Does Anyone Have Ice?: A Pick-up Volleyball Injury

I’m officially an adult.

I sustained an injury playing recreational sports. It’s bound to happen to every past their prime athlete who played sports in high school, takes a few years off, then tries to show that they’ve still got it. It's practically a rite of passage.

Now, I played years of ice hockey and was relatively unscathed, save for a pair of broken arms in middle school. Yet, ten minutes of playing beach volleyball for shits and giggles, I’m on the ground and trying to get the blood back to my head.

So, Matt, you hurt your head playing volleyball?

Nope, I hurt my FINGER, playing volleyball. Not a good finger either.

If you’re ranking fingers the, number one spot goes to perennial all-star, the index-finger. It’s a workhorse who’s a key player in a multitude of actions from pointing, to pinching, to grabbing.

NOTE: You’re probably asking, what about the thumb? Look, no one is a bigger fan of the thumb than me. It’s what truly separates us from the animals (except for those that have thumbs), but I think that most would agree that it’s in a class of it’s own for the sake of competitive balance. Otherwise, it would absolutely smash the rest of the competition.

Anyway, second place goes to the middle-finger, a nice complement to the index finger, its got size and is important in the world of non-verbal communication.

Third, is the pretty boy of the fingers, the ring-finger. As its name states, it’s where rings go, and that’s about it. In fact, in recent years, rings have shown up on other fingers, potentially impacting the ring-finger’s overall place in future rankings.

Last is the pinky-finger. Lame name, lame finger. They’re so useless The Simpsons don’t even have them.

The impact of injuring one of these fingers correlates to their placement in these rankings. Index-finger a little banged up? You’re in for a rough couple of weeks. Pinky-finger sore. Suck it up, douchebag.

Guess which one I hurt…

…No, it was the pinky-finger.

Oh, that’s what you guessed? My bad.

Here's the finger. Note the discoloration. The quarter is for scale.

Ten minutes into playing some pick-up volleyball with friends, I took a ball off the pinky. It was a real shame too, because prior to that, playing great. Serving aces, diving to make saves, it all made for a truly electric atmosphere.

When I looked down at my hand after the impact, I noticed that my finger looked a bit crooked. Problem was I couldn’t remember if it was like that beforehand, which made it difficult to determine the severity. All I knew was that it hurt like crazy.

I started to feel lightheaded. My vision started to go dark, and it sounded like everything was underwater. Keep in mind it’s my finger that was hurt.

I had to lay down in attempt to get the blood back to my brain, then everything calmed down, aside from the swelling.

I still am not sure what the actual diagnosis (prognosis? Who gives a shit) is. At first I thought it was a sprain, but the fact that the pain has been pretty consistent for a week now, makes me think it was something else. I don’t know, but what I do know is that I’m happy my first recreational sports injury, a rite of passage for adults, was pretty minor.

Even if it was the finger that garners the least street cred and/or sympathy.