Adrenaline after accident

[treacletart]

I have wanted to share thoughts on the following for a long time, now it feels right to ask.

Something which I often think about is how us humans run on adrenaline after an accident.

I had a nasty fall a number of years ago and adrenaline kept me going, but in the wrong direction. In short I fell from my pony in walk and hit the back of my head, sat up, fell on my face. It felt like my brain hit my forehead about 200mph! I sat up, thought 'nothing is broken, remounted and rode on. For about 5 minutes. In that time, I began to feel strange, so told the person who was with me, my name, address, the time and to use my mobile if I didnt make it back to the field (10mins away).

It was the adrenaline which got me back on my pony, in my head I had planned my route and that was where I was going. Why oh why didn't 'sensible' kick in and say 'you may have a head injury - get checked out'.

As a riding instructor I would always insist if the rider had an accident where head and neck were affected, they went straight to hospital for a check up, so why did I not practice what I preach and do the same? Why did I get back on?

How many times do we not listen to our bodies and what they are really telling us?

I got the ponies back to the field, I even drove the 5miles home! I went to A&E who said take pain killers and sent me home. I went back the next day, they kept me in to scan my head. Then they didnt and sent me home again. 3weeks later I was scanned! No damage they said. Rest they said. For the next 18months I spent each week in and out of opticians, pain managemnt sessions, physio. The concussion symptoms got worse and worse. The time I wasnt being checked over was spent on the settee in almost darkness and silence, unable to hold a conversation with more than one person at a time, still trying to listen to my body but I didnt understand what it was telling me.
I know now. I learned to listen to my body through holistic therapies. It was my road to recovery.

I addressed a lot of emotional issues along the way too, not just physical.

(Sorry, gone off the track a bit there - back to adrenaline...)

So, now if I feel my adrenaline kicking in for whatever reason, I try to stop and listen to how I feel, it has helped me and others to deal with the situation earlier rather than later and risk further injury.

Has anyone else experienced this type of thing where we fall off and carry on regardless. How did you deal with it at the time, and has it changed your lines of thought at all?

TT x

[Zuzan]

I had a fall a couple of years ago.. broke my wrist as well as vertical break to one of my arm bones.. it happened five mins from home after a longer than expected hack.. Typical nearly home and switch off moment on young horse over rough terrain type accident.. I was hoiked back on for the last quarter of a mile .. hardest bit was getting off one armed..

Weeks mending and winter meant I didn't get back on until spring.. but wierdly I think my riding has improved partly as a result of the accident.. I regained my wet blanket legs which have stood me in good stead since.. mentally too.. On medical advice I was told to ensure I got full range of vits /mins and particularly Omega Oils / EFAs which I still take .. as the Omega / EFAs, I am sure, have also helped me increased my mental resilience too.

I think the adrenalin certainly helped me get back home (was with 2 others) on board.. but I don't seem to get the same adrenalin rush if Neets spooks or gets a little "excited".. I feel far more "matter of fact" about riding and other aspects of horsemanship too.. post accident.

[kizi]

I got trampled by a spooked 2yo filly. She knocked me to the ground and I didn't even know I'd been unconscious, it was probably only 30 seconds, the people with me told me what happened. She stood on my leg, back/hip and neck. I thump my head hard off a gate post. Next I was aware of I was lying in a heap, twisted and everyone was standing over me.
They were telling me stay down etc, I was worried about the 2yo, she was loose on the lane, I caught hold of the electric fence (!) and pulled myself up. Could not bare weight on my ankle, so I held the electric fence (!) and hopped along, told them to shoo her back to field and I closed the fence behind her, then went up the field to retrieve the dangling broken lead rope....
They told me stay put and they go get car. I followed them back to yard saying I was fine.
I said I was fine all day...I could only go down steps backwards....but later the pain in my ankle subsided...
I had bruises over my kidneys, I had concussion, I had a broken ankle and a trapped nerve in my hip. She redid an old shoulder injury and tore the healed muscles and nerves. And generally almost killed me.
I didn't go doctor for a week, and only because my ankle got unbearable again. Turns out because of the trapped nerve in my hip which was painful, I was not feeling the pain in my ankle, after a few days of exercises to loosen hip, nerve corrected and I realised my ankle was f***ed!!
I will not be so stupid again and WILL go to the hospital....or so I tell myself!

[happysnail]

When I smashed my elbow in a fall we were up a hill and across a river. I wasn't in pain but knew something was wrong. It would have been several miles to walk back avoiding crossing the river so I rode. Getting on was interesting (I had about 20o movement through the elbow but much further and I was seeing stars but it did move further to mount). We rode back down across the hill and river. Getting off was the really difficult bit but did manage to untack the pony. Had a cup of tea and phoned my mum to say I'd had a fall and was fine but couldn't work the handbrake and could she get me. By the time they arrived I knew something was wrong but the arm still moved but wasn't that sore. Mum, dad and sister (physio, dr and radiographer) all had a poke at it and said maybe it was or maybe it wasn't broken. Buy they also not so very delicately pointed out I stank and was not about to go to A&E smelling like a muck heap so I got changed. It did start to hurt during x-rays that showed the head of radius was broken. I got a sling, fracture appointment card and was told to take paracetamol if I needed to (by nurse practitioner at A&E). Pain only hit the next couple of days, as did stiffness and inflammation. Feeling like a total sap, I saw a GP to see if I could get something for the pain at night as I couldn't sleep. She was pretty incredulous that having been catapulted through the air onto my elbow, the advice had been paracetamol if I needed it, also the sling wasn't fitted correctly.

[Deleted]

Both times I've headbutted the ground courtesy of Talin I've got straight back on, it's been drummed into me, you ALWAYS get back on unless you're physically unable, if you don't get back on straight away you might never, I don't even think about it, I just do it.

I spent years having confidence problems and so each time with Talin I sat on the floor until I couldn't see stars anymore and until I'd got over being winded then got back on. Both times I cracked my riding hat and had concussion for a week, the second time I had internal bruising too but (probably due to adrenaline) that didn't hurt til later on.

[big e]

;)When i flew sideways off a spooked tb, i hit the ground really hard, really winded myself and laid on the floor for ages. There were 8 little children watching me i got up, got back on the horse but was struggling to breathe so got off, drove home, started to feel ill, started to drive to the hospital with my kids and was feeling even iller, so drove to my mums who was on route who drove me straight to a & e by now my breathing was getting really bad

i think i broke 5 ribs but the swelling was squashing my lungs It got much worse over the next few days too i could barely move

The only thing i wouldn't do again is try driving when i could barely move

[greyhorses]

I fell off about 3 months ago and broke both wrists landing on a rock-hard ploughed field in the crawling position! I had to catch both horses (as I was doing ride and lead) as they were close to a road. I managed to unzip my bum bag, unlock my phone, phone my partner, get treats out the bum bag, catch the horses and start walking down the lane leading both horses waiting for my partner to arrive. As I saw him in the distant things started to go black as my blood pressure started to drop. I handed him the horses, sat in my car and bawled my eyes out - it's only then that I noticed the other injuries - cuts on my knee and a badly grazed chin with bits of mud embedded.

My OH walked the horses home and I drove my car home (naughty I know) but it's an automatic so no gear changes. Once home he took me to A&E where Xrays confirmed the worst.

Adrenalin certainly helps, rightly or wrongly

[ruthp]

After my very recent incident this is a subject that I've been pondering too. I cannot remember the immediate aftermath of my fall on Sunday but I do know that I got up, took hold of Bali (someone had caught her, but I have no recollection of them) and led her home, a mile or so. I have absolutely no memory of the walk home, and can only remember feeling any pain when I tried to get her boots off in the stable.

It was only once I'd got into the house and collapsed on the sofa that the pain really kicked in.

There was no question that it was adrenaline that both drove me and enabled me to get home. I suspect that if I had been riding with a friend I would probably have left the scene in an ambulance, but as I was on my own my adrenaline fueled sense of self preservation led me to take that course.

In this case, I think the adrenaline worked just how it should - it enabled me to get me and Bali to a safe place. But it didn't force me back onto the horse (I don't think that would have been physically possible anyway!).

I noted another poster quoting that well worn addage that if you don't get straight back on, you never will. I too have lived by that in the past, and I have now come to the conclusion that it is seriously unhelpful. If you've had a bad fall getting back on may be the worst thing you can do. You might well by dazed, if not physically injured, and your horse might also be upset by the events that have just happened. The combination of a physically or mentally impaired rider and an upset horse is exactly what you don't need immediately after a fall - the most likely outcome is another fall.

So, I'd agree with TT - adrenaline can be really helpful in getting you through the immediate aftermath of an accident, but can also drive you to make some pretty poor decisions.

[Deleted]

Jan 4, 2012 13:22:47 GMT 1 ruthp said:

I noted another poster quoting that well worn addage that if you don't get straight back on, you never will. I too have lived by that in the past, and I have now come to the conclusion that it is seriously unhelpful. If you've had a bad fall getting back on may be the worst thing you can do. You might well by dazed, if not physically injured, and your horse might also be upset by the events that have just happened. The combination of a physically or mentally impaired rider and an upset horse is exactly what you don't need immediately after a fall - the most likely outcome is another fall.

So, I'd agree with TT - adrenaline can be really helpful in getting you through the immediate aftermath of an accident, but can also drive you to make some pretty poor decisions.

When I posted that I wrote it with the thought in mind that if you're not physically able to get back on then you don't as I'd have thought that obvious enough to not need writing.

If another fall is the most likely outcome then how is it that I've got back on every time I've fallen off and never fallen a second time? The answer is probably adreanline. Adrenaline works to give you more energy, faster reactions and to override pain, so it may very well make you better equipped to deal with the horse's reactions. Whether that counterbalances with the effect of your adrenaline on the horse is another matter.

I don't doubt there are some cases where certain injuries mean you'd be safer not getting back on but I think in the majority of cases you should.

[KimT]

One of the times I fell off my first horse I had a retty bad concusion. I didnt realise at the time because as soon as I had fallen off Bonnie bolted home (typical of her) down a road so my first thought was to catch up with her. I knew exactly where she was going (the field).

It wasn't until later that the pain set in. So far I haven't broken any bones (touches lots of wood) despite the amount of falls I have had and some of them have been pretty bad. I guess I have enough padding

Adrenaline is designed to enable you for a short time to do what is neccesary to help yourself out of a situation. It has been handy in the past I must admit!!

I too had it drilled in that you have to get back on providing it is safe to do so. Also, some of the times I have fallen off we have been miles from home in the middle of nowhere so sometimes getting back on is the best option.

[treacletart]

I too was taught as a child to get back on if fallen off, maybe my adrenaline to get back on after my last fall was partly due to that. Or else denial that I was injured.

It sounds to me from reading some of the above posts, that a lot of adrenaline keeps running until we personally feel safe enough for our body to produce not as much, not as quick.

I would like to think that if and when I fall off again, I would assess my situation in a more focussed way before remounting, but who know's?

[ruthp]

Apologies Michelle - I certainly didn't mean to imply any criticism. And yes, after minor falls if you're sure there's no serious damage then it's certainly no bad thing to get straight back on.

I guess I was thinking about the more severe sort of situation TT described where she was obviously concussed but was driven by adrenaline and the "just get back on" voice in her head to do something that was probably not very sensible - luckily her pony is! I if were riding with someone who fell as I did on Sunday there is no way that I'd have let them get back on the horse. I might possibly have let them walk home, but in all likelyhood I would have phoned for an ambulance.

[Deleted]

Ruth - Yes I agree it must lead to decisions you wouldn't normally make ;D

Jan 4, 2012 13:55:57 GMT 1 treacletart said:

It sounds to me from reading some of the above posts, that a lot of adrenaline keeps running until we personally feel safe enough for our body to produce not as much, not as quick.

I think TT has hit the nail on the head, but I wonder if the adrenaline keeps you going until something in your subconscious tells you you're safe, rather than it being a conscious awarenes? And I note from some posts this seems to extend to making sure our horses are safe - I wonder if that's a female "must look after my baby" instinct or whether men do the same?

[treacletart]

I wonder if the adrenaline keeps you going until something in your subconscious tells you you're safe, rather than it being a conscious awarenes?

Very interesting! Going off to think....whilst I have a quick ride, and will discuss with my fellow rider. ;D


PS I dont intendd to fall off to test our thoughts, TTx

[laurac]

I once got kicked (double barrelled) in the leg my a 17hh horse with shoes on (freak accident) he thought i was another horse about to pinch his breakfast I was thrown a good few feet in the air
After the shock of the kick i got up, changed the horses rugs in the field and crawled / limped to YO's house, cold compress, drove home rang work and told them i would be late in Had a soak in bath, drove to work, got there and leg wouldnt bend so I needed help to get out of my car, 15 mins later I was in agony and was driven to hospital by directors PA, nothing broken but severe soft tissue damage, couldnt move leg and it went black from hip to ankle, on crutches for a couple of months, lots of physio most painful thing ive done to date
Yes adrenaline let me finish the horses & get to work that day