“I need to sit down,” said Tracey, “so can you do the dishes tonight?” Then I saw her eyes brush over my wrist. “Oh, I forgot. No worries. I’ll do it.”
She might have caught me out at this point if she’d been looking at my face but fortunately she wasn’t so I slunk away to the lounge room and my laptop to make the first of several review notes.
Helps get me out of housework.
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier!
Last year, in August, I hurt my arm moving boxes. It was my own fault. I thought I was eighteen and buff when I’m actually late forties and bluff.
So when I was asked to trial some 3M FuturoTM products designed to give support to various injuries such as mine I was keen to get involved. Especially after I asked my local chemist about the products and she gave them a big thumbs up.
“They’re very popular because they work,” she told me.
But the biggest benefit for me wasn’t even this.
My having injuries named after sports always makes my wife, and the girls at my work for that matter, chuckle in a very unsupportive way because outside of sexercise I’ve done almost zip since high school.
“I have tennis elbow,” I want to tell people when they go to shake my hand. “And golf elbow.”
Unfortunately, though, I inevitably just take their proffered hand and grimace. Then, for the remainder of the day, I whimper a lot.
For a week now I’ve been sporting (there’s that word again) a tennis elbow strap and a wrist stabilizer and the benefits go way beyond the jargon on the boxes about relieving symptoms and delivering targeted pressure.
For a start, they look better than a bandage. More professional.
Secondly, when you wash a standard cloth bandage you inevitably have to untangle it from the rest of the load. Not a problem with these – just dunk them in some warm soapy water.
Thirdly, and I can’t stress how important this is, they have dials. Dials you can play with. They’re there to tighten and loosen the firmness of the straps and braces, but sometimes (often) I found myself loosening the dials just so I could tighten them again. Yep, it’s that much fun.
Fourthly, convenience. It is so much easier using these proper supports as you can put them on with one hand rather than trying to use one hand to wrap a bandage around the other.
And finally, the biggest bonus which was revealed to me the very first day I wore them and cunningly got out of doing the dishes – people can see you’ve got an injury without you having to tell them so they take a care.
For example, I haven’t had to shake a single hand while I’ve wearing the wrist brace! That’s a whole world of pain I’ve been relieved of.
Not that it worked on the dishes for long.
“I’ve got work to do,” Tracey told me on my second night wearing the wrist brace.
We’d had burritos for dinner. There were dishes everywhere.
“Would you mind…?” I said to her, nodding towards the sink and holding my arm.
“Sure,” she said, reaching out and turning the dials on my brace to loosen it.
This wasn’t going to plan.
“But-“
“It occurred to me when I was halfway through the dishes last night,” she said, tugging the brace off my arm, “there’s nothing wrong with your wrist. It’s your elbow you’ve buggered. And,” she continued, tossing the brace onto the bench and smiling menacingly at me, “you’ve been doing the dishes just fine before you put his thing on.”
Ah, well. At least I got one night’s free pass out of it. Turns out I’m even less bluff than I thought.
* * *
Thanks to 3M Futuro™ I have some of their fantastic products to giveaway.
2 x Custom Dial Wrist Stabiliser (RRP $57.99 each)
2 x Custom Dial Tennis Elbow Strap (RRP $49.00 each)
In the comments below tell me your funniest or most unusual injury, and include which of the 3M Futuro™ products you would like to win. Four winners will be selected. Entries close 9pm Sunday 14th June 2015.
* * *
WINNERS ARE GRINNERS
Thanks to everyone who entered, but sadly there can be only four. So many fun answers though, and I recommend you all to look through the comment section and have a giggle. See you next comp!
Lisa – WRIST STABILIZER
My husband has carpal tunnel in his wrists. He claims it is the result of supporting me through the births of our three children. I would love to win a wrist stabilizer so he can’t whinge about it as much in the lead up and aftermath of our imminent fourth child’s birth.
Natasha – TENNIS ELBOW STRAP
I sprained my thumb picking up a pillow off the floor. I was so exasperated, asking my son “how hard is it to pick up a bloody pillow?”, picked it up with such force that I smashed my thumb into the ground!
Rebecca – WRIST STABILIZER
My lovely slender friend convinced me to do some pole dancing classes with her. I am not a slender girl and apparently my wrists were not designed to drag my considerable booty up a pole! This resulted in such pain that I was unable to even twist a door handle without it taking my breath away. The funniest part however was seeing people’s expressions when my near teenage son told everyone exactly how I’d injured myself – complete with re-enactment if there happened to be a pole nearby! Needless to say, I would love one of the wrist stabilizer.
Catherine – TENNIS ELBOW STRAP
Thought it would fun going down the fireman’s pole on the kids’ swings at the park. Landed on my foot the wrong way (which ended up being sprained) and when I tried to stand, I fell on my left wrist and broke it. Had pain in it ever since. Mostly when I have to do something I don’t want to. Apparently poles are only meant for kids. And strippers. Weird.
“Raising a family on little more than laughs”
If you enjoyed this post please share, like or comment.
It really does make a difference. Thanks.
Sprained my wrist when I slipped on a plastic container!
I have tennis elbow in both arms from repeated throwing of the ball for the dog using a ball thrower. I can’t say no to his beautiful, expectant face.
few years back one evening i just twisted my right foot (while coming down from stairs ) so badly that it just doubled with swelling by morning. It was very painful, i was not able to wear my normal shoes,not able to walk properly and it took me almost two months to get better.
I would love to win Custom Dial Tennis Elbow Strap.
shared on twitter …
https://twitter.com/dreamdream936/status/606756712524087296
My husband is about to undergo fusion surgery for his wrist. He has had arthritis since he was 14 and is in a very large amount of pain. He currently has a brace but these sound amazing and so easy.
Oh and my funniest injury is when I ran to my husband to greet him when he came home from work and slipped in the mud and landed between his legs flat on my back.
Dislocated my knee doing the splits! And again years later trying to escape my husband’s clutches 😉
I would take a wrist brace if I win, thanks!
Bad case of tennis elbow when playing games on iphone and tablet – usually the ones involving heavy use of thumbs! Therefore the Custom Dial Tennis Elbow Strap would come in very handy.
Once, a while ago now, my ex-husband made me incredibly angry. Like … kicking the furniture angry. And I was wearing my good sneakers and it felt good kicking the first piece of furniture. So good that I marched along the hallway and gave my father-in-law’s home-made desk a good boot.
Next moment I was on the floor, crying in agony, laughing because I was mortified by the ‘self-harm’ and because my ex was also laughing madly, while trying to be worried.
He had to take me to hospital where they discovered I had broken my navicular bone. I appear to be a relatively mild-mannered NZ girl but ALL medical professionals probably know that a navicular break is an IMPACT injury. A kicking injury perhaps.
It took a long time to heal … longggggggg. And much laughter from those who were supposed to love and support me.
Should you find my story the best then I would veryvery much love the Custom Dial Wrist Stabiliser.
I also hit the back of a car at 100 kms p/h, a pillion passenger on a motorbike at 18 but I was kind of okay. The navicular story is definitely more amusing.
And just while I’m here, I do love your stories of family … which shouldn’t be read as any kind of crawling but merely as a bit of a bow to a master storyteller and his crazy-beautiful family 🙂
Christmas time working as a checkout chick I sliced my hand open on a packet of prawns (though it’s the touch of RSI in my wrist from scanning ALL the cans that gets me).
Sprained my knee ice skating and then resprained it walking on ice 3 months later! Needless to say, i walk gingerly on slippery surfaces these days.
The Christmas before last, I was making a salad to take to a friends place for lunch. Going to grab the lettuce, I quickly turned around and ran straight into a chair my son had left in front of the cupboard. I broke one of my toes in the process. I had to spend the next month having difficulty walking because of the broken toe and had to explain to my questioning masses (people at work) that my story all begins with a salad, not the celebratory drinking shinnanigans that is Christmas.
The wrist stabiliser is most suited to my clumsiness quality
After finishing a bodystep class at the gym (without fault or misstep) I put my step back onto the pile, picked up my bag and proceeded to walk out of the classroom only to stack it (there was literally nothing on the floor in the entire room) and sprain my ankle.
I would love to win one of the wrist stabilizers for my hubby who suffers from terrible carpel tunnel. So I can wash his current (very stinky) braces that he sleeps in. Plus these look way better than the ones he currently has.
A friend and I were about 10 years old and had washed a few of the neighbours cars. They paid us a few quid and being generous and kind hearted kids, we decided to donate it to the old folks home. Off we walked down there to hand over our hard earned cash and on the way went via the park.
Only two swings available to play on and my friend jumps on to the first one, leaving me to squeeze into the baby seat of the other…..swung about enjoying ourselves for a while then we decided to finish our journey to the oldies……except good old thunder thighs here was STUCK in the baby swing!!!!
No hope of getting out, my friend tried pulling me, no luck. She ran over to the police station to get help, they couldn’t get me out either. Called for a fire engine who came with lights and sirens blaring, to finally get me out using the jaws of life tool!!! Never will forget it or live it down!!!
When I was younger (much younger) I was pretty good on the trampoline., training for state titles. During a fun session I did a simple trick, fiver balanced, fell on the mat and broke my arm, both bones. Back in the day when the GP did all types of surgery, which in my case was not that good, I have ended up with an unstable wrist and ulna nerve damage in the elbow. So I too have to wear a wrist brace and tennis elbow strap regularly, but definitely not the quality of the ones you got to trial.
Wit her wrist guard or strap
Went to jump hurdles over a park fence and misjudged. Scraped my knee so badly that I still have a scar 15 years later!
Whoops, I’d love to win the Wrist Stabilizer
You’ve seen me at prep pick-ups and drop offs me -I am 5’3″ and I once sprained my ankle playing basketball…. it went like this. I was in my mid 20’s and the mother of 2 and obviously my brain was still developing or I never would have been on a court at all. Especially against the person who once taught me how to play in the first place (I was 8, I still hoped I would grow tall in spit of a 5’3 mother and 5’7 father). She was over 6 foot and massively muscled to boot, and getting close to 40, I could stop her scoring, plus just by standing in her way and not moving if she pushed me it would be a charging foul. It went pretty much as you could expect, I only weighed about 55kg at the time, she tucked her shoulder, caught me in the chest, I literally flew, came down on my left ankle with an audible crack and 30 seconds later I had no ankle at all due to the swelling. And she said “Baby, I am so sorry I didn’t see you there”! Did I mention that this was a church basketball comp and she had taught me in Sunday School from the time I was 6 lol… Funny post script. I was on crutches for several days and my son was 2 and mischevious. He discovered that he could be naughty and bolt and I couldn’t catch him. He tried it once too often as I discovered a crutch works remarkbaly well to trip absconding naughty boys. He lay on the floor blinking for a few secs, then grinned in acknowledgement that I could still catch him, and I am sure he devised his next deviltry while he was down there.
I was playing handball with a friend a few years ago, when, ironically, I broke my big toe on a piece of metal lying about trying to kick the ball. Needless to say I haven’t really played much since then.
I’d go for the Wrist stabiliser.
When I was about 9 or 10 I fractured my ankle while attempting to click my heels together at dancing. Yep. I am truly skilled 😛
I once fell up a flight of stairs….idk how…but I did! Lol dislocated my elbow! Excruciating pain but now my hubby always tells me “be careful going upstairs!” Lol like their is something dangerous up there!! I’d love the wrist stabilizer if I won!
My husband has carpal tunnel in his wrists. He claims it is the result of supporting me through the births of our three children. I would love to win a wrist stabliser so he can’t whinge about it as much in the lead up and aftermath of our imminent fourth child’s birth.
Not my injury but hubby’s, thinking he was a teen again and not his 30’s decided one day that he could still do a backward somersault off a standing start, no warm up necessary……to be fair, he did get all the way around, but just misjudged his landing and went face first into the ground. Years later and I can still laugh about this. But in all seriousness, I know he does get sore elbows, so the elbow strap would be perfect!
I currently have a sore on my head from when my hubby was carrying me around upside down and walked me into the screen door. #thatshowweroll lol
When I was 9 I went to the perth royal show with my sisters and my dad. We were all having a great time watching the cattle when I swear one of them gave me the stink eye and I freaked out. I decided to climb the metal stadium seating to avoid said crazy cow. My older sister was already up the top and decided I was just copying her (typical big sister) so she pushed me back down. The corner of the metal bench seating took such a chunk out of my shin that it chipped my bone. Big sister felt so bad she went and played a game to win tissues in a fancy holder for me. Should of really got stitches, got a massive dent in my leg instead. Id love to win the wrist stabiliser.
I sprained my thumb picking up a pillow off the floor. I was so exasperated, asking my son “how hard is it to pick up a bloody pillow?”, picked it up with such force that I smashed my thumb into the ground!
while working at a tourist farm I strained my elbow from carrying 20litres of fresh milk to the calf shed. Not funny but definitely unique!!
I was at a birthday party for my son and thought i was the same age. I was jumping around on a huge inground trampoline acting like a goose. I thought i could do a somersault (this was my firsy exercise in years) i slipped on my graceful landing and broke my toes against the springs.. i couldnt stop laughing and crying.
I also crushed my fingers in a treadmill belt thinking i could fix anything after watching google. They broke and i got 6 weeks off work.. yay!
Id love to win the custom wrist dial.
My lovely slender friend convinced me to do some pole dancing classes with her. I am not a slender girl and apparently my wrists were not designed to drag my considerable booty up a pole! This resulted in such pain that I was unable to even twist a door handle without it taking my breath away. The funniest part however was seeing people’s expressions when my near teenage son told everyone exactly how I’d injured myself – complete with re-enactment if there happened to be a pole nearby! Needless to say, I would love one of the wrist stabilisers.
I was trying out my daughter’s new three wheeled scooter when she told me that the little black stoppers on the back stopped you tipping backwards. Well, maybe if you are a twenty kilo eight year old, but not if you weigh three times that and are a fully grown woman! Fell onto my butt and cracked my coccyx. Couldn’t sit unless on an ice pack and cushion for weeks! . Elbow strap.
Tennis Elbow from fishing. The kingfish was nice but in hindsight I should eat more red meat.
It was the middle of the night, and as many of us do in the middle of the night, I was in need of the facilities. As we live in the country it gets very very dark in the house at night, so there is a need to feel your way around the house, after using said facilities, I felt my way to the bathroom to wash my hands, I felt the sliding door which was half open, washed dried and then turned smack straight into the door, giving myself a mild concussion, a rather nice bruise to the head and friends a good laugh the next day!
And I gave myself another concussion last Sunday hitting my head on an old school tv, you know, the ones with inch thick glass.
Do they make something for head injuries? No, well I guess I’ll take a wrist stabilizer then, I hurt my wrist almost as much as my head 🙂
Accidentally stabbed my thigh with a sheep vaccinator after it had done MANY lambs… A septic leg, a febrile convulsion and two weeks on crutches.
On the up side, I haven’t caught Pulpy Kidney or Cheesy Gland…
Dislocated coccyx – I didn’t even know you could do that! Sadly I don’t even know how I did it, but I do have a butt donut cushion now. Yay me!
We have two small children, and my husband recently broke his thumb playing hockey (apparently a good tackle, and it was the other guy’s fault). His thumb has now healed, but I have developed RSI from doing ALL the driving, ALL the dishes, ALL the folding and ALL the carrying for the past eight weeks. I would love the wrist support. Mine just isn’t cutting it, and the Velcro on it always catches on my daughters pyjamas when I’m doing the “carefully put her into the cot asleep and don’t make a sound… RIIIIIP!” Amusingly, I had problems with my other wrist when my older son was the same age as his sister is now. It continued for a year until it miraculously got better almost over night. I found out a few weeks later that I was pregnant :S So please send me a wrist guard, because the alternative solution to my current wrist issues is a little drastic, and we’re running out of bedrooms!!
I was playing pitcher in a mixed softball competition. A guy came up to bat, and hit it straight back at me before I could react. I stopped it with my forehead, resulting in me being thrown off my feet, and receiving a lump the size of a baseball on my upper forehead. For a week the bruising slowly got lower, resulting in me having 2 black eyes for days (as well as the lump!.. Not to mention a visit to the hospital by ambulance.)
And all this on mother’s day, when mum was watching the game! 🙂
i slipped in the bathroom and somehow my hand went in the toilet on my way down! What’s worse is that my middle finger got caught and pushed back, pointing upwards, and the rest of my fingers went down the ‘s’ bend! My partner now refers to them as my ‘dunno digits’. A custom dial wrist stabiliser would be awesome!
I fell down stairs twisting my ankle and after x-rays found out I’d fractured 22 bones in my foot – wondered why it hurt so much??
So it had been ten years since i had been overseas to see my half sister. It was also my first trip over with my two children, aged 1 and 3. On my third day there, i went for an evening bike ride. I loved the freedom of riding without a helmet (no law to do so). As I turned right from a sealed road onto an unsealed road, 500m from home I went around the corner faster than i had anticipated, and therefore hit both the hand brakes on my bicycle. This resulted i me flipping off my bike. When i looked down, the brake had entered my thigh, through my expensive gym pants and i freaked out and yelled for help. The neighbours came out, called an ambulance, and freaked out not only at my injury but that i was from half way across the world. The police came and breath tested me, the fire brigade came and used an angle grinder to remove the entire handlebars, and then i was taken to hospital by ambulance with the handlebars still attached to my leg. My poor baby girls, who didn’t speak the native language, and my sister who didn’t speak english, somehow muddled through the next 4 days whilst i rested in hospital. And to top it all off, that same night at 2am the police came to the hospital to finalise their report prior to their 7 am knock off time, and to issue me a fine for not taking ‘due care’ on a public road. The fine was $10, and came with a proposition that he leave his wife and return to Australia and live with me. I politely declined.
Not sure that I have a funny injury but if I had to give one its probably the scar on my knee which happened as a child while camping… going to the toilet alone is scary at night however I now know that running back to camp is not the smartest move, turns out it is very easy to trip over in the dark.
So me and some gal friends won a boat cruise through a quiz night..
I’m not the most graceful person on land.. And on a boat (with a glass of champers) I was looking a lot more tipsy than I actually was. Everyone was at the bow of the boat and I was peering through the glass waving at them.. I took a step and fell two meters down getting my leg caught in the ladder! Ouch! Because we had to wait to get back to shore I proceeded to drink the rest of the bottle of champagne and then throw it up as the pain got worse. All ended good, no fracture, just severe bruising and had to rest it for awhile.. The whole thing was captured by my friend who was taking photos of me through the glass, one minute I was there, the next my arms and hair are flying up in the air!
Personally I don’t need a wrist brace ect. but my stepmom had RSI from years of hair dressing and would definitely appreciate this 🙂
That story was just one of my many falls and trips and slips.. I’m a walking disaster!
I hit my funny bone
I have a phobia of exercise, do they make anything to cure that?
In my early teen I was leading my friends horse who had been spooked and it stood on the back of my ankle, when I moved my sock away the back of my heel feel backwards I had to tie a jumper around my foot to keep it in place and walk half an hour through paddocks…not fun still have the scar today
Only a few weeks ago during a game of netball I took a tumble that was almost laughable if I hadn’t hurt so much. It all started with me tripping over another players feet, I some how managed to right myself without falling and thought that would be the end of it. But, no, my next step involved me tripping over air which I then proceeded to fly through, finally coming to rest on the court sideline. My head be came closely aquainted with the court surface, as did both my wrist almost nd my ribs. Ended up with a mild concussion, 2 sore wrists and a suspected cracked rib. For a non-contact Sport, I sure spent a lot of time in contact with the court
Oh and I would love a wrist stabliser, I tend to take a lot of flying leaps playing defense in netball and they often end up with me landing on my hands.
My worst and funniest injury happened whilst floating in a dam supervising children when my knee blew out. I was just floating, nothing more, and I had full detachment of my patella, there was no ligaments or muscle attachment, just skin holding my leg together…the doctors could not believe how much damage there was simply from gently floating in water! They expected it to be a car crash injury! Lol was extremely painful, but I now can get out of supervising children in the water by saying, we’ll remember what happened last time! Haha
Catherine Roche – from FB page –
Thought it would fun going down the fireman’s pole on the kids’ swings at the park. Landed on my foot the wrong way (which ended up being sprained) and when I tried to stand, I fell on my left wrist and broke it. Had pain in it ever since. Mostly when I have to do something I don’t want to. Apparently poles are only meant for kids. And strippers. Weird.
Lauren-Adam Hayward – from FB page –
Umm my billy goat hooked his horns just under my knee and sent me a over t…. he has not had a pat since frown emoticon my children however thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen frown emoticon
Sarah Sims – from FB page –
I had tennis elbow for like a year, when my then-toddler would seemingly lose consciousness and drop like a stone whilst holding my hand. I called it toddler elbow.
Tanya Davey – from FB page –
I managed to dislocate 2 fingers trying to kill a spider with a shoe as it was running across my bathroom floor…
Melissa Swan – from FB page –
My FUNNIEST injury was when my dog came running up behind me and then proceeded to run under me taking my legs with him. I went flying and felt like I broke my tailbone. I couldnt move for a couple of days and sitting was really painful. Wrist band.;-/
I sliced my leg open with the metal end of a suspension file, and proceeded to drop to the ground like I’d been shot! And I’d love a wrist brace.
Dropped a glass coke bottle on my fiit when u was 12 severed the tendon in my big toe spent 4 minths in plaster after operation literally one year later dropped a chair on foot resevered the same tendon
would love the wrist one 🙂
My beautiful 21 year old daughter former Gympie girl) has always been a gifted artist. When she set out to become a Tattooist instead of going to Uni, it certainly wasn’t Mum & Dad ‘s best news! But she supported herself on meagre money, working 10 hr days. After 3 years, she is beginning to see reward for her effort, but is experiencing some pain and fatigue in her wrist after a day with the gun. These supports would be areal blessing for our lityle trooper to continue chasing her dream.
Dislocated my knee after sitting cross legged on the floor reading 50 shades of grey whilst my dd3months slept – 2.5hrs later she wakes up and WHAM
Gaining a black eye three days before my wedding due to a fence to keep the working dogs away from our guests falling on me whilst putting it up.
All I can say is I liove my makeup artist and we had plenty of laughs about it since 🙂
I would love to try the tennis elbow brace.
Not my injury but my partners. He had radial nerve palsey because he spent so much time playing World of Warcraft. He lost all use of his right hand for about a week and a half! A wrist brace would be awesome for any future WOW related mushaps!
My beautiful 21 year old daughter (former Gympie girl) has always been a gifted artist. When she set out to become a Tattooist instead of going to Uni, it certainly wasn’t Mum & Dad ‘s best news! But she supported herself on meagre money, working 10 hr days. After 3 years, she is beginning to see reward for her effort, but is experiencing some pain and fatigue in her wrist after a day with the gun. These supports would be a real blessing for our little trooper to continue chasing her dream and passion
At 17 I jumped off a cliff about 10-11m high. And yes my friends were doing it too. Trouble is, I landed on the water very badly, with my legs out in front of me. Almost drowned, and put a kink in my spine, which pinches a nerve. As a result, I have NEVER asked my kids, “if your friends jumped off a cliff would you?!”
I would get a right wrist brace for my hubby. He has carpal tunnel problems, and keeps putting surgery off because of my health issues.