So, maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago I got my thumb “popped” in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). In all honestly, it was an accident / mostly my own stupid fault. I was wearing my looser gi and my hand got stuck. While address that and not actually paying attention to the match, my hand finally got free. However, in doing this and being all distracted… I allowed my partner to take mount. But, I was a dumb dumb and let him kinda sling shot into mount.

In English, I was keeping him at bay from establishing a top position where he basically sits on top of my torso. However, by doing all that nonsense with getting my hand free out of my gi and not paying attention… he suddenly launched into that position at the exact same time my hand came out.

Result: His knee/thigh slide over my torso and straight onto my left thumb.

POP!

I exclaimed for a sec… but, decided to finish the last minute of the match. No harm done… I thought.

Well, I thought…

It appeared to be a typical hyperextension sprain. I’ve had these before from basketball in my faaaaaaar younger days. I thought things were going great 24hrs post injury. That was, until my son heel kicked… more or less like this:

Yeahhhhhhh….. suffice to say. IT HURT A LOT. I mean, it hurt SO BAD… I don’t remember such pain except for when I broke my arm… that one moment when my nerves still worked before I broke my arm.

I didn’t think my thumb was broken. But, if it wasn’t before… it was SURE TO BE after Nathan flipping axe kicked it. *sighs* Diaper changes… it’s as dirty as it is dangerous.

In any case, the whole next day… it hurt like hell. I mean it just kept hurting. I finally set up an appointment, got it x-rayed… and, had an office visit with a savvy DO. Films were clear. We agreed on a ligamentous injury. And, he was pleasantly respectful of me being a DPT.

He came into the room with me reading some sports med journal that was in the magazine pile. The DO never knew it was there. Ironically, it was his subscription! *LOL*

In any case… super pleasant visit. I was glad to know there was no fracture. I got hooked up with some braces via a family member… and… tonight, I was brave enough to finally hit the mat again.

Thanks to some awesome training partners who are beyond respectful of each other and that much more cognizant of their training partner’s safety, I felt comfortable enough to spar. When rolling, I realized that I could still survive with just 1.5 arms available. It was a pretty cool experience to the fact that I was still able to hold my own and even sink some armlocks. #ThankYouFundamentals

In any case… it’s nice to be back on the mat 🙂