When working in Physical Therapy you see…a lot. Broken bones, amputations, burns, whiplash, I can go on. You watch the long recoveries, the pain, life altering injuries. So, over the years I’ve kept an unofficial list of activities I don’t really ever plan on doing…likely ever. I’m no Rueben from “Along Came Polly” if you’ve ever seen that movie, but I just feel like there are certain risks that I’m just not willing to take. Here I share with you the list of activities you will never/nearly never see me try. Some are maybe obvious. Some of you may call me boring or a wuss. Go right ahead.
Definite No’s:
- The first activity I will be staying away from is driving on a motorcycle. Now, I’m not even talking about the people you see swerving through traffic at 110 mph on their crotch rocket. I’m talking the responsible driving. I see way too many people from motorcycle accidents, multiple broken bones, road rash, punctured lungs, brain injury; and years of recovery likely never to bounce back fully. There are just too many people who do not see you and cut you off. Now you are a human projectile with nothing around you but a helmet and some leather etc.
- Next at a close second is 4-wheelers and snow mobiles. Working in rural areas, I’ve seen one too many rolled over on top of the driver. One too many going off an embankment toward that 30′ drop into the woods. Now you are in a body cast, but I always would hear: “of course I’m going to get back on.” You might be young and recover now, but please remember that these injuries will come back to haunt you as you grow older.
- This one seems to be out of place in the article, but I think it’s important to mention, excessive prolonged drinking. Now, have I seen plenty of people who fell down the stairs and broke something after too many drinks? Absolutely. No one is shocked about that point, but I want to discuss something else. After years of working with patients in their later years, it is sad to see what the years of this behavior did to them. Much attention is on the liver damage but there are other demons that arise. Dementia is a terrible disease that has devastating results to yours and your loved one’s quality of life. I see time and time again the effects that alcoholism has towards this disease process. Please consider getting help if necessary. Unnecessary to say that obviously this includes smoking and drug use. Safe to say I’ve seen the negative effects of this as well.
Possibly? If you get me on the right day:
- So, this one I have to say my family and I actually want to get into eventually, but if I don’t get around to it, so be it. Skiing or snowboarding are another activity that have caused many to come through the doors of my clinic. Broken leg bones of course being at the top of the list, but typically in older adults. You may notice a lot of these on the list so far have to do with the fact that humans maybe weren’t meant to be traveling this fast without some sort of metal cage and seat belt.
- Football is going on this list as well. Too much news and research has recently come out with permanent damage to the brain from concussions. Not to mention the season ending injuries that occur ALL THE TIME. Now you might say: As a PT, shouldn’t you be promoting good prevention exercise and practice? Sure, but even so it only takes one wrong hit. I say, no thanks. Granted, I’m built like a kicker anyway, or maybe the water boy.
One from learned experience:
1: So, this last one is from experience. Playing one sport for multiple seasons, for a prolonged period of time. There is likely no sport that any young person or adult should be doing regularly for many years, all year long, intensely. Unfortunately, it happens all the time. Starting at 8 years old I played 3-4 seasons of the same sport until I was 18. This included strengthening regimens, proper stretching, but this did not stop the toll it left on my body. Now as a PT, (a few) years later; I would recommend cross training, and variability as well as rest periods. The same goes for you avid runners. It might not hurt you at the moment, but let’s not ignore that eventually we get older, and it takes its toll.
Conclusion:
Thank you for listening to me sound like an old curmudgeon. I’m sure there are plenty of you out there that will tell me to go out and live a little. Listen, I’m perfectly happy keeping my feet on the ground and my bones intact. Be safe let me know what I missed off the list!