size matters.

i wonder whether i might have broken the ulna or radius of my left arm. i'd actually suspect it would be the radius.

well, it all ain't bad, really. the fact that i am *wondering* whether or not my left arm is broken kinda lets me guess that it isn't. or is it?

highly strange, this.
tuesday morning, i went to the gym. i did that lower body/back weight training thing i hadn't done in way too long. ever since those knee problems i had last year. my knees, thankfully, dealt with all of it very well.
when moving (quickly) from the leg machines to the free weights (for the final biceps curls i do), however, i managed to run my left underarm into a massive metal barbell that stood out of one of those giant metal barbell racks.
ouch. yes. me: a klutz, yes.
those biceps curls hurt. and not just because i hadn't done any in a while.

over the course of the reebok step class that i did the following hour, my forearm started to swell massively. later in the day, i applied good old voltaren, took some leftover homeopathic arnica and admired the bruise in the making.

i bruise easily. always have. but this is better (or worse) than any of the bruises i've managed to give myself in years. better than those i acquired by crashing my bike on my birthday in 2003. better than the one i acquired by running my bike into the tramtracks near schwabentor a few weeks later.

this one is large. and round (about 7cm across). purple going on blue. noticably swollen. and it hurts. still.

so i've been thinking about going to a doc, after all. because, who knows, that nasty little radius might be broken, right? i'm a trooper. i can ignore broken bones.

however... spending 10€ for being told i've bruised my arm would be a bit extravagant and pointless, wouldn't it?
so i did the usual thing: i read my merck manual. and then checked webmd.
it didn't let me down. webmd wasever so helpful with it's topic overview: arm injuries.
oh, how do i love their "check your symptoms" thing. perfect for the half-informed-i-always-truly-wanted-to-study-med-lay-person. perfect for me, the patient from hell. i love my webmd.

so i'm checking my symptoms. i'm no emergency.
no extremity is partially or completely amputated, no broken bone is obvious, no pieces of bone are visible in a would or sticking through the skin.

i do, however, have all this:
pain and tenderness after an injury (according to webmd a reason to call a doc today);
i am unable to move my arm normally (another reason to call a doc today); and
swelling and bruising that started withing 30 minutes of the injury (another reason to call a doc today).
however, that bruise might not be bad enough, or so webmd tells me.

that painful swollen bruise that developed within 30 minutes of the injury is not the size of my palm. it's a little smaller. maybe twothirds of my palm or so.
size matters with severe bruising, apparently.

so my dear webmd is leaving me hanging in midair right now, with those mixed messages.
and i'm stuck with the same question i was stuck with before:

should i attempt to find a doc friday at noon who's willing to x-ray my arm or continue being a trooper?

duh.