Accidental Self Inflicted Flashlight Injury!

Last night I was trying to unscrew the extension tube on my SkyRay STL-V2 and had great difficulty. I used two of those kitchen type rubber 6 inch circular jar openers to increase my gription, and then felt a sharp/deep knife like pain in my left chest area. I thought I strained a muscle and figured it would feel better this AM. It's not. But as I feel, squeeze, and massage all the muscles in the left chest area, the muscles don't feel sore. It seems to be underneath; maybe the ribs or are there muscles underneath? I'm seeing the Dr. at Kaiser today. Whether unscrewing/twisting a light, jar, or other similar motion, has anyone here sustained something similar? Thanks in advance guys and gals...

My only flashlight injury was when I dropped one on my foot...

I have to admit, I was hoping to read something about trying to pull the light apart and when it let loose, you stabbed yourself in the forehead with the scalloped bezel.

Just got home after seeing the Dr. Says I tore some chest muscles! Wants me to take 2-3 weeks off. Sigh. And my vacation starts Saturday April 6th. Couldn't I have done this sooner to that date! I'll just take today off, and see how I feel tomorrow. Hmm, I usually do 75+ push ups a day to stay somewhat fit; and now a flashlight injury! He did tell me MOST people hurt or strain their wrist when unscrewing a tough jar/item etc. I guess I'm the oddball w/ the chest eh?

Are you an MD DrScum? If so, do you concur that wrist injuries are usually common w/ unscrewing things? By the way, I did sustain a bloody knee when the scalloped tail cap off a light on my bike hit me when I crashed 5 mos ago... Does that satisfy you now? ha ha/LOL

DrScum said:

I have to admit, I was hoping to read something about trying to pull the light apart and when it let loose, you stabbed yourself in the forehead with the scalloped bezel.

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My guess is torn muscle or tendon. The bad thing about these injuries is that you really shouldn't walk it off. If you feel fine after a day of rest, great! But it'll come back after a day of work. When I was a practicing athlete, I would get an injury like this and then:

1. Limit use of the muscle
2. Use NSAID (Naproxen Sodium was my favorite) to reduce additional damage, similar to tendonitis treatment
3. Go to that week's race and run through pain (Knowing what pain is a reminder, and what pain means damage)

That usually prolonged recovery quite a bit, but these were generally season-end injuries that I would rest after finals. If you don't keep an eye on these, they can get worse. And I only ever hurt tendons, not muscles. Listen to your doctor, not me.

Thanks AnAppleSnail. Makes sense. I just popped 2 Nap Sodiums; I'll do another 2 at bedtime per Dr's order. I'm also doing cold/hot contrasting on the chest too. By the way, if anyone's curious, I was testing the difference of light intensity of ceiling bouncing my STL-V2 on 2 x 18650s (Orbtronic protected) vs. 3 x 16340s (AW IMR). On my LUX meter, the 2 x 18650s scored 59 while the 3 x 16340s scored 56. I thought the 16340s would be higher? Maybe a regulation issue w/ higher voltage?

I'm not a Dr, but I play one on the Internet.

Sorry to hear about your injuries! (sincerely)

Stretch first next time. Jk, take your time with chest muscles.