Sometimes Soccer Takes a Toll on the Body

(Warning - today's post has some graphic images.  You may not want to read while eating)

I have been playing a lot of soccer lately - as in averaging about 3 games a week.  During the past month, it has taken its toll on my body.

A few weeks ago I played in a soccer game that left me wondering why, at 31 years old, I still put my body at risk for injury. When you get back in the game, you forget about the pain and the injuries.  Unfortunately for me, I sustained another injury last week.  So now I'm thinking it might be getting close to the time to "hang up my boots" and retire... until I play another game with no injury.

The first injury happened during an over-30 women's soccer game.  A few minutes into the second half of a physical game, I took a ball square to the face.  When my eyes stopped watering, I could see that my nose was bleeding, so I took myself out of the game to take care of both dripping nostrils.  When my nose was under control and someone needed a sub, I made the biggest mistake of putting myself back in the game.  Within 10 minutes of being back on the field, I jumped to head the ball out of the defensive end of the field and felt the solid mass of another player's head hit my eyebrow after I hit the ball.  Again, my eye watered, but I didn't think anything of it.  It wasn't until I put my hand to my eye that I noticed I was bleeding again.  This time I took myself out of the game for good, especially since people who were looking at me coming off the field had very concerned expressions on their faces and one girl even asked if  had split my eyelid open.

Day 1: A small cut on the eyebrow, swelling and bruising on the eye, and swelling on the nose is visible after cleaning up.

Day 2: Heavily painted eye makeup to cover the bruising eye.  Swelling is improved.

Day 3-9 by night: A nice light purple gives way to dark purple and red/maroon.  Glad I have purple and red-toned eye makeup. Hoping it doesn't turn yellow or green.

Day 3-9 by day: Using my red and purple eye shadows and going through the clothes that match.

Day 11: Cut healed, swelling gone, and just a tiny purple spot remains above the lash line.  Back to using only eyeliner and mascara and wearing whatever I want.

I did take a week off after my eye injury (not choosing to play on my "part time" teams and because my full time teams had games cancelled.  And played with a bit more trepidation (especially in regards to heading the ball) when I came back.  But, after that first week, I was back to a 3-4 games per week schedule.

Unfortunately, just as my eye finished healing, I sustained another injury.  I'm not even sure how it happened, really.  I was playing coed and lunged to poke the ball away from an approaching male opponent.  Someone I rolled on top of it instead of poking it away.  Since I was lunging, my opposite knee went down to the ground - or so I thought. Maybe it scraped against the cleat or shinguard of my opponent.  Whatever I hit made my knee and shin hurt like heck!  It took at least 5 minutes for the pins and needles to stop radiating through my lower leg and I managed to play the rest of the game (though it was not comfortable).  

I iced it as soon as I got home and told my friend I didn't need her icing machine (used after her knee surgery).  Thankfully, she had the foresight to leave the machine for me because I woke up in the middle of the night with a hot, throbbing injured knee.  Once I got it covered in a compress and had the ice machine working its magic, I slept much better.  The swelling did not go down quickly, even with the ice machine, nor did the pain go away very quickly.  Because the cut is on an area that bends, a dried scab opens when you bend it.  I have learned to keep my knee bent after showering (and wetting the area) to minimize the pain of opening the wound.  The area with the largest cut remains tender and slightly swollen even after 11 days!

Photo taken 6 days after the injury. Cuts are healing and bruises are improving.

Even through these injuries, I still want to compete (some days more than others).  I love playing with the women's teams and have a love/hate relationship with coed leagues.  Coed is fun when you are on a team that moves the ball around the field well and plays against teams that do the same.  Unfortunately, the league I currently play in has a mix of skilled and non-skilled players. It's usually these non-skilled players who can't control their bodies and hurt people.  I try to stay away from them. 

This weekend's schedule - 1 women's game on Saturday and a women's and coed game on Sunday!

What's the worse injury you've sustained while playing a sport?

What keeps you motivated to keep playing?