A friend of mine is learning to box and is training with another guy. About a week and a half ago, they were boxing when my buddy was going to ask a question - he dropped his hands a bit, turned his head and opened his mouth. The other guy thought he was dropping his guard and took the shot to the TMJ. My buddy went down and upon initial examination, the chiro didn't think the jaw was broken. However, my friend had an abcessed tooth he wasn't aware of (dentist didn't find it 5 weeks prior) which burst upon impact.
He waited a week to go to the hospital when his jaw and neck and face were swollen badly wherupon they found the fractures. He was operated on and was in ICU for two days until they could trach him. He is now in a regular room but still has the trach, is on IV antibiotics and is doing much better than he was initially.
Moral: If you even THINK you might have a fracture, get an x-ray. Insist upon one. Always ice your injury as soon as possible.
He waited a week to go to the hospital when his jaw and neck and face were swollen badly wherupon they found the fractures. He was operated on and was in ICU for two days until they could trach him. He is now in a regular room but still has the trach, is on IV antibiotics and is doing much better than he was initially.
Moral: If you even THINK you might have a fracture, get an x-ray. Insist upon one. Always ice your injury as soon as possible.