There’s been a strong pain in the base of my thumb recently. I purchased a small brace after I discovered that limiting movement helped, and I thought I’d give it some time to heal before I went to see someone about it (I’m a guy, what can I say?). Six weeks passed with little improvement, so yesterday I decided to do some more detailed research to determine if I should see the doctor or wait some more.

My research turned up an ailment called “Skier’s Thumb”, an injury to the Ulnar Collateral Ligament. And, as a bonus, every description of the condition that I read had a paragraph similar to this:

This is a very treatable condition if seen to promptly. Complications and long term pain are only found in the case of IDIOTS who self-diagnose and self-treat. Those MORONS actually harm things by not getting this condition treated when it has best chance of getting better. They are BONEHEADS.

Well, most of the sites were a bit politer than that, but you get the point.

So, I went to the sports clinic today and was quickly diagnosed with Skier’s Thumb and given this little piece of red fiberglass holiday cheer:

Festive, isn’t it?

With my thumb in a cast I’ll be unable to play guitar in church next week (Sorry Ash…) and everything else just gets that much more inconvenient. I even had to go shopping for a new mouse this afternoon after I discovered I can’t work the thumb button on my Logitech Trackman trackball.

And, as an added bonus, it’s just the perfect size to not fit down the sleeve of my new winter coat.

Last Christmas I was on crutches after knee surgery, this Christmas I’m down to one hand. You think someone’s trying to tell me to slow down or something?

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3. License to Slack