Hand Injuries Common in Muni? Or is just me?

I've had an injury to my hand:

http://tinyurl.com/5gnc5u

The main cause of my injury was getting my pinky finger caught in
between the slats of a foot bridge as I tumbled off of it after UPD'ing
on a downhill that was apparently trickier than I was ready for


Also, I know of another rider who broke his thumb and then broke it
again after it had mostly healed - both were unicycle related.

I think if we could just get rid of that pesky gravity, there would be
much fewer unicycle injuries.


--
Hugh

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Hugh
MUC Member
"Uni"fied
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Hugh;1138267 wrote:
I've had an injury to my hand:

http://tinyurl.com/5gnc5u

The main cause of my injury was getting my pinky finger caught in
between the slats of a foot bridge as I tumbled off of it after UPD'ing
on a downhill that was apparently trickier than I was ready for


Also, I know of another rider who broke his thumb and then broke it
again after it had mostly healed - both were unicycle related.

I think if we could just get rid of that pesky gravity, there would be
much fewer unicycle injuries.



oh damn.



I'd just say folks, watch what your hands are doing. I know in skating
its said to land with your hands in. Try and just keep your arms in,
most times this will help, but if you took a serious fall, you could end
up breaking your scapula/calvical or any number of things. So, its one
evil for the other i guess.


sorry to hear about all your guy's hand injuries. I would definitely
recomend to anyone who has a hand injury that seems more than a bruise
to go see a docter, get it x rayed, and fix it. You dont want impaired
use of your hand due to an incorrectly healed phalange or metacarple.


--
unibikeling

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Sorry to hear about your injury. Sometimes you can't help a bad fall,
but I think Jason mentioned some good steps to minimize injury.

When I bail poorly and go down hard, I tend to hit my left wrist in the
same place every time. It was very annoying, but now I double up a
wrist guard with my KH glove on top of it and my hand feels like a tank.
I don't do this with my right hand as I need it to hold the handle.
Now if I keep my fingers tucked in, I can break my fall without ruining
the rest of my day.


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timekeeper
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I've had what I suspect was a broken thumb and a confirmed broken wrist
from muni. Haven't had any serious problems since wearing very sturdy
wrist guards, though; I tend to try, now, to land on the "heels" of my
hands, and ball up my fists at the same time. I wish I could tuck and
roll, but that's not my instinct, so this is the best bet for me.

Sorry to hear about your injuries! Heal fast!


--
pkittle

*==========================
Peter Kittle * Chico, CA
"The Revolution is just a t-shirt away."
--Billy Bragg
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I've damaged the ligaments in my left wrist, left ring finger, left
middle finger, right pinkie, right middle finger, right thumb all on
falls putting my hands out. As a result I've been teaching myself to
either get my feet down as quickly as possible, or go into a rolling
bail which I seem to be getting reasonably good at . If I do need to
put my hands down for a fall I try to make a fist to keep my fingers out
of the way and to keep my wrist straight.

Being able to avoid an injury comes down to being able to think through
the fall and notice what is around you and where you are going. Not
always easy as things tend to happen very fast, but with the bail
practice I tend to have (naturally ) it's getting easier to do.


--
JohnnyReggae

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And build them a home, a little place of their own.
The Fletcher Memorial Home for Incurable Tyrants and Kings."
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I've always been involved in athletics of some sort and, luckily, the
many years of practice have paid off when tucking and rolling. Roller
skating through streets and even to/from classes in college (up and down
stairs) taught me the value of safety equipment.

Still, I tend to land on my right wrist first then proceed into a roll.
I wear skateboard style wrist gaurds which have saved me from broken
bones more than once but my wrist still gets sore (especially when
learning new skills). Under the wrist gaurds I wear mechanics gloves
when riding on the street.

If anyone has recommendations on better wrist/finger protection I'm
more than open to suggestion!


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blueharmony

_________
- Kenny
-unicycle for yourself-
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blueharmony;1138659 wrote:
I wear skateboard style wrist gaurds which have saved me from broken
bones more than once but my wrist still gets sore (especially when
learning new skills). Under the wrist gaurds I wear mechanics gloves
when riding on the street.

If anyone has recommendations on better wrist/finger protection I'm
more than open to suggestion!



That's exactly what I wear, too. The mechanics gloves work well for
grip and flexibility, but don't have a terry cloth sweat-wiping panel
like most mtb gloves. But they're thinner, and more comfy under the
wrist guards. I guess it's all about compromise.


--
pkittle

*==========================
Peter Kittle * Chico, CA
"The Revolution is just a t-shirt away."
--Billy Bragg
==========================*
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Well, I don't think it was my fall technique that was the problem

I was riding single track, setting up to do a rolling hop over a log,
and I didn't see the root a few feet in front of the log, so I got
"tripped up" and did a sudden dive. As I was pitched forward my hand
tangled in the root ball of the log, which is why I busted up two
fingers on the outside of my right hand.

My son, he's 13yo, just ain't no good at faling yet. He did the classic
fall with his hands spread wide, hyperextending his left thumb. He got a
tongue lashing for bad fall technique

We both wear these:

http://www.hillbillyprotection.com/

Dual sided wrist protection, full finger coverage, pig skin with
ventilated backs. We use them for mountain boarding and grass skiing,
but they really rock for muni.

I'm looking at taping my fingers in sets of two using duct tape. My
thinking is it that two fingers will be more resistant to fall damage.
I'd considered using a mitten, but then how would I pick my nose?


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Nurse Ben
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Hey,

Another reason to wear wrist protection - in 23 years of trials
wipeouts I've never sustained a bad wrist injury but the cumulative
effect of falling hundreds of times means that my left wrist (the main
falling direction for me in trials) is slightly sore on impact. Not
enough to really bug me, but in the last 10 years I've consistently worn
gloves with wrist support and I really think that without them it would
be a lot worse.

I think that because most of us take lots of minor falls, having wrist
support is a good way to keep your wrists happy 40 years from now,
irrespective of actual injury.

Kris


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danger_uni
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I sprained my right middle finger after a muni fall once, bad enough
that I went to the doctor to have it looked at because I thought it
could have been fractured.

I have also punched a few trees while doing muni. By accident of
course, and always with my left hand - since I use my right hand to hold
the seat handle and my left one sticks out sometimes for balance. I
think I have "punched" about 4 trees while riding muni so far (really
more like the tree punched my hand).


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siafirede

'DCuni' (http://www.dcuni.com/blog) - my blog about Unicycling in
Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland
*James* = my name
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