Snowboard trip to Snow Summit, and Acupuncturing my arm.

First free weekend on ICU... what shall we do guys? How about go snowboarding! Yay... that's what we did. Lorinc, Aaron, and I went to Snow Summit last weekend and snowboard/ski'd for 2 days. When we got there, we 'Night-Ski' the first night... it was beautiful, less people on the slope, clear view of the lake on the way down, and it wasn't even cold. The trails were a little icy but ok. Then we went back to the small cabin that we rented for a night. We hung out, ate, and watched a movie. The next day, we went out again and ski'd and snowboarded until about 2:30pm. It was a nice trip!




HOWEVER, unfortunately, for me, I fell pretty hard on one of the runs coming down. I hit a ditch and instead of landing on my neck and back, I stuck out my left arm and jammed it into the ice and way hyperextended it. My elbow hurt really bad. But, I had to finish the day snowboarding so after icing it for about 45min, I was back on the slope for 3 more runs. So, here are pictures 3 days after it happened and my acupuncture attempt to treat myself.

I used a surface energetic treatment called the TendinoMuscular Meridian. It require a "Ting point," a "gathering point," and lots of needles to focus the treatment. The ting point starts the flow of energe, the gathering point directs to where the energy flows, and the local points focus the healing energy of the needles and Qi. So my ting point is on my pinky (SI-1). Gathering point is on my head (GB-13), and lots of local needles surrounding the lesion on my elbow.

It didn't look any better the next day, but I believe that the healing is taking place. For those orthopedic minded, the medical evaluation I gave myself ruled-out fracture right after it happened. X ray negative for fractures. My diagnosis: muscle strain and likely a ligamentous tear of the posterior portion of the ulnar collateral ligament at the left medial epicondyle. Next step: Rest, Ice, Elevate, Ibuprofen, time (6 weeks) for recovery. In the mean time, ace bandage and ice to minimize swelling; ibuprofen for pain and inflammation; continue increase range of motion to speed up recovery.

Now, if you are suspecting a fracture or know there's a fracture, the management changes a little bit. Make sure you consult your doctor.