. The pain started to decrease significantly.
I have always liked the Lethal Weapon movies, but they are wrong about one thing - it hurts a whole lot more coming out than it does going back in.
It's interesting that you mentioned weight-lifting. The softball game was not the first time I'd ever had trouble with this. Back in college I used to lift a fairly significant amount of weight. On several occassions I had what I would call minor slippages while doing an exercise called "flies". In this exercise you lie on a bench and you have 2 dumb-bells. You take them from spread (cross-like) position and bring them together abover your chest. Occassionally, my arm would slip for a second and I'd drop the dumb-bell. I eventually went to using a machine for that particular exercise.
Some people (me) have something called a unstable shoulder, this means if I play something like squash, tennis, raquet ball or throwing sports then my shoulder CAN (not always) play up. By playing up I mean causing me agony for 24 hours. I usually wear a sling and immobilise it--take some painkillers--and it improves to a painful but useable within 24 hours. Idon't see a doctor or anything...
When I stick the sling on and stop using it the pain almost dissapears.
Hope this helps.
EDITED TO ADD: Why not have him choke, that could give you an epiphany. He could eat something and choke and then somehow (or someone) he clears it (at the last moment). Near-death is where epiphanies are found. Plus he will be able to flip burgers no problems.
[This message has been edited by skadder (edited May 07, 2009).]
And if your character passes out, that'd be even better. He would actually think he's dead.
Edited to add: fyi, an asthma attack can require anything from just the use of an inhaler up to the use of a nebulizer, which is what usually happens in the hospital. Asthmatics who've had enough attacks that their insurance companies have thoughtfully provided a nebulizer for home use are usually doubly stubborn about self-medicating and then continuing whatever they were doing before their attack.
[This message has been edited by Kitti (edited May 07, 2009).]
Of course it could be struggle for him to find the shot and give to himself--enough for an epiphany to occur.
Adam
Having suffered a fair mount of trauma, of both the stitches and casts variety, the thing that makes dislocation stand out is not the severity of the pain. It is what comes along with the pain. A gut wrenching sense that your own body is out of wack and that you yourself are wrong. Its a terrifying tickle in the back of the mind that makes the experience far worse than the pain alone. (The same sort of sensation comes with a compound fracture, but that probably wouldn't suit your purposes here). Hope that helps.
Kinda off-topic here, so I'll post it elsewhere.
Note: Elsewhere being Grist for the Mill
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited May 07, 2009).]
[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited May 07, 2009).]