Injuries

I had my first big injury in my roller derby career last week. I fell wrong on my skates and landed on my left ankle, resulting in a trip to the ER for me! Luckily I just ended up with a bad sprain, not a break or a fracture at all.  I've been on crutches and had my foot in a big black boot since, but it gives me a great topic to discuss.
INJURIES. No matter how extra careful you try to be, there will always be a time where you can't avoid the fate and you get hurt. PAIN. Take a second and thank whomever you believe in that you can feel pain. If you weren't able to then you'd be dead, and that isn't the ideal state. When I fell on my ankle, it felt like little pin needles were poking me over and over everywhere from the tips of my toes all the way up to my to my knee. I also had shooting pains in my calve. In that moment, I thought I was dying. Yes, that's a huge exaggeration but the pain was AWFUL. My teammates took my skate off of my foot and I tried to hop up and act like a tough kid. I couldn't walk on it and had to hop off of the rink. My coach was waiting with two icepacks for me and advised me to go to the hospital and have it checked out. When you have a sudden injury, make sure to ice it right away to help with swelling.
PAIN MEDICINE. Now, take another second to thank whomever created pain medicine. I don't believe I would have been able to make it through the last week without them. Whenever you are hurt, go to the doctor and have them write you a prescription for their recommendation of medicine to help with your pain. Don't be afraid to go to the doctor either. One injury that you think is small could actually be MUCH worse.
ROUTINE. Follow the routine that your doctor, or in my case the ER nurse, gives you to care for your injury. I was on bedrest for 3 days after my injury. I wasn't able to walk at all and my instructions were to apply heat to my ankle for 1 hour and then switch to an icepack for 30 minutes, alternating the two all day long. I was instructed to use my crutches for as long as needed and I have to keep my boot on for at least two more weeks until my ankle is fully healed.

When injured make sure to seek medical help if necessary, get some type of medicine to help with your pain, and follow instructions and care routines provided to you. Also, don't try to rush your recovery because it could result in hurting yourself more.