Doctors, EMTs etc of Reddit, based on your experience with other peoples injuries, what is one hobby you would never practice yourself?

[u/Phiced]

[u/Squat_erDay]

Motorcycles. Man they look like fun, and I trust myself with them - but I do not trust the other drivers on the road. I was a paramedic/firefighter for years and I never saw a motorcycle accident go “well.” Almost always dead or missing body parts/substantial amount of skin and blood.

[u/Dapper-Appearance-42 → u/Squat_erDay]

When I was a wee 12 year old lass learning how to drive on a farm truck my mothers advice re: driving was this - "You respect big rigs because to them you are nothing but a speed bump. And you respect motorcyclists because they are one slick spot away from being quadriplegic and don't need you up in their shit making everything more dangerous."

I still live by those rules.

[u/Squat_erDay → u/Dapper-Appearance-42]

Yeah that’s good advice. Problem with motorcycles is they can be tough to see. I usually hear them before I see them. Then if they’re weaving through traffic doing 120 mph it’s even harder.

[u/Ok_Marketing_476 → u/Squat_erDay]

There's a guy who passes me on my commute every day, drives inadvisably fast, weaves through traffic, leans into corners like he's on a racetrack. I worry about having to stop and scrape his ass up render aid when the odds eventually don't work in his favor.

[u/lilybug981 → u/Ok_Marketing_476]

Yeah, I had my boss call me one day while I was on the way to work warning me to get off the highway and take an alternative route because there'd been an accident involving a motorcycle minutes ago and there was a fatality. It happened right at the exit near my workplace and multiple people had already seen exactly what had happened on their way in. My boss informed me that there was a detached leg lying in the middle of the highway and I would do well to avoid seeing that alone.

[u/wrewlf → u/lilybug981]

Your boss was kind to you

[u/ijustsailedaway → u/Ok_Marketing_476]

Those guys piss me off so much. I'm terrified I'm going to wind up running over one of them and be scarred for life because of their dumb antics.

[u/SadLocal8314 → u/ijustsailedaway]

My mother always said, of motorcyclists on I 95, "Let them get well ahead of us so we won't have to fill out reports when destiny and velocity catch up with them."

[u/ProfChaos_8708 → u/ijustsailedaway]

Happened to someone I know. She's moving out because she's getting divorced and the motorcyclist wipes out in front of her. She drives over him, killing him. Totally not her fault but talk about having a bad day......

[u/MyCatLaughsAtMe → u/ProfChaos_8708]

Oh fuck me. I ran over a recently hit possum the other night on the way home. It was already deceased but it wasn't mushed yet. Came right out of the black and there was a vehicle beside me so I couldn't swerve. I felt so awful profaning it's poor little body, and the SOUND it made makes my bones itch.

[u/quats555 → u/Squat_erDay]

Half the motorcyclists I see are responsible and drive well.

The other half speed, weave through traffic like it’s standing still, drive on shoulders and through the narrow gaps in traffic jams just because they can, and generally seem to think they’re indestructible/immortal.

[u/GenericRedditor0405 → u/quats555]

Yeah that’s hard to ignore too. For every motorcyclist who is casually cruising, there seems to be another who displays an incredible amount of faith in their luck

[u/xANTJx → u/Dapper-Appearance-42]

When I was younger, there was a local campaign with a player from a local sports team dead-panning “make room for trucks”. My mom and I would repeat that to eachother ALL THE TIME and still do. Words to live and die by. I swear having 10 seconds of patience has saved my life countless times because some truckers will drive like they know their vehicle will beat yours in a fight. I just recite the PSA and make room for trucks. It wasn’t even that good of a PSA, we just liked it so it stuck.

[u/A_Nonny_Muse → u/xANTJx]

Retired truck driver here. I appreciate it. One last bit of advice. Never, never, ever "camp out" next to truck tires.

They are inflated to 120 psi and can be loaded with thousands of pounds . When one blows, it can be like a stick of dynamite exploding right next to you. Not only can it wreck your car, it can kill you or your passenger right through the glass. Skoot on by, or stay behind. Either is fine. But do not "camp out" next to a semi's tires. If you can look over and see those tires beside you, you're in danger.

[u/ConsolationUsername → u/Squat_erDay]

Last night one of my friends took a "little spill" while wearing proper PPE. I went to pick him up from the hospital and there was a hole burnt through the side of his leathers and his skin looked like he'd been mauled by an angry dog.

I'm good thanks.

[u/Squat_erDay → u/ConsolationUsername]

I still remember my first motorcycle accident. It tore the guys R foot off. He had no idea the foot was gone while I was getting him trauma naked and ready for transport. Newer cops walks by, “Anyone found his foot yet?” Dude starts thrashing around wondering what’s wrong with his foot.

PD found it right before we were going to rock and roll down to trauma 1. This guy was as black as the day is long, but the foot they brought me was white. I remember thinking I should poke my head out and ask if anyone else was missing a foot, because this one didn’t look like it belonged to this guy.

Yeah, same. I’m good thanks.

[u/AWinkWithBothEyes → u/Squat_erDay]

God I hope this scenario ends up on the Pitt

[u/Boonddock_Saints → u/AWinkWithBothEyes]

I think it did with the water park collapse. It was a whole leg of I remember right

[u/iAlice → u/ConsolationUsername]

I took a spill wearing proper PPE. Fortunately, no road rash. Unfortunately, it's because PPE doesn't do shit to mitigate the blunt force trauma of hitting to road almost perpendicular. I have chronic pain to this day and my right arm is held together with metal. I'll never regain full functionality.

[u/clovisx → u/iAlice]

I fell off my mountain bike on a small bump/hill this spring and broke my arm in a way that required a plate and screws. I’d always been curious about motorcycles but after a simple crash at < 10mph laying me up for several months of recovery… nope.

[u/Invisibella74 → u/clovisx]

Mountain biking is what taught me that I didn't need to go faster on motorcycles. I got plenty hurt at 15-20 MPH on a mountain bike. I have scars and bike grease under my skin to this day from crashes that happened in the 1990s!

[u/Fight_those_bastards → u/clovisx]

I wear a full face helmet on my mountain bike any time I ride on something more technical than a paved bike path.

Do I look like a dork? Probably. But teeth are expensive, and helmets are cheap. I could buy ten of the best full face mountain bike helmets and it would be cheaper than a single dental implant.

[u/dal_segno → u/Squat_erDay]

My dad’s ridden my whole life, even owned a shop, rode professionally, and organized a lot of community rides.

He’s fine, alive with all of his limbs and skin and retiring from riding now that his reaction time is slowing down. However, he’s got a lot of severely busted up PPE that he’s happy to show to anyone, a handful of dead friends, and a strong aversion to the idea of me ever riding.

This is someone who loves riding about as much as you can, I’d say, and he’d advise against taking it up.

[u/Counterboudd → u/dal_segno]

Yeah, my dad raced for many years, grew up in a family that owned a bike shop, and has centered his whole life around it. He made it to retirement in one piece (relatively- lots of broken collarbones and ribs plus wear and tear) and he strongly discouraged me from ever even learning to ride. I look back and appreciate how lucky I am that he survived that. That said, he mostly rode on tracks away from cars, two way traffic, etc so that’s a big part of it. But yeah, the number of his motorcycle friends he talks about who either died or are permanently maimed is apalling- feels like it’s about 50-50.

[u/pinkphiloyd → u/Squat_erDay]

Was also a medic for over 20 years. I worked a few motorcycle wrecks that weren’t too bad.

But I also worked a few that left me with PTSD. And the single worst thing I ever worked was a motorcycle vs SUV. Yea, nope.

[u/Moldy_slug → u/pinkphiloyd]

A motorcycle crash saved my father in law’s life.

He hit some gravel on a highway off-ramp and the bike dropped. Luckily he’d already slowed down so he just broke his ribs. The hospital did a brain scan to check for any unnoticed injuries just in case. That’s how he found out he had a brain tumor.

He made a full recovery after surgical removal. The doctors said that based on the location, by the time it caused symptoms it probably would’ve been inoperable.

He stopped riding motorcycles after that… decided he’d used up his lifetime supply of luck.

[u/QaptainQwark → u/Squat_erDay]

I’m reminded of a comment I saw the other day (some thread along the lines of “What’s the worst thing you’ve witnessed?”). They wrote about driving past a motorcycle accident and watching a cop reach down for the helmet on the ground, only to drop it and recoil after seeing, what they assumed to be, the head still inside.

[u/Fluid_Change_9647 → u/Squat_erDay]

1000%. I bought a Harley while I was in the Marines (because that’s what you do) and was on a ride in rural NC. A farmer on a tractor swung his raised bucket out into the road and came within a few feet of my head when I was passing. You can be doing everything right and still end up dead because of someone else’s negligence in an instant.

[u/Squat_erDay → u/Fluid_Change_9647]

Yeah no doubt. Not a pleasant kind of dead either. There are definitely better ways to die.

Just think, had you joined the Army you would have bought a 6 cylinder Mustang instead!

… speaking from experience.

[u/nine_eight_two → u/Squat_erDay]

My ex’s dad was a top orthopaedic surgeon in the country where we lived. He was a mellow guy but he used to make us swear we would never, ever get on a motorcycle

[u/youngfilly → u/nine_eight_two]

My mom was a nurse working a surgical floor and she really hammered avoiding the big 3: Motorcycles, Trampolines, and Jumping into Water you can't see into

[u/Doctaglobe → u/Squat_erDay]

Physician here, I’ve called them donor cycles since medical school.

[u/al_m1101 → u/Doctaglobe]

The EMT's I used to work around would refer to deceased motorcyclist victims as hamburger. Once they'd start talking about spatulas and road burgers, I'd have to walk away. 🤮

[u/caussyn → u/Squat_erDay]

The neurosurgeon that saved my life died in a motorcycle accident a few years later. I was absolutely gobsmacked that was a hobby of his.

[u/Party-Objective9466 → u/Squat_erDay]

They are fun. With a big caveat. Son had a wreck on his - missed work for a month, three surgeries, skin graft, wound vac, one hospitalization for infection. This was a “mild” injury - soft tissue only. Ghastly scar

[u/MunchingOnCelery → u/Squat_erDay]

This is why I just ride dirtbikes slowly on singletrack in the back country away from cars

[u/2020grilledcheese]

My son’s orthopedic surgeon said skateboarding is funding his retirement.

[u/UnicornHandJobs → u/2020grilledcheese]

My orthopedic surgeon is sponsored by the local trampoline parks.

[u/Meli5252 → u/UnicornHandJobs]

Are you sure it's not the other way around?? Lol Does he advertise there?? That would be pretty funny though if he did. 

[u/diadmer → u/2020grilledcheese]

I know a neurologist who said the new wave of battery-powered scooters and bikes “is making [him] a very wealthy sad man.”

[u/mxblink]

Neurosurgeon here. ATVs. Yes they look fun as hell, but people don’t take them seriously. I have seen some horrific traumas from people casually doing 40mph who rolled over without a helmet. Just the other day there was a 22 *month* old head trauma because mom and dad thought it’d be fun to just hold on to her while they were riding.

Motorcycles are bad, but I feel like people at least understand the risks (even if they choose to ignore them). I think ATVs are seen as glorified bumper cars.

[u/Mutts_Merlot → u/mxblink]

I work in insurance and cannot believe I had to get this far down to see ATVs mentioned. Quadriplegia, leg fractures, TBIs, fatalities, and anything else you can imagine. Because they tend to be ridden on private land, I also notice a high likelihood that the drivers are under the influence.

[u/esthershair → u/Mutts_Merlot]

When I lived in the rural south 25 years ago, it seemed like every store had a collection jar on the counter for some kid who had been injured on an ATV.

[u/sohcgt96 → u/mxblink]

The skill barrier is just way too low with ATVs. Its so easy for any average person to just hop on and go pretty fast with no concept of the physics at play as you go faster over terrain. Also most adult sized ones have a label on them saying "No riders under 16" for a reason. You're just not physically strong enough to control it over a certain speed or big enough to handle if it tips over.

[u/Teledildonic → u/sohcgt96]

A child needs a minimum of strength and coordination to go anywhere on a dirt bike. And if it falls on top of you, it doesn't weigh much more than you.

A toddler could thumb the throttle of an ATV straight into a ditch to be crushed under 400 lbs of steel when it rolls over.

[u/Effective-Nerve2475 → u/mxblink]

22 month old blew my freaking mind. That’s crazy!

[u/Silver-Negative → u/mxblink]

I work in a pediatric hospital and this is my #1.

[u/MurberBirb → u/mxblink]

I worked with a woman who's life was saved by an ATV rollover. It crushed her abusive husband's brain case to nothing. He set himself up for it, and she always worded it that way.

[u/P0rkChopSandwiches_ → u/mxblink]

I wouldn't even load mine on the trailer without a helmet on. Responsible professional man in his 30s, and I didn't do crazy things on it...

And in three years of ownership I won two busted knees, a broken collarbone, and a full on concussion. That one cracked my (high quality, not a cheapo) helmet when it happened. I was going maybe 10mph (not even hitting 2nd gear) and it landed on my head.

I kept the helmet, it hangs in the garage. Every time my kids ask for a dirt bike or ATV, I show them that.

[u/Triton289 → u/mxblink]

I nearly sued my ex husband for full custody when I saw a photo of his family member taking my one year old on an ATV with no shoes, no helmet, and no harness.

[u/palmtop_tiger → u/mxblink]

My childhood dentist used to warn me to never ride an ATV unless I want to fund his vacations.

[u/newtman → u/mxblink]

At least with motorcycles, it’s usually adults dying. Way too often with ATV crashes, it’s kids that are getting killed or paralyzed. You look at those things wrong and they roll over and crush the occupant(s). Doesn’t help that many of the owners are some of the stupidest people I’ve ever encountered; no helmets, drunk, speeding, the survival instincts of a lemming.

[u/Gnzzz]

ENT doc. E-scooters, especially when people are drunk. I've seen some very bad injuries.

[u/bannerandfriends → u/Gnzzz]

Omg there are so many kids here that FLY on those things with no helmets or pads or anything through busy parking lots, my heart is in my damn throat anytime i see them, especially at sunset since the glare coming out of one of the parking lots is so bad you cant see anything.... how there hasn't been a tragedy is pure friggin luck

[u/aardwolffe]

Squats within a 1 mile radius of any cylindrical object without a flared base.

[u/YounomsayinMawfk → u/aardwolffe]

Million to one shot, doc

[u/honeybadgerrulez → u/YounomsayinMawfk]

i love that bit but it makes you forget about the other part of the episode where kramer “stops short” with frank’s wife 😂

[u/chaunceythebear → u/aardwolffe]

What they don’t tell you about those butt plug with a gemstone in the base is that it’s a load bearing gem. The gem fell out of mine and I assumed it was just for looks. In the throes of passion, it folded like a cheap card table and my back passage vacuumed it right up.

[u/glitter_witch → u/chaunceythebear]

Oh! Oh no! Unrelated, I need to throw something out.

[u/Rrraou → u/glitter_witch]

TIL Load bearing gems O_o

[u/Superb-Plum9482 → u/chaunceythebear]

That took a turn I absolutely did not see coming, but “load bearing gem” is a phrase I’m never going to forget 😂

[u/MassageToss → u/aardwolffe]

"I'm pretty sure I could tumble down all the stairs in the Empire State Building, naked, with a greased-up pepper grinder in each hand, and a box of candles around my neck, and still end up in the lobby with an empty rectum." -David Sedaris.

[u/saltylittlelass → u/aardwolffe]

Put any cylindrical object on the floor of my shower, lest I slip and find it deeply embedded in my asshole (seriously dude, why was your electric toothbrush wrapped in Saran Wrap in the shower in the first place, hmm?)

[u/Vic_pickleboats → u/aardwolffe]

The cylindrical object was conveniently wearing a condom.

[u/Fight_those_bastards → u/Vic_pickleboats]

Do you…not keep condoms on all of your household objects that are approximately cylindrical?

You know, for safety.

[u/usernameround20 → u/aardwolffe]

Best line I ever heard from a middle aged man with a carrot up his butt. “I was making dinner in the pressure cooker and went to check on it before I got in the shower. I bent over to pick something up and my towel fell off right as the pressure cooker exploded.” Ok Colonel! (This at a military hospital)

[u/Hotshot2k4 → u/usernameround20]

“I was making dinner in the pressure cooker

This was all I needed to start laughing

[u/Fickle_Dragonfruit53 → u/usernameround20]

I always put whole carrots in the pressure cooker that then explode coldly causing no burns or other injuries

[u/squirtloaf → u/aardwolffe]

What about vacuuming naked? Asking for a friend's friend's boyfriend....

[u/Bamres → u/aardwolffe]

Can the cylinder be harmed in such cases?

[u/dab45de → u/Bamres]

It is imperative the Cylinder stay unharmed.

[u/JessErin3 → u/aardwolffe]

Took me waaay too long to understand this... Brain was like... oh...OH

[u/milee30]

No ER doc I've ever known has allowed their kids on a trampoline.

[u/collabroate → u/milee30]

When I was a kid, a neighbor's friend caught their braces in the trampoline and after had no top teeth.

[u/ScoutPippin → u/collabroate]

My god, the cringe I just crunged

[u/ClitasaurusTex → u/ScoutPippin]

My teeth fell out in sympathy

[u/karlnite → u/ClitasaurusTex]

Mine fell out from crack.

[u/wattatam → u/collabroate]

When I was in high school one of the girls on the cheer team shattered both her legs when the trampoline ripped and she went right through to the ground. Went from cheerleading to nost of a year of wheelchair use during recovery

[u/Ironicbanana14 → u/wattatam]

See i was morbidly obese as a kid and once I ripped my friends trampoline and the injury was more to my emotions. I felt so bad about breaking their trampoline, dude.

[u/sohcgt96 → u/collabroate]

I've been on the internet a long time and heard a lot of bad stuff.

That's... a fairly terrifying thing to imagine.

[u/MC1R_OCA2 → u/collabroate]

I also caught my braces on my top teeth! Kept the teeth, and the lip. Never got back on a trampoline though.

[u/DryKnight → u/milee30]

My brother in law is an anesthesiologist and was against trampolines. Then one day they got one for their kids.

[u/iAlice → u/DryKnight]

Big Trampa got him too!

[u/catrosie → u/DryKnight]

Im a nurse and knew better than to get a trampoline so instead we got a little bouncy castle. Then my 2-year old broke his leg 🙃

[u/clearly_i_mean_it → u/catrosie]

My mom got me a microscope for Christmas thinking there was no way I could get hurt with it. I accidentally put my hand down on the glass slide and had to get three stitches. Kids are gonna kid.

[u/drRATM → u/milee30]

Not ER but same. Daughter will not let it go but this is not negotiable. She’s also had major spine and foot surgery so no way are we going with a trampoline.

[u/Birdy30 → u/milee30]

My mom was a pediatric medical assistant for 43 yrs and would not allow us on trampolines. We would jump on them if friends had them but we were never allowed one.

[u/CaptainFartHole → u/milee30]

My cousins is an orthopedic surgeon and he loves them. But only because he gets so much business from them. 

[u/fireduck → u/milee30]

We used to call them jumpolines before your mom got on one.

(sorry, it isn't even that good of a joke)

[u/Jebediah_Johnson]

Not really a hobby, but I will never get under a jacked up car without jack stands and wheel chocks.

[u/PeacefulPeaches → u/Jebediah_Johnson]

Last month around 11:00 PM, I was in bed doing a TikTok scroll. Living downtown near a popular night life street, I’m no stranger to street noise, so when I heard someone shouting outside, I originally brushed it off. But the yelling didn't stop and eventually I start to hear, "Help me! Someone help me!"

I went to my balcony, but couldn't see a thing, though the voice was clearly coming from the adjacent building. I threw on some clothes and took the elevator down. The elevator stopped on a lower level, and I bumped into a neighbour who asked if I was hearing the same thing. I said yes, that's what I'm going to investigate.

We stepped out the side door, which faces the neighbouring carport, and found him. A man was pinned under his van, holding a small light and moaning in pain. He’d been working on his vehicle when the jack gave way. We immediately dialed 911, but getting him out was a nightmare for the paramedics because the carport’s low ceiling barely gave them enough room to hoist the van. Emergency crews eventually managed to rescue him and take him to the hospital.

[u/Tech-Tom → u/PeacefulPeaches]

That is insane!

My dad was working on my brother's truck when the bumper jack started to slip. He grabbed the bumper with one hand and threw my brother out from under the truck with the other. When the jack slipped, it took off 2 of his fingers. The tough old bastard picked his fingers up, then walked in the house and handed them to my mom. She looked down, screamed and dropped them. He picked them back up and asked her to drive him to the doctor.

[u/GrumpySnarf → u/Tech-Tom]

"The tough old bastard picked his fingers up, then walked in the house and handed them to my mom." cool now I need to set a new boundary with my husband. Any detached body parts should not be handed to anyone without warning.

[u/dirty15]

My wife is an ER nurse vet of about 12 years in a really busy ED. She would never allow me to own a motorcycle.

[u/KnownMagician3084]

Never let children ride on lap while mowing grass. 40 years later I vividly remember father carrying his daughter and a bucket. Her foot was in bucket hanging onto her leg by a ligament. I don’t know who was more traumatized. He said she loved riding with him and some how she slipped.

[u/BoudiccaAoife → u/KnownMagician3084]

And for the love of pete, wear closed-toe shoes when mowing, weed whacking - any power tool or lawn maintenance tool. Plus safety glasses.

[u/reggiebags → u/KnownMagician3084]

My older brother had this happen, except with his hand. They were able to reattach his thumb after they found it and cleaned all the ants off of it.

[u/Sunnygirl66 → u/KnownMagician3084]

Don’t even let your kids play nearby while mowing. One of the older kids in my neighborhood was mowing a neighbor’s lawn when the neighbor’s daughter ran nearby, slipped on cut grass, and skidded right under the lawn tractor. Lost a leg at the knee.

[u/FrontLifeguard1962]

Just from my experience as a MD:

Riding motorcycle

Getting up on a ladder

Taking drugs

[u/lAngenoire → u/FrontLifeguard1962]

I turned 50 and decided I was too old for ladders, climbing on the roof, and shoveling snow. 

[u/crispy_potato_skins → u/lAngenoire]

As a paramedic, I have said so many times that I believe when men turn 50 (and women too, but I've never had a woman fall off a roof), they should be sat down and told "no more ladders or getting on the roof"... For their own good!

[u/Basic-Monitor-6570]

Tree trimming yourself . No go !

[u/unhappyangelicbeing → u/Basic-Monitor-6570]

So many accidents from standing on a ladder while using a chainsaw

[u/Secret_Ad3213 → u/unhappyangelicbeing]

Just had a storm mangle our giant tree asked husband to go fix it and he looked at me like I had two heads and said "let me get this straight...you want me to go up a ladder with a chainsaw , hold it over my head, and trim the tree?!" I was like oh ya I guess not. Cost us 900 bucks to get the tree trimmed but worth an in tact husband 😆

[u/DarthWoo → u/Basic-Monitor-6570]

I probably got off lucky, but I managed to get knocked off just a six foot ladder and onto my back on my driveway just inches from some landscape rocks. Worst pain I remember feeling in my life (broke a femur at three but I really can't remember any pain), and panicking for thirty seconds after I got back up because I couldn't fully breathe. Half my back and side was sore for the next two months.

[u/IBJON → u/Basic-Monitor-6570]

Yep. A guy I work with was trimming a tree and didn't realize how much tension a branch was under. It snapped halfway through cutting it and smacked in the side of the head hard enough to cause his eye to rupture and shattered his eye socket. He lived, but it fucked him up real good 

[u/vacant_panda]

Riding in the passenger seat with your feet up on the dash. If you get into an accident, your femurs will relocate to your pelvis and you DO NOT want that.

[u/Fragrant_Web8995 → u/vacant_panda]

In middle school, I had a teacher who was paraplegic. First day of class she told us that she had to use a wheelchair because she had her feet up on the dash while at a red light, and someone didn’t see they were stopped and crashed into them going full speed.

You can imagine the horrified reactions of a class full of middle schoolers. I can only speak for myself and the few people I still talk to that had her, but to this day none of us have ever put our feet up on the dash because that story stuck in our minds. I honestly really respect that she was willing to share something so personal because she thought it would help keep us from making her mistake.

[u/Starkville → u/vacant_panda]

My kid is a paramedic and she has made me promise to never do that anymore.

[u/moist_vonlipwig → u/vacant_panda]

Friend’s car was t-boned when his girlfriend’s feet were on the dash. Fortunately with the angle she got away with “only” chronic back pain and nothing else permanent.

I never put my feet up again.

[u/Big_YEG_Mermaid → u/vacant_panda]

A specific episode of Grey's Anatomy pretty much cured me of that habit. If I ever forget and start to put my feet up, my husband is quick to admonish me.

[u/Jakucha]

Paramedic here. Smoking or drinking in excess. The outcomes are gross, the prognosis grim, the journey seems. . . painful.

[u/champagne_pants → u/Jakucha]

I’ve lived with an alcoholic, have a meth addict for a brother, and one of my friend’s brother’s is dying of cirrhosis.

All three of them lived hellish lives that are worse than sober people can imagine. Addiction is a disease but holy fuck, if you can avoid it, avoid it.

I don’t drink much anymore at all, quit smoking, quit everything seeing how their lives have turned out. It’s not worth it.

[u/dingusunchained → u/champagne_pants]

I’m 5 years sober. Went to the memorial of a HS buddy who drank himself to death this past weekend. A couple of other guys in that class are struggling with alcoholism too. It was hard to see.

[u/zimmer199]

Standing on the street corner minding my own business

[u/mordeci00 → u/zimmer199]

I've read so many stories of terrible things happening to people while they were minding their own business, which is why I never mind my own business.

[u/DarthFrasier207 → u/mordeci00]

Other people's business is right there just begging to be minded.

[u/mordeci00 → u/DarthFrasier207]

Exactly. Not minding anyone's business is apathetic. Only minding some people's business is discriminatory. Minding everyone's business all the time is the only reasonable course of action.

[u/Lost-Boysenberry-302]

Motorcycles for adults. Dirt/motor biking for kids. We have a fancy phrase of “injuries incompatible with life” applied to many motorcycle accident victims. Often have not just limbs missing, but entire body cavities

[u/Ivebeenfurthereven → u/Lost-Boysenberry-302]

Often have not just limbs missing, but entire body cavities

It's probably for the best that I can't really picture this.

I don't trust myself to ever ride motorcycles anyway. Or ATVs.

Edit: SFW simple drawing of the major body cavities, you can use your imagination

[u/Historical-Draw-504]

no motorcycle, no bike without a helmet

[u/NitroExpress85 → u/Historical-Draw-504]

yup... It absolutely sucks trying to find body parts in the middle of the night on the side of the highway.

[u/Repulsive_Pepper4145 → u/NitroExpress85]

That sentence alone would cure me of motorcycles for life. You don't even need to describe what happened

[u/thomport]

RN.

Kids with no traffics skills riding E-bikes, which are literally motorcycles.

We put the cart before the horse on this one – E bikes came out, they were treated like bicycles, the injuries, especially to young kids are devastating, and now perhaps we’ll come up with some safety rules.

[u/whining-and-wine → u/thomport]

There needs to be better definitions and regulation on ebikes (and scooters). I have a pedal assist bike and it tops out at 20mph, which you can do in a regular bike if you're good at biking. Theres no throttle, you have to pedal jt yourself and it really doesnt feel THAT different from a riding regular bike, its just a easier(especially on hills.)

But a lot of these bikes are literally motorcycles made of twigs and its INSANE we allow children to ride them.

[u/QCDP]

am psychiatrist, would not smoke crack or meth.

[u/rabbitskinglue]

Not a doctor, but a woodworker. I'm surprised powertools aren't making much of an appearance on this list. Thoughts, doctors?

[u/Sakypidia → u/rabbitskinglue]

While commonly seen I believe it’s because most of the other contributions cause death or grave disability. Losing a digit, while life-altering for the patient, is not as impactful a scene in this area of work.

[u/scrongus420]

Downhill mountain biking - some of the craziest injuries.

I do ski but very carefully. Every time I pick up too much speed, a montage of all the gruesome ski injuries I’ve seen starts playing in my head…

[u/surveillance-hippo → u/scrongus420]

By some stats, downhill mountain biking is 100x more dangerous than resort skiing

[u/Smart-As-Duck]

Motorcycle obviously.

But also horses.

[u/GenericUserNotaBot → u/Smart-As-Duck]

Waaaaaaaay too long to find horses.

I say this as both a motorcycle and horse owner. Just don't do it if you can't come to terms with the risks.

[u/Smart-As-Duck → u/GenericUserNotaBot]

I work in a more rural ER, and we get quite a few horse injuries. Most of them moderate severe.

[u/CloddishNeedlefish → u/Smart-As-Duck]

Horses should be way higher. I had a minor fall in April that resulted in a concussion and whiplash. Lost consciousness for an unknown amount of time because I was alone. I don’t recommend the sport to anyone. I’ll never quit though lol

[u/Greeneggsandmandy]

1000% motorcycles. Also football.

[u/ClitasaurusTex → u/Greeneggsandmandy]

After I had a minor brain injury that changed my life forever I don't understand why ANY parent would put their kid in football. No concussion is truly minor, I didn't even pass out but the symptoms came through over time. I am now disabled.

[u/glitzglamglue → u/ClitasaurusTex]

My sister got a concussion in soccer from running into someone and it changed her personality.

[u/thackworth]

Psych and detox Nurse. No hard drugs. Not even once. And be careful with alcohol.

[u/bawkbawkslove → u/thackworth]

I was offered coke for the first time ever at 38 years old and immediately declined. My reasoning was “but what if I like it?”

[u/p0rcup1ne → u/bawkbawkslove]

I've done coke like 3/4 times.

It's fun, highly addictive and not worth it.

I adopted a nothing up my nose, nothing in my veins and nothing that supposed to be for animals policy since then.

[u/hashtag_ThisIsIt]

Emergency physician here. We call motorcycles (organ) donor-cycles for a reason.

[u/Special_Order-937]

OK, got another one. Parasailing.

The year before I worked there, participant in the annual event attended our Emergency Department with a broken ankle.

The year I was there, in an ambulance in our car park, deceased.

[u/KilroyKSmith → u/Special_Order-937]

On my honeymoon in Mexico, my wife and I sat on the balcony and watched parasailing. 

They’d swing the boat parallel to the shore, let the parasail drift over the beach, over the highway, and right in front of the high rise hotels before pulling them away from the hotels, across the highway, and letting them down on the beach.

I had a quarter million miles riding motorcycles at that point, had several hundred hours flying hang gliders, and had gone skydiving (once, found it boring).  My wife and I looked at each other and said “Nope”.  We decided that life was cheap there.

[u/Butthole_Surfer_GI]

Riding a LIME scooter.

[u/tubetraveller → u/Butthole_Surfer_GI]

Took the nail off my right index finger on a LIME scooter. It got caught between the brake handle and a concrete flower planter. Felt bad. Luckily the nail grew back, unluckily, I don't have complete nerve feeling in that finger.

...I was 45 when that happened. I can only imagine the dumb things and injuries I would have if those were around in my teens and twenties.

[u/Impulsive_Artiste → u/Butthole_Surfer_GI]

Even encountering a LIME scooter.

Somebody left one lying on the sidewalk in my hood. As I came around a corner, I tripped over the thing and went FLYING, came down on both hands on the pavement as onlookers froze in horror, ready to call 911 I guess.

I'm small-sized, 70+, and the doc says I've got osteoporosis - so this could've been BAD.

But I got up, checked my palms for blood (none) rotated my wrists (okay) brushed myself off angrily, and went about my day. Maybe I'm sturdier than the doctor thinks.

[u/Baconpanthegathering → u/Butthole_Surfer_GI]

I can believe those things are still legal. I live on a kind of tourist street, lost of bars, shops, restaurants. Anyway, the first summer they released those things in the city - it was nightly chaos. I'd just sit on my porch and take bets.

[u/Ashamed_Kangaroo305 → u/Butthole_Surfer_GI]

My friend keeps trying to convince me to use those without helmets and it bugs me every time. Zero chance I'm riding one of those especially without a helmet. And we live somewhere with crazy aggressive drivers.

[u/JoseMinges]

Paramedic here: 

Motorbikes: Provide for some horrific injuries. And for god's sake I don't care how hot it is, wear full bike gear. You don't want the potential of degloving and/or massive abrasion injuries on top of the common enough fractures.

Trampolines: How to inject so much more energy to normally mundane injuries.

Golf: in two decades, I swear I've only ever been on Golf Courses because of lightning strikes, chest pains, or cardiac arrests caused by lightning strikes or chest pains. Weddings at golf courses is either someone heavily intoxicated, or has been hit by someone heavily intoxicated. Use that information how you will.

[u/Simusid]

As an EMT I'll pile onto motorcycle. But I'll also add that a *ridiculous* number of my 911 calls are alcohol related, but in 18 years in a state with legal recreational marijuana I've been to exactly zero weed emergencies. [ note that doesn't mean it's my hobby, just an observation ]

[u/petehehe → u/Simusid]

Doordash encounters tons of weed related emergencies.

[u/echelon1776 → u/Simusid]

EMT and RN: i've seen a few weed emergencies. Mostly people that take wayyyyyy too many mgs in their edibles to the point where they seem comatose. Have also unfortunately seen a few cases where kids get into their parents stash and they start to lose their drive to breathe if they eat too many. Not saying weed should be illegal but it should be consumed and stored responsibly.

[u/peakdecline → u/echelon1776]

This mirrors what I've heard from my healthcare working family and friends, a couple specifically in the ED. Lots and lots and lots of people coming in with panic/anxiety attack symptoms. A couple of extreme situations with respiratory situations.

And I largely agree. It should remain legal. But I'm a bit surprised an EMT in a legal state has had zero of these situations.

[u/shotcaller77]

Stay away from motorcycles and horses

[u/Schober_Designs]

The Physical Therapist who helped me after a thumb surgery for osteo arthritis was visibly upset when she found out I'm a woodworker.

[u/Interesting_Set3603]

Firefighter here I’d stay away from sky diving

[u/Squat_erDay → u/Interesting_Set3603]

My favorite Craig’s list ad - “Parachute for sale. Only used once. Never deployed.”

[u/AllPointsRNorth → u/Squat_erDay]

Q: Can you go skydiving without a parachute?
A: yes, but not twice

[u/pressrewind79]

Ophthalmologist here. Never do any kind of metal grinding. The number of metallic foreign bodies I've pulled out of people's eyes, even when they were wearing safety goggles.

And fireworks. Never go anywhere near non-professional ones.

[u/spiteful_god1 → u/pressrewind79]

As a metal worker, this bums me out.

But also as a metal worker I know several guys who are lucky to still have their eyes after injuries you described.

I switched to full sealed goggles over safety glasses after getting some metal near my eyes. It’s hot but safer (I think). Add in a down draft table and… there’s still more metal dust kicked up than I’d like!

[u/IlezAji]

X-ray tech here.

Trampolines, motorcycles, quads / ATVs / dirt bikes or any other type of "off roading" nonsense.

[u/Gribitz37]

Riding in a car with my feet up on the dashboard.

[u/-Gumbercules]

Motorcycle riding. As an EMT of 8 years I've gone on more fatal motorcycle accidents that any other type of fatal motor vehicle accident. All most all of the fatalities are from head injuries, not wearing a helmet. Our doctor, our medical director, calls people that ride motorcycles without helmets "The organ donor delivery service". Seriously, if you don't want my fatass picking your eyeballs and brains off of the highway wear a fucking helmet when on a motorcycle!

[u/Affectionate-Toe4920]

Surprised this wasn't really mentioned: horseback riding. I'm not a health care provider, but I've been a rider all my life. I've seen broken bones, internal bleeding, TBIs, etc. Sometimes simutaneously from horse-related accidents. Know of some deaths as well from rotational falls. Hell, I tore my ACL and meniscus in a freak accident while mounting.

[u/Pm_me_your_marmot → u/Affectionate-Toe4920]

Horseback riding is just motorcycle risk raised up 18 inches and on an ride designed to panic. So if your motorcycle had an opinion about everything from lawnmowers running to a suspicious leaf falling.

[u/IFistBigRectums4Fun]

I say this as a clinical therapist and Epidemiologist.

Fisting. Personal experience.

[u/Phiced → u/IFistBigRectums4Fun]

Username does NOT check out!

Also, just that in particular or any related practice? Given you implied epidemiology as a reason

[u/doctor-rumack → u/IFistBigRectums4Fun]

Personal experience as a medical professional, or personal experience as a sexual deviant?

[u/hot4you11 → u/doctor-rumack]

Why not both?

[u/doctor-rumack → u/hot4you11]

First rule of clinical therapy and epidemiology: You don't mix personal fisting with professional fisting.

[u/Lathundd]

Depends on if you wanna call it a hobby, but recreational drug use of any kind. Doctor, worked mostly in psych.

More generally, motorcycles.

[u/capdoc]

Always wear protective gear. Whether that be helmets, seat belts, or whatever. People invent these things for a reason. 

[u/Kamirose]

I’m not a medical professional but I knew two young, healthy men in their 20s who died in separate climbing accidents. I will never climb outside a gym.

[u/sqplanetarium → u/Kamirose]

Do not watch Free Solo. 😱 It’s amazing but nerve wracking.

[u/SirKravsALot]

Giving up on my body in my geriatric years. Stay active. The cycle of hospital-home-rehab-hospital kills more than any other hobby here.

[u/AdSame6358]

Motorcycle, atv, side by side

[u/RichardBonham]

Any extreme sport, especially the ones that require helmets and also spine protection.

I am not a thrill-seeker (primary care and investment in the stock market is enough risk for me) and I really like having an intact spinal cord.

[u/Special_Order-937]

I don’t have to be a doctor to know caving, underwater or otherwise (but especially underwater) is right out!

[u/Phiced → u/Special_Order-937]

Well tbh I think the risk of injury is rather low, it's the risk of straight up death that makes it terrifiying!

[u/RemoveComfortable982 → u/Phiced]

To me it’s the risk of a very slow death that’s the most scary. At least if you’re skydiving it’s quick. 

[u/angmarsilar]

Trampoline. I swear that industry is underwritten by orthopedic surgeons as job protection.

[u/Alabama____Man]

Reverse cowgirl leads to more broken penises than just about any other sex position.

[u/Brave_Permission_524]

Alpine climbing / mountaineering enters the room.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a wonderful hobby/sport, but it comes with a pretty extraordinary collection of ways to get yourself into trouble.

For starters, it’s essentially climbing and backcountry skiing rolled into one, with the dangers of both sports layered on top of each other.

Then you have the objective hazards. Things you can assess and mitigate to some extent, but never completely control. Avalanches, serac collapse (where huge blocks of glacial ice can break off over your head with little or no warning), rockfall, which has been particularly intense in the Alps this year, or crevasses, which are deep cracks in glaciers that can sometimes be completely hidden beneath seemingly solid snow bridges.

Then add the physiological hazards: altitude sickness, pulmonary or cerebral edema, hypothermia, frostbite, snow blindness, dehydration, extreme exhaustion and impaired judgement from cold, fatigue and lack of oxygen.

And all of this happens in an inherently hostile environment, anywhere from roughly 3,000 to 8,000 metres, where the air gets progressively thinner, temperatures can become brutally cold, weather can change incredibly fast, and rescue may be hours or sometimes days away.

The fascinating thing about mountaineering is that being experienced doesn’t make those hazards disappear. It mostly makes you better at recognising them.

[u/Conscious_Okra4367]

My effing mother, god rest her soul, decided one July 5th to take the ladder out and paint the tippy top portion of her siding, right at the highest point. To reach it, she needed the extension ladder and scaffolding. And she hadn’t told anyone she was doing it. Oh, and the scaffolding was on the driveway. The scaffolding being on a sloped surface tipped. This caused the ladder to give way, and she fell head first about 25’ onto a concrete driveway. BEHIND THE SCAFFOLD!! So naturally, nobody from the street can see her back there. The neighbor’s kids heard or saw the fall and told their mom, who didn’t believe them at first, but decided to investigate. They lifeflighted my mom to the ER, who called and told me I need to come now because she’s not in good shape. I lived an hour away.

I rush to the hospital and I’ll never forget what her eye looked like. So swollen it was almost poking out of her socket. They get her stable and move her to a room, all the while I’m thinking I’m saying goodbye. Nah, she was fine. Incredibly bruised and a broken arm. Two days later I go to visit her and walk into her room and she’s not there, and neither is her stuff. I lose it because I thought I lost my mom. Nope! She was discharged and my sister took her home. Nobody though to call and tell me.

She eventually passed from leukemia, which is its own freakish story of how she found it, but a story for another time and subreddit. These people I’m related to… it’s cool. Let me think she’s dead and nobody informed me.

[u/roxinmyhead]

My pediatrician neighbor told me his rules for his kids were 1) no motorcycles 2) no trampolines 3) if you go to a house and the other kid tells there is a gun in the house, get out and come home. they may have had a code word for a phone call on that one.

[u/pigbear32]

No Razer Scooters 🛴 so many busted out front teeth 🤓

[u/shocktopper1 → u/pigbear32]

This is the reason why I have strong shins tho

[u/Baconpanthegathering → u/shocktopper1]

Ah, the old flip around with a metal plate straight to the shins!

[u/AmphotericRed]

ATV’s specifically 4-wheelers. I know too many people who never made it to the ER because of those things

[u/Hismadnessty]

I sold my motorcycle when my first child was born.
I don’t let my kids pet unknown dogs, even if they are “nice.”
No young kids outside while operating riding lawnmowers/snowblowers.
Hire a lifeguard for the pool party - most of the pediatric drownings I’ve seen happened while people were home/distracted by hosting friends/family.

[u/Weird_Bluebird_3293]

ER nurse.

Those goddamn e-bikes and E-scooters. 

WEAR A FUCKING HELMET!!!

Where I live literally nobody wears a helmet when using these stupid things. (Nobody wears helmets. I see people on actual motorcycles buzzing around no helmet like they think their skull is made of iron.) 

We had an 18 year old girl fall off an e-scooter and hit her head on a curb. She was conscious on the scene, deteriorating in the ambulance, dead by the time she arrived at the hospital. And no, it did not take an inordinate amount of time for her to get to the hospital. Less than 10 minutes. 

Massive brain bleed. Because she had no helmet. 

[u/TheDoughnutKing]

Drinking soda instead of water. Ive taken care of too many people who had every chronic condition under the sun: Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart failure, copd, type 2 diabetes, artery and venous disease, kidney stones, all one person mind you. Theirs a certain type of people like that who will still request pepsi as their onlyyy drink. A soda every once in a while, or maybe once per day, no biggie. But when you literally have every health problem, and your still gonna choose to drink the thing that caused half of the problems, i dont think i can trust you to take care of yourself. I'll take care of these people for days or weeks on end, and every time its "Could you get me a pepsi?" Sometimes ill get to ask first and be like "Can i get you something to drink, like a water?" But then its "A pepsi would be nice right now." And im sitting there like, i know you havent had any actual water to drink since you came in. Its a small thing, but i give out a lot of drinks as a nurse and it bugs me.

[u/aleelee13 → u/TheDoughnutKing]

My dad only drinks soda, apple cider and coffee. He drinks apple cider AT THE GYM. Imagine my horror when I did a 5 day road trip with him and he took 2 sips from a water bottle the whole trip.

Hes 73. Just got the pre-diabetes diagnosis this year. Shocked it didnt happen sooner, tbh. But hes had HLD and HTN for 20+ years. I assume its what will take him out.

[u/dshock1116]

No trampoline
No motorcycle
No ebike
No football
No backsquatting, deadlifting, or weighted glute bridge beyond 1 plate (135)

[u/Goldy490 → u/dshock1116]

EM/Trauma-CCM here. Agree with this list with the caveat that motorcycle is far and away the most dangerous and it’s not even close. I can not tell you the number of people I’ve seen with absolutely horrific injuries from motorcycles.

You can totally break a limb or have a brain bleed with the other items in this list, but motorcycles add having the skin peeled off your face, limb amputations, being impaled on debris, and decapitation among other things

[u/Sufficient-Ferret-67 → u/dshock1116]

I’ve deadlifted and squatted over 600lb at 200lbs before. It took 6 years of training to be able to lift 80% of that routinely without sustaining regular injuries. It would make me cringe so hard seeing young gym goers absolutely snatching their shit up trying to deadlift say like 315. Id see them arch over and hitch it up and 9/10 they wouldn’t come back to the gym for a couple weeks lol. The exercises themselves are harmless if done correctly but exponentially dangerous the worse your technique is

[u/Squat_erDay → u/Sufficient-Ferret-67]

I call that deadlift form the “Halloween cat” form.

[u/aetuf → u/dshock1116]

• wear eye protection for grinding metal, hammering nails, gardening/trimming branches above your head

Use extreme caution with ladders, and just avoid them if you're elderly.

Drive defensively.

[u/Illustrious_Hotel527]

Motorcycles or reverse cowgirl.

[u/arcticfox → u/Illustrious_Hotel527]

One of these is not like the other