# When I was a kid, I wanted to break a bone and have to wear a cast. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518 "2009-06-12T02:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/21 "2009-06-12T19:30:44Z")
Twice now I’ve had doctors look at two separate places on my body and ask “How many times are you going to break that thing?” Also broke an arm tackling and shattered a leg falling off a cliff into a dry creekbed. For awhile there I was getting plastered far too frequently. So… you got your coathanger ready? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/22 "2009-06-12T19:33:02Z")
A right handed friend of mine damaged his right shoulder in football some 20+ years ago and had to wear one of those sling things that kept your arm from moving at all. He says he still wipes his butt and ‘polishes the bishop’ with his left hand. I remember all to well taking my son to the doc to have a little square hold cut in his cast to remove a pen cap that got stuck down there because of him trying to scratch an itch. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/23 "2009-06-12T19:34:19Z")
Aaaaand I tried to take a shower today, taped it up all good, turned the water off, felt about a gallon of water sloshing around in the damned bag. Waiting for a call back on a Friday afternoon to tell me if I need a new damned cast or not. It’s been just 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/24 "2009-06-12T19:55:30Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Twice now I’ve had doctors look at two separate places on my body and ask “How many times are you going to break that thing?” Also broke an arm tackling and shattered a leg falling off a cliff into a dry creekbed. For awhile there I was getting plastered far too frequently. > … Er, is that the result of the broken bones, or the _cause_ of them? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/25 "2009-06-12T20:00:24Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I fractured my wrist when I was I think 7 years old; I got a black and red Chicago Bulls cast on my left arm, which I thought was the coolest thing in the world. It was definitely considered cool to have a cast when I was that age, partially because of the sheer novelty value of it. I also remember being in awe of the little circular saw the doctor used to cut off the cast when my wrist healed, which sawed through the cast but didn’t cut my skin. The doctor put the spinning blade right against my good arm to reassure me that it wouldn’t hurt me. I broke my arm when I was six back in the days of white plaster casts, but my Dad was a local artist and he painted my cast. The local paper did a story on my cast, and the story showed my little sister looking at it enviously and the story talked about how she wished she had broken her arm so she could have a cool painted cast, too. But she never said that and being in a cast sucked regardless of what anyone read in the paper. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/26 "2009-06-12T20:10:48Z")
When I was a kid, I did break a bone and still wanted a cast. I was 14, had a broken femur, and walked with crutches. Femurs get implants, not casts. A titanium rod and screw, but nothing visible to convince the asswipes at junior high that I’m legitimately crippled. On day 2 at school, I was stupid enough to enter a crowded room. Two of the aforementioned asswipes conspired to “accidentally” tackle me, putting all of my weight and a bit of theirs on my femur as I fell. The bone was compressed by 1/4 inch and slightly twisted. I consumed more codeine from that incident than from the original break. For years it took a constant effort to hide a limp. I’m sure if I’d had a cast I would have complained constantly about the itch, the sweating, and the weight. But at least no one would have assaulted me to see if I was faking. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/27 "2009-06-12T21:26:15Z")
Well, we’re now on Cast 2. Let’s see how long this one lasts. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/28 "2009-06-12T21:37:56Z")
I never wanted a cast. I wanted my tonsils taken out. Back when I was a little kid, in the Sixties, it seemed as if EVERY one of my classmates had his or her tonsils taken out. It was done routinely, back then, so rotuinely that there were loads of kids books showing how cool and how fun it would be! They made it look fantastic! Like you could sit in bed for a week eating ice cream. I thought it would be heaven! But I never seemed to get sick, and here I am at 48 years old, with my original tonsils and adenoids. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/29 "2009-06-12T22:24:11Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Aaaaand I tried to take a shower today, taped it up all good, turned the water off, felt about a gallon of water sloshing around in the damned bag. Waiting for a call back on a Friday afternoon to tell me if I need a new damned cast or not. It’s been just 24 hours. I had a full leg cast that I taped a bag over, but it never did work. When I got my cast off, my foot was kind of white and the skin started sort of liquifying from the constant moisture.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/30 "2009-06-12T23:27:34Z")
Dude, you’re supposed to go and have them put another one on if your foot-skin is sloughing off. You don’t even need to make an appointment - I was afraid I’d have to wait until Monday, but the girl on the phone told me to hustle my ass over to the other office, which was closer to me, and ask for Odell. Odell fixed me right up. Of course, the new cast will hurt in new places. This one’s tighter on my ankle (probably a good thing, really) but I think it’s a little easier to walk on. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/31 "2009-06-12T23:43:48Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Dude, you’re supposed to go and have them put another one on if your foot-skin is sloughing off. You don’t even need to make an appointment - I was afraid I’d have to wait until Monday, but the girl on the phone told me to hustle my ass over to the other office, which was closer to me, and ask for Odell. Odell fixed me right up. Of course, the new cast will hurt in new places. This one’s tighter on my ankle (probably a good thing, really) but I think it’s a little easier to walk on. No one told me anything, and I had no idea it was happening until after the cast was removed. It was really quite creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/32 "2009-06-13T00:18:50Z")
Shoulda talked to Odell. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/33 "2009-06-13T00:28:05Z")
Well I sure as hell will _next_ time! ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/34 "2009-06-13T21:08:29Z")
I, too, had cast-and-crutch envy as a child. One time, a friend of mine and I went so far as to try to break our legs on the playground, but we were just wussy little girls and couldn’t bring ourselves to do anything that would actually have caused damage. > [@Kalhoun](#): > > No one told me anything, and I had no idea it was happening until after the cast was removed. It was really quite creepy. Erm, you wouldn’t happen to have taken photographs of this phenomenon, would you? Because I’d love to see them if you did. I can’t even really imagine what that might look like. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/35 "2009-06-13T21:16:07Z")
I broke my arm when I was 9, about a week and a half before the school year ended. This was back in the days of big plaster casts. Mine went from my fingers to above my elbow. I thought it was vaguely cool, until my family went on vacation. To Florida. With Disneyworld. And the swimming pool. And the beach. That may have been the crappiest vacation for a nine year old ever. Crutches aren’t so bad, though, when you get used to them. I was on them for 9 weeks at the beginning of my second year of college. (I’d had them several times earlier - I was that kid in high school who’s always injured in some way or another.) The biggest problem was that I couldn’t carry a cafeteria tray. I actually lost a fair amount of weight because I was too stubborn to ask for help with my meals three times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/36 "2009-06-14T05:48:33Z")
You ended up getting your leg recasted? Pah! I got a fair bit of water down the cast the first time I stepped into a shower too… I just let it air-dry. It took a week and a half. … Then I got more water in it. :smack: The way I ended up “properly” showering was to just use a big garbage bag, and tape that sucker onto your leg with duct tape, many many **many** times around. The tape must contact both bag and skin for it to be water-tight. I also put a grocery bag over my foot, which saved me more grief the second time water got inside due to a leak in the bottom of the garbage bag. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/37 "2009-06-14T07:30:12Z")
What with all the duct tape residue once you take the bag off, wouldn’t it be simpler to just do the sponge bath thing and was your hair in the sink? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/38 "2009-06-14T14:20:55Z")
Wow, do I work with you? I had this exact conversation at work yesterday. Funny. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/39 "2009-06-14T14:35:20Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > I, too, had cast-and-crutch envy as a child. One time, a friend of mine and I went so far as to try to break our legs on the playground, but we were just wussy little girls and couldn’t bring ourselves to do anything that would actually have caused damage. > > Erm, you wouldn’t happen to have taken photographs of this phenomenon, would you? Because I’d love to see them if you did. I can’t even really imagine what that might look like. Nope, sorry…but it looked like I put a thick layer of lotion on my foot. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518/40 "2009-06-14T18:45:22Z")
I took a look in the drugstore to see if they had anything to help with the showering thing - actually, they did, and it surprisingly really worked. It’s from Curad, and it’s a plasticky stretchy sort of leg bag with a small opening. You stretch it over your cast and situate it higher up on your leg, where it will dig in hard but keep your cast dry. I wouldn’t test it too hard, but I did get a nice shower this morning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-was-a-kid-i-wanted-to-break-a-bone-and-have-to-wear-a-cast/499518.md?page=1)