My neighbor and I were practicing soccer tricks. I held the ball with my neck, then rolled it up over my head and tossed it in the air. My friend would catch it in the same fashion, and we passed the ball back and forth.
On one of the tosses, the ball went high in the air. We both jumped forward to catch it, and bam—my nose went straight into his forehead. It hurt like hell and bled accordingly. That day’s session was over, and there wouldn’t be any others for a while.
At first, I thought it was a normal nosebleed triggered by the accident. But it took a long time to stop, and, the next morning, I could hardly touch my nose without intense pain. Eventually, though, the pain subsided, and, day by day, I felt better. I never bothered going to the doctor.
A few weeks or even months later, I took off my glasses and looked into the mirror. There was a bump on the right side of my nose. “Was that always there?” Soon, I put two and two together. “Oh my god!” My nose had likely been slightly broken, and rather than confirm and set it, I had simply waited it out—and now, I had to live with the permanent result.
Your body is just a shell, but it still needs to carry you for a lifetime. Nobody gets through life without a few scratches. That’s normal. But if you incur wear and tear solely out of negligence, the tough blows you can’t avoid might one day knock you out.
To my own dismay, I have more than one story like the one about my nose. My left big toe felt numb after wearing tight shoes for two days straight at a conference. I planned on seeing a doc about it but “never got around to it.” It’s recovered, but sometimes I still wonder if I have the same level of feeling in it that I used to have before.
Three months after a bowling accident, the muscle I pulled doesn’t hurt anymore, but something in that area still feels different. The orthopedist didn’t fully grok the situation, and while I finally have a slot with the physiotherapist in a few days, it’s already way overdue.
It’s a lesson I need for myself but also a public service announcement: When it comes to the doctor, go early, go often. Germans are notorious for working through sickness, and not every cold needs an intense analysis. But whenever a small ailment could turn into a chronic issue, don’t dilly-dally. Face the challenge head on, and get back to 100%—so you can keep playing soccer with friends for as long as nature will allow it.
