Head damage + dislocated shoulder

[atdlzpae]

What happened:

So I was riding after the rain. The speed was about 30km/h. I saw a small pothole, filled with water. "Nah, a pothole, I'll manage. :-)"
Boy I was wrong! Hidden underneath the water was the truth: This wasn't a normal pothole, it was a Fucking Assassin Pothole From Hell! About 1ft deep.
I didn't fall from the wheel, it just changed trajectory.
What followed was 1s of death wobble, followed by a faceplant. First time my helmet was scratched. And first dislocation in my life.

What went well:

• Helmet - I banged my head harder than ever before in my life. My cheap $15 helmet made me feel nothing - not even a slightest headache! Without it I'd suffer concussion for certain.
• Wrist guards - my wrists are in perfect condition thanks to well spent $5.
• Knee pads - my knees are unscaved. Not even an ich! Another $5 of investment paid off.
• Phone cover - the cover got destroyed, the phone survived. I'll need to 3D print another one. That's what I designed it for.

What went wrong:

• Dislocated shoulder - Since I have a pretty sturdy build, I couldn't pop it back in with a fence and I had to ride back home.

I used this method to reduct my shoulder. I did it solo by tying my wrist to a bedpost. Best method from the ones I tried.

I'm pretty sure I lucked out - I didn't rip any tendons (all muscles are working) and I have enough mobility to use the keyboard. It should get better every day.

Conclusion:

WEAR A HELMET! Preferably always. You may luck out like me previously, but the time will come when it will save your life.

Concussed, I'd probably need an ambulance. I can't imagine riding a unicycle home 7km with brain damage. With a helmet it was a pleasure to get hit in a head. I felt literally nothing.

Even the cheapest one from crapsco will do wonders.

Wear wristguards! They are small and fit in pockets. I can type with both hands thanks to them.

Wear knee pads whenever you're doing anything risky. I'd have two more shallow wounds to take care of if I skipped them today.

Be really careful of ANYTHING under water. You never know how deep it is. https://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/16057-my-new-ks-18xl-survived-from-being-underneath-2ft-of-water/

What other people thought:

Since I kept both my hands on my helmet when I rode home (it was the least painful position), I'm pretty sure that other people thought I'm showing off or smth.

Actually, it would be pretty hard to ride back home on a bicycle or a scooter. On a EUC you can ride with two shoulders dislocated!

 

Please disregard all my past posts about not needing a helmet. You never know when death will send a Fucking Assassin Pothole From Hell after you. Especially when you think "Ah, a straight street, what could possibly go wrong?".

0/10 - would not recommend. Wear protection, ride safely, beware of water!

Edited October 17, 2019 by atdlzpae

[Rehab1]

Glad you survived -mostly unscathed! You are extremely fortunate! I’m not sure if I would have attempted your shoulder reduction technique but it sounds like you had success re-establishing  the humeral head. 

Edited October 17, 2019 by Rehab1

[ir_fuel]

42 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

I’m not sure if I would have attempted your shoulder reduction technique

Hell no  

I had a dislocated pinkie after a fall and I went straight to the emergency services to get it taken care of.

 

[Marty Backe]

Glad you're OK. Now that that I got that out of the way ...

This was a hilarious read. I like that you spare no expense when it comes to safety gear, but I suspect that you're correct in that most of the time, the cheap stuff will work. I still like the more expensive gear because I appreciate quality at this time in my life.

The only thing worse than riding thru a puddle (just don't do it) is riding thru grass. There are a lot of devils hiding in there.

Your description of corrective medicine had me laughing and cringing. Laughing when you were saddened by not being able to use the Fence Technique (I'm afraid to ponder what that is) and "turn my head from the screen when someone is beheaded" sensation when you described using the bed post.

Fantastic post 

[Unventor]

I have had similar accident, but I saw it comming but a car bypassing a stopped car in my side of the road (car passing was on his wrong side) forced me into the water filled pot hole. I had a sore finger for about 30min but thanks to being fully mc geared up and flexmeter wristguards and this happen at 10kmh I could ride on home from work. 

I hope you recover fast. 

My dislocated shoulder took about 7 months to heal to 99%. But that was a totally different accident. 

[Unventor]

4 hours ago, ir_fuel said:

Hell no  

I had a dislocated pinkie after a fall and I went straight to the emergency services to get it taken care of.

 

Anything to meet the nurses 😉

[dmethvin]

Glad you made it through with relatively few injuries. My pothole from hell was filled with leaves.

 

[mrelwood]

Despite the injuries of an unfortunate event, what a great read your post was!

 

9 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

• My cheap $15 helmet

 

9 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

• my wrists are in perfect condition thanks to well spent $5.

 

9 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

• Another $5 of investment paid off.

Thank goodness you didn’t cheap out on protection, as your injuries would’ve surely been sooo much worse! 

I stopped reading the helmet threads once the attitude got to the point where a lack of proper DH certification was considered equal to riding without any helmet at all. Your incident surely scales the sense of proportions.

Although, I should add that a local rider got his knee pretty badly hurt in a crash since the supermarket knee guard failed to stay put in a crash.

 

9 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

I did it solo by tying my wrist to a bedpost. Best method from the ones I tried.

I’ve been single for two years now, and I hear you bro!

[atdlzpae]

I guess you're in countries with efficient healthcare systems. Although in the US I'd also consider doing it myself to save on the deductible.

Polish public health system is severely underfunded and understaffed.
It was either do it myself or wait multiple hours in the ER, while suffering further damage. Since this injury is non-lethal, the waiting times could be ridiculous.
And I'd be extremely bored for that time - I can't use a keyboard with a dislocation. The seats are really uncomfortable.
Add a risk of getting infected, since you can't really leave the place... Not worth it. :-)

You can read some stories from hell Polish ER here: Google translate

Some traditional Polish food served in hospitals: Let thy food be thy medicine

I doubt the doctors would do a better job. Best ones usually go to Germany or Norway. Plus YouTube videos made it look easy.

A hint for reducing a shoulder:

I think that pain is a good guide. A few bad methods hurt more than leaving it alone. The successful one made it hurt less, until it popped back in.
So if it hurts considerably more, don't force it - you're probably doing it wrong.

I may get an x-ray just to see if everything is alright. But not today, code won't write itself.

 

Ps. An hour after I popped it in I went for a ride to KFC. xD

Edited October 18, 2019 by atdlzpae

[Marty Backe]

11 minutes ago, atdlzpae said:

I guess you're in countries with efficient healthcare systems. Although in the US I'd also consider doing it myself to save on the deductible.

Polish public health system is severely underfunded and understaffed.
It was either do it myself or wait multiple hours in the ER, while suffering further damage. Since this injury is non-lethal, the waiting times could be ridiculous.
And I'd be extremely bored for that time - I can't use a keyboard with a dislocation. The seats are really uncomfortable.
Add a risk of getting infected, since you can't really leave the place... Not worth it. :-)

You can read some stories from hell polish ER here: Google translate

Some traditional Polish food served in hospitals: Let thy food be thy medicine

And I doubt the doctors would do a better job. Best ones usually go to Germany or Norway. Plus YouTube videos made it look easy.

A hint for reducing a shoulder:

I think that pain is a good guide. A few bad methods hurt more than leaving it alone. The successful one made it hurt less, until it popped back in.
So if it hurts considerably more, don't force it - you're probably doing it wrong.

I may get an x-ray just to see if everything is alright. But not today, code won't write itself.

 

Ps. An hour after I popped it in I went for a ride to KFC. xD

Is the health care system in Poland still suffering from its roots in the communist history of the 20th century?

That food looks hearty if nothing else 

[atdlzpae]

8 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Is the health care system in Poland still suffering from its roots in the communist history of the 20th century?

I think it's mostly down to economical situation, which is dictated by the country's history.

Poland is the Mexico/China of Europe. Labor is cheap, and so are wages. Average income is around $1000 per month, less than minimal in some countries.
The system is clogged up by older people who just go to a doctor without any reason. After all, it's free...
There are some inefficiencies - for example you have to first go to the family doctor before you can get a relegation to a specialist. Even if you know what is wrong with you. Also, doctors have way more paperwork than necessary.

It has way less funding per capita than in developed countries. Thus wages are low. Doctors are leaving.
Waiting times for medical examinations are ridiculous! For example the average waiting time for an MRI is 107 days.

I think it would be a good idea to charge a token amount per visit. Not much, $1 per visit would probably discourage a lot of people who come to a doctor just to talk.

Thankfully we have private hospitals. They work way more efficiently. If I ever get a cancer or something serious, I'll just pay from my pocket.
If you go to a dentist, you go privately. Way better service and still affordable.
I guess it's better than Canada, where if you have a long queue and are suffering from cancer, you can only fly abroad...

Actually, I'm not complaining. It works in a pinch. My family member had a car accident a few years back where he lost a kidney and they fixed him quite well... Not much to complain about, except that it was slow and inefficient.

Yes, communism screwed Poland pretty badly. But it's slowly getting better.

Poland is a terrible place to earn money, but a great place to live. I see quite a lot of people who come back in their 30's after they saved enough.
In 2017 Poland passed Germany and UK in homicide rate, despite having approximately the same number of migrants.

Edited October 18, 2019 by atdlzpae

[ir_fuel]

6 minutes ago, atdlzpae said:

For example the average waiting time for an MRI is 107 days.

Are you sure about that? Doesn't it depend on the urgency? Where I live it can also take a couple of months to get an MRI, unless an MRI is needed for something urgent. In that case you have it in a couple of days (or even on the same day if it is really urgent). If of course it is to look at an aching shoulder or knee (with or without bedpost intervention  ) you are just added to the queue of non-urgent patients, which in a way makes sense if resources are limited and publicly funded.

6 minutes ago, atdlzpae said:

I guess it's better than Canada, where if you have a long queue and are suffering from cancer, you can only fly abroad...

I have a hard time believing that people that need urgent care just get shoved in the same waiting line as those that need some basic surgery that can wait a couple of weeks or even months.

MRI is also a special case. I had to go for x-rays and I had an appointment really quickly. Then again taking x-rays takes 60 seconds. An MRI of my shoulder took 15 minutes.

[atdlzpae]

I was wrong about Canada. For some reason I thought they had no private healthcare at all. I'm sorry for my error.
 

I've found some data: Source

In Województwo Śląskie a normal waiting time for MRI was 245 days, while an emergency one was 131 days in 2018.

There absolutely is a differentiation between urgent and non-urgent patients. It works, just slowly. And poorly.

Cancer patients sometimes wait months for examination.

Edited October 18, 2019 by atdlzpae

[mike_bike_kite]

7 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Is the health care system in Poland still suffering from its roots in the communist history of the 20th century?

I suppose for comparison we should ask how long would it it take to get fixed up in a US hospital (assuming no insurance)?

[Marty Backe]

4 hours ago, ir_fuel said:

Are you sure about that? Doesn't it depend on the urgency? Where I live it can also take a couple of months to get an MRI, unless an MRI is needed for something urgent. In that case you have it in a couple of days (or even on the same day if it is really urgent). If of course it is to look at an aching shoulder or knee (with or without bedpost intervention  ) you are just added to the queue of non-urgent patients, which in a way makes sense if resources are limited and publicly funded.

I have a hard time believing that people that need urgent care just get shoved in the same waiting line as those that need some basic surgery that can wait a couple of weeks or even months.

MRI is also a special case. I had to go for x-rays and I had an appointment really quickly. Then again taking x-rays takes 60 seconds. An MRI of my shoulder took 15 minutes.

I had an MRI a couple of years ago. My doctor ordered it just as a precaution (zero urgency about it). I went across the street the next day, without an appointment, and got the MRI. Minimal co-pay.

The United States health care has its problems, but speed of service is not one of them.

[Marty Backe]

1 hour ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I suppose for comparison we should ask how long would it it take to get fixed up in a US hospital (assuming no insurance)?

But why assume the worse case scenario of no insurance? The vast majority of Americans actually do have insurance.

[Circuitmage]

What kind of helmet did you have? I also have a cheap helmet and it is NOT a full face helmet. I know people here swear by full face here, but it's my personal preference. I also had a very cheap helmet when I was a young motorcycle rider...it was a very cheap plastic (DOT approved though) mc helmet, and it cracked all the way down the middle when my head hit the pavement. So yes, helmets are very important.

I think also, this is where my motorcycle riding experience comes into play. I would have never, ever ridden over a puddle in the rain. That comes from experience. One of the things you learn is that if there is a puddle, you have no idea how deep it is. Even large puddles, I will ride around them. After a year on my 16" EUC I learned MUD is also very bad (worse than any wet pavement). I am just getting brave enough to go over small patches of mud on my 18" as I am learning it is a bit more stable...but still very cautious.

Glad you survived.

[mike_bike_kite]

1 hour ago, Marty Backe said:

But why assume the worse case scenario of no insurance? The vast majority of Americans actually do have insurance.

Wikipedia tells me that 15% of Americans do not have any medical insurance and, of those that are insured, 16m are under insured. That must mean that 65m people in the US are living in that worst case scenario. Then there are those that don't show up on the statistics at all - I spent 8 months travelling all round the US (motorcycle and tent) and I was amazed by the number of families I found living permanently off the grid in tents. I never asked about medical insurance but I'm fairly certain that these folk had none. It's a beautiful country but not a place you want to be ill (and poor).

Edited October 18, 2019 by mike_bike_kite

[Jeffrey Rennie]

I'm glad your gear saved you from the worst of it.  Thank you for posting.  I find these "dissection of my cash" posts very useful, since I'm trying to avoid one.

[atdlzpae]

This particular model. Nothing fancy.

It protrudes 3cm from my forehead, which is enough to protect the jaw on a smooth tarmac. It would be very hard to damage my jaw unless I hit a curb or a rock. Yesterday the helmet protected my jaw - my beard hit the ground, but didn't get any damage. Without the helmet it's very probable I'd have missing teeth.

I don't think I'll be switching to full face for now.

 

 

According to the first result in google around 8% of the US has no health coverage. Those people have virtually no savings - they are the bottom 8%.
For such people a shoulder dislocation is a major problem and few days of hospitalization is a bankruptcy.

I think that the problem is too much regulation (it's not a free market), which essentially allowed for a price fixing. In a healthy market hospitals would compete with each other for a client. The insurance system screwed everything up and allowed for a monopoly. Thus, medical tourism was born.

A quick google glance showed me that a CT scan is 8* cheaper in Poland for uninsured. We also host medical tourists from richer EU countries for dental procedures.

 

[Marty Backe]

1 hour ago, mike_bike_kite said:

Wikipedia tells me that 15% of Americans do not have any medical insurance and, of those that are insured, 16m are under insured. That must mean that 65m people in the US are living in that worst case scenario. Then there are those that don't show up on the statistics at all - I spent 8 months travelling all round the US (motorcycle and tent) and I was amazed by the number of families I found living permanently off the grid in tents. I never asked about medical insurance but I'm fairly certain that these folk had none. It's a beautiful country but not a place you want to be ill (and poor).

Yes, we're all living in tents over here 

All I can say in my sheltered experience of being an American is that the majority of people here have decent medical coverage.

Don't believe everything you read in Wikipedia. It tends to be a liberal hangout with biased entries. I can imagine it paints a pretty crappy picture of American health care.  We're probably listed as 36th place in the world 

[atdlzpae]

@Marty Backe You can't take your own very limited personal experience and scale it up to the country.
If you'd have lived among homeless people, you'd find that almost none of them have health coverage.

 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/10/20858938/health-insurance-census-bureau-data-trump

@mike_bike_kite wasn't wrong, he simply quoted a number from 2011. Right now it's about 8%, 27.5mil, which is a lot.

 

https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/HealthInsurance/state/ALL
According to this site Texas has 17% uninsured rate. And almost all of those people are royally screwed if they ever have a medical emergency.

Edited October 18, 2019 by atdlzpae

[Seba]

6 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

In Województwo Śląskie a normal waiting time for MRI was 245 days, while an emergency one was 131 days in 2018.

I'm afraid that you're providing "slightly" misleading data. Yes, you have to wait for non-emergency and free MRI for few months. But if you have additional insurance you can get it within just few days with no additional cost. The same apply when you don't have insurance and have to pay - usually about 350 PLN (100 USD). Typical CT is even cheaper - about 250 PLN (70 USD) without contrast. And emergency MRI/CT is done within maximum few hours. Polish "tryb pilny" doesn't mean emergency. It does just mean "urgent". Almost every case is urgent if MRI is needed. MRI isn't usual examination in case of cold

From what you write, one (that haven't visited Poland yet) may think that Poland is some third-world country. Fortunately it is not. Of course, Polish public healthcare system is far from being perfect, but the same can be said about situation of public healthcare in other countries.

[atdlzpae]

@Seba I'm sorry I wasn't clear about it. Those numbers are for nationalized, mandatory healthcare. Polish private healthcare is really good, cheap and fast.

Edited October 18, 2019 by atdlzpae

[Marty Backe]

24 minutes ago, atdlzpae said:

@Marty Backe You can't take your own very limited personal experience and scale it up to the country.
If you'd have lived among homeless people, you'd find that almost none of them have health coverage.

 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/10/20858938/health-insurance-census-bureau-data-trump

@mike_bike_kite wasn't wrong, he simply quoted a number from 2011. Right now it's about 8%, 27.5mil, which is a lot.

 

https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/HealthInsurance/state/ALL
According to this site Texas has 17% uninsured rate. And almost all of those people are royally screwed if they ever have a medical emergency.

In a free liberty (non equality) based society there will be a lot of inequalities. I'm OK with that.

I'm pretty sure many of my neighbors have a lot more money than me. Doesn't bother me the least.

8% is a small minority.  Seems strange to mix absolute numbers with percentages. I mean, a 1000 people without insurance sucks for those 1000 people. I think it's best to stick with percentages. If 80-percent of the population has medical coverage that's pretty good in my book.