I am 41 years old. I was pitching a baseball for my men's baseball team. During the sixth inning, I threw a pitch and heard and felt my arm snap. The break was so loud that both teams could hear it from the dugout. As soon as it happened, it took a few seconds to register what had occurred, followed by tremendous pain. I had no control of my arm but could feel both bones rubbing. Initially, upon arriving to the emergency room, I was informed by the emergency room doctor that I would need surgery immediately. However, the emergency room surgeon said my fracture would heal on its own. After being shot up with two shots of morphine, I was sent home. Fortunately, I was able to see my doctor the following day and was in surgery within two hours after seeing him. As he informed me, surgery should have been done the night I went into the emergency room. It's been a month since my surgery and after having four screws placed in my arm, I work fine. However, I still have what is known as radial nerve palsy, but I’m improving every day. Published: April 21 ::

I'm 73 and active, doing martial arts. I tripped and fell hard with my arm at an awkward angle and tried to catch myself. I had a lot of pain and couldn't bend, lift or straighten my left arm. Also, it was painful to try to turn my palm over, and my arm felt stiff. I have a fracture of the radial head, and I hope I haven’t done damage to tendons or ligaments. I have my arm in a splint for 13 days and then I'm supposed to start moving it. Published: August 24 ::

I fell on a newly waxed floor and had an open compound fracture of my right Malleolar area. The bones were broken in 8 pieces with two bones protruding from a hole in my ankle. Amazingly, I had no pain. I was taken by ambulance to the closest hospital and underwent emergency surgery. After 8 days, I went to rehab to learn to handle my wheelchair. A week or so later the cast was removed. I had a large necrotic area where the bone had damaged the skin and was told that was normal. 4 days later, this opened, and the joint was severely infected. I was sent to a second ER where the infectious disease doctor admitted me with possible MRSA. After 8 weeks of antibiotics, another surgeon operated and removed the plates and screws. He cultured the metal and found out that I had staph epidermis, which evidently entered the ankle during the first surgery, since it was under the plate. I have sense recovered and am walking more or less alright, though I still have very little feeling in my ankle and foot. Published: August 14 ::

I was nine years old when I fell of my bike riding in circles around a car tire with a metal pole in the middle filled with concrete. The back of my head hit the concrete and cracked my skull eight inches across the back. I couldn't stand up. My brother was there with me and he helped me to get up, but I had no balance and had to lean on him just to get home. I got home and ran and locked myself in the bathroom putting cold wash clothes on my head. I finally let my Mom in to help. I could talk but I couldn't stand straight. Mom took me to the hospital the next day when that night all I did was throw up. The swelling was bad and I ended up with a blood clot on the top part of my brain. They gave it a day to go away and if it didn't by the next day they would have to do surgery. Well it was gone the next day, thank God. I was bedridden in the hospital for a week with rounds of penicillin. When they finally got me up to walk I was so scared they had to force me to walk. I had a nurse on each side of me to hold me. It took me a few days to get my balance back. I remember I was so mean to those nurses. I guess it was due to the head injury. I had no long term effects from this injury, except I have trouble with left and right directions. I'm lucky to be alive since this injury happened. Published: June 09 ::

I suffered a trimalleolar fracture (ankle) with no dislocation. I broke my fibula, tibia and talus, all were transverse. I had an open reduction internal fixation surgery to place a 4" plate and 8 screws through the tibia and fibula to hold in place. I had a 6" incision on the outside of my ankle with 22 staples and a 3" incision on the inside ankle with 8 staples. My talus was left to heal naturally. I am now 6 weeks post ob and 50-100% weight bearing in a cam walker boot. I spent a month NWB in the boot. Last 6 week post-op x-rays indicated that my tibia and fibula were more than 50% healed, talus showing great callous formation. At 10 weeks post injury I will be placed in a brace and into my running shoe. This was a sports related injury. Published: June 05 ::

I was a victim of domestic violence. My arms were held down at my sides while lying in a horizontal position, and my face, my eyes, and my nose were beat with a closed fist. My diagnosis was a closed head injury. I had suffered a nondisplaced nasal bone fracture on both sides. I had a left periorbital contusion. I had bruising around both eyes and still have acute pain under my right eye. I had no health insurance and had no help from the police, even after I went to the hospital for the diagnosis. They never showed up to take a report. I feel like I have more damage. It’s hard for me to communicate, read, I can't run or laugh like I used to. Published: May 20 ::