# I fell really hard on my head today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418 "2014-01-22T01:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/21 "2014-01-22T17:19:04Z")
I actually didn’t slip on the ice, but yeah, it pays to be careful around ice. The ice around my school is especially bad. I should ask the school to do something about it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/22 "2014-01-22T17:25:07Z")
The worst sidewalks around here are around schools and parks. The City _claims_ they take care of them, but this chronic walker knows they don’t. My local school’s sidewalk is one block-long chunk of ice. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/23 "2014-01-22T17:44:04Z")
I’m so sorry you are having a rough time. Makes my falling down the stairs into the subway look harmless–I caught myself on a railing. Heal! Get better! _Améliorisez votre santé!_ ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/24 "2014-01-22T17:52:44Z")
Yeah, I never realized how treacherous ice is until we moved to the Northeast. Mrs. B. is positively paranoid about it, but then, every wintery day she comes home with another story about someone at work (public schools) who slipped and broke something. I was at a meeting mostly consisting of long-time locals, and five of eight had had ice accidents (car and personal) on the same bad day. Then a town official I work with, who has been jogging in her area for 30 years, slipped and broke her wrist. Walking home, she slipped again and broke the other arm… then sat in the snow for 30 minutes trying to get someone to stop and help her. So I can see how EmilyG got whacked… and appreciate how she got off easy. Ish. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/25 "2014-01-22T17:59:04Z")
Except **EmilyG** was the one Canadian who fell this week who _didn’t_ slip on ice. 🙂 (That smiley face is for the irony, not because I think her fall is funny.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/26 "2014-01-22T18:07:45Z")
If the ground is icy, then wear ice cleats. Yes, it is an embuggerance, but only a minor one. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/27 "2014-01-22T18:09:55Z")
I tripped because my boots have stupid hooks in them and sometimes my laces from one boot catch in the hooks in another. My father bent the hooks so that it wouldn’t happen, but I guess a hook got un-bent and I tripped. Thanks to all of you for your support and wishes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/28 "2014-01-22T19:17:00Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Except **EmilyG** was the one Canadian who fell this week who _didn’t_ slip on ice. 🙂 Oh. That’s what I get for reading so closely and completely. :rolleyes: > [@Muffin](#): > > If the ground is icy, then wear ice cleats. Yes, it is an embuggerance, but only a minor one. I bought several sets of [**these**](http://www.amazon.com/Yaktrax-Walker-Traction-Cleats-Black/dp/B0094GO9PI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390418166&sr=8-1&keywords=yaktrax+walk) for the family and myself, as stocking stuffers. Easy on, easy off, fit almost any shoe, tuck away neatly. Da wimmenfolk are crazy about them. They run really big - I got smalls for three women with size 9s, and medium for me at 11/manymanyE. YakTrax also makes several other designs. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/29 "2014-01-22T19:29:16Z")
Hope that you folks **EmilyG, JoeyP** are doing better. I have had three falls while walking fast. The first two, I was able to break my fall with my hands, so, I didn’t smack my head. My hands slapped the concrete and were very sore for a few weeks. In the last fall, I was camping and carrying empty, paper plates to dispose of. As I was falling, my brain instructed me to “don’t spill the plates”. Weird, considering they were paper and empty. Smacked my head big time. Fortunately, it was on dirt, no rocks. I had headaches for months after. I logged them on a calendar, as I never have headaches. They weren’t daily, but once or twice a week. They are gone, now. Just saying that the effects of head smackers, at least in my case, take sometime to go away. Hope you folks recover soon! ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/30 "2014-01-22T19:32:01Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I bought several sets of [**these**](http://www.amazon.com/Yaktrax-Walker-Traction-Cleats-Black/dp/B0094GO9PI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390418166&sr=8-1&keywords=yaktrax+walk) for the family and myself, as stocking stuffers. Easy on, easy off, fit almost any shoe, tuck away neatly. Da wimmenfolk are crazy about them. > > They run really big - I got smalls for three women with size 9s, and medium for me at 11/manymanyE. YakTrax also makes several other designs. They way they are displayed in the linked advertisement, they look like S&M bras. :o ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/31 "2014-01-22T20:00:30Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > \ > > I bought several sets of [**these**](http://www.amazon.com/Yaktrax-Walker-Traction-Cleats-Black/dp/B0094GO9PI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390418166&sr=8-1&keywords=yaktrax+walk) for the family and myself, as stocking stuffers. Easy on, easy off, fit almost any shoe, tuck away neatly. Da wimmenfolk are crazy about them. > > They run really big - I got smalls for three women with size 9s, and medium for me at 11/manymanyE. YakTrax also makes several other designs. I tried those - they don’t work nearly good enough on sheer ice. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/32 "2014-01-22T20:46:43Z")
My head seems more or less okay (well, I was not right in the head to begin with, and it doesn’t seem to have gotten worse. 😉 ) I just had a shower, though, and I took the bandage off my knee. Wow. It’s… impressive. In all the wrong ways. I put another bandage on afterwards. They did give me a tetanus shot in the hospital, to ward off infection (hopefully.) I guess a good thing is that I’m in so much pain that I don’t really feel the effects of the shot. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/33 "2014-01-24T14:10:00Z")
Update: my head is actually not feeling bad. My legs are still a bit sore. But what’s really worrying me is the constant shooting pain that’s in my ribs. It’s preventing me from playing the clarinet, and that really worries me, because I’m supposed to play music for a show in two weeks. Damn it. I think I’ll goto the hospital tomorrow if it continues. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/34 "2014-01-24T18:40:03Z")
IANAD, but if the pain is truly in your ribs only, you probably have (a) a bone bruise, (b) a broken rib, or © separated cartilage. If a broken rib had punctured your lung, I’m sure your only complaint would not be that you can’t play the clarinet. An x-ray will show if a broken rib is out of alignment, which is pretty much the only case I’ve heard of where any action would be taken, and then just to realign the bone so that it heals properly. I’ve read that they don’t even tape up a simple broken rib any more. I’ve had a separated rib cartilage and it hurts like crazy, takes approximately forever to heal up, and there is nothing that can be done about it. Of course, now I’m sure someone who is a medical professional will come along soon and tell me I’m completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/35 "2014-01-24T21:02:47Z")
I too had a separated rib cartilage and “hurt like crazy, took forever to heal” pretty much sums up how it went. I really hope it’s just a bone bruise. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/36 "2014-01-24T22:39:58Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > In the last fall, I was camping and carrying empty, paper plates to dispose of. As I was falling, my brain instructed me to “don’t spill the plates”. Weird, considering they were paper and empty. Smacked my head big time. Fortunately, it was on dirt, no rocks. I had headaches for months after. My Mom did something similar – she was camping and walking from the showers with her lantern. She started to fall and her concern was not to break the lantern! Instead, she did some hideous wrenching hurt when she fell on her shoulder with the arm extended. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/37 "2014-01-24T23:46:18Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > In the last fall, I was camping and carrying empty, paper plates to dispose of. As I was falling, my brain instructed me to “don’t spill the plates”. Weird, considering they were paper and empty. Smacked my head big time. It amazes me how developed the human brain can be, and yet so worthless at the same time. I have a doorway in my house with a single step down, I was stringing and tacking some speaker wire above it, It took maybe 3 minutes. During that time my exact spatial orientation vs the topography of my house was lost, and I took a step backwards as I twisted somewhat toward the direction of new movement. My left foot was approximately 1 nanometer below the level of the other foot when the lack of support became evident. My brain had two options at that point. Option 1. search databanks to realize there is a single step there after all. Calculate that there is approximately an 8 inch drop to a solid floor. Prepare the left knee to absorb the impact of an 8 inch “fall” while possibly even simultaneously flexing the right knee to absorb some of the distance. Resulting in at most an uncomfortable pop on the knee, and a silent giggle that at least no one saw me do it. option 2: My brain can decide “OH MY GOD THERE IS NO FLOOR!! WE ARE FALLING INTO AN ENDLESS ABYSS OF DEATH!!” and immediately retract my left foot toward the sky, ignoring any hope of supporting my center of mass, and causing me to do a spectacular 3/4-twist belly-flop a distance of body height+ 8 inches onto a tile floor, pitching forward just enough to catch my full weight on my ribs, slinging my instinctively raised head into the floor. Anybody wanna guess which option my brain took? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/38 "2014-01-24T23:53:54Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > option 2: My brain can decide “OH MY GOD THERE IS NO FLOOR!! WE ARE FALLING INTO AN ENDLESS ABYSS OF DEATH!!” and immediately retract my left foot toward the sky, ignoring any hope of supporting my center of mass, and causing me to do a spectacular 3/4-twist belly-flop a distance of body height+ 8 inches onto a tile floor, pitching forward just enough to catch my full weight on my ribs, slinging my instinctively raised head into the floor. This is just the lesser known sibling of “Stepping on the top step that isn’t there”. BFD, you’re on the top step already and you take one more step. It really shouldn’t be that big deal, but your brain always goes into panic mode as your clutch the wall and practically fall back down the stairs. And heaven forbid you’re carrying anything. And then, it’s such an ordeal you have to tell everyone about it, like you just got into a car accident and your life was miraculously spared. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/39 "2014-01-26T15:19:03Z")
Update: I went to the hospital yesterday, and my ribs are bruised, but thankfully not broken. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418/40 "2014-01-26T23:27:49Z")
Pity that your ribs hurt, but quite glad that your noggin is OK. Fortunately, internet hugs don’t hurt ribs the way IRL hugs do. {} [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-fell-really-hard-on-my-head-today/679418.md?page=3)