I fell off a horse yesterday and landed on my back?!
Question: It was very painful at the time, and it's still quite sore today. I don't think it's anything serious but aches almost constantly and hurts when I move or turn. I've had some Nurofen and it helped, but only a little. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to ease the pain, or any idea how long it will take for it to stop hurting? It's not unbearable pain but it limits what I can do, I can't pick things up off the floor or lift anything much. And also, if anyone can give me instructions on the best position to try to land when you're falling off a horse, that would be great too!
Answers: It was very painful at the time, and it's still quite sore today. I don't think it's anything serious but aches almost constantly and hurts when I move or turn. I've had some Nurofen and it helped, but only a little. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to ease the pain, or any idea how long it will take for it to stop hurting? It's not unbearable pain but it limits what I can do, I can't pick things up off the floor or lift anything much. And also, if anyone can give me instructions on the best position to try to land when you're falling off a horse, that would be great too!
If you have to bail, never try to catch yourself with your arms extended - You can break your wrist, hand, or arm. Try to tuck and roll.
Consider yourself lucky - I got bucked off at 13 (doing stuff my trainer told me do but it was too advanced [draw reins]- horse got ticked and threw me) and broke my femur - Rod in my leg and crutches for 18 months.
Give your back a few days rest and if it still hurts go see your doctor. You may have pinched something or even have a hairline fracture.
Most important - get back on that beast as soon as possible - Show him that you won't be tossed around or he'll act up everytime something doesn't go his way.
go see the Doctor if not by some heat patches
As to the best way to fall, Dont :) Most martial artist would say to try and land as flat as possible so as to spread the force of the impact over the greatest possible surface.
the most likely cause of teh pain is your muscles stiffining up following the fall. your basic anti-inflamitory drugs work well like Motrin. However from what i remember about horses, you suffered at least a 4-5 foot high fall. even if you didn't land on your back, the impact would have send a shock wave up it. the best thing that I think you should do is go see a doctor to make sure that everything is ok with your back. Pain is the bodies way of telling you that something is wrong.
it is better to be safe and be wrong, that to think and be disabled. worst case senario is you broke something and they need to fix it, best case is everything is fine and just bruised - and they can give you something that works better than over the counter pain meds (like muscle relaxers)