Never ridden a geared uni, but it seems that the speed you could get up to on a geared 29 or 36 would get a bit scary for me. I mean you still go much faster on a bike, but one bump taken the wrong way is more likely to crash a uni than a bike. The temptation is there for me to go geared, but I keep thinking about how a non-geared 36 is quite fast enough (for me), given one wheel.
Broken Fibula
My worst injury happened a little over a week ago. I was riding in slighly wet conditions and as I was riding downhill over a root at the top of a small drop the wheel shot out in front of me just after I crested the top of the root. For some reason my right lower leg folded underneath me and I fell with all my weight onto my ankle. Fortunately I was wearing very good ankle braces (Donjoy Velocity ES). The result was a mild to medium ankle sprain and a broken fibula (broken about 1 1/2 inches below the top-most point). The doctor said the ankle brace did what it was supposed to do which is transfer much of the force from the ankle into the leg bones. A break in the middle of a bone is much easier to deal with than a break at a joint. He said that had I not worn the braces I would have been looking at major ankle surgery! The bone is still aligned fairly well at the break so I donāt need a cast, I just have to keep my weight off of it for 4 weeks. In addition, I cannot drive for those 4 weeks!!
When I injure myself I like to look at what I did wrong so that I can avoid making the same mistake in the future. Hopefully this will also help others to avoid the same mistake. My first mistake was riding in wet conditions. I know that there are other unicyclists who mangage to do this but since I tend to be rather clumsy and fall awkwardly I think this is a risk I should avoid. My next mistake was being too tentative when I crested the root. I was braking with my feet and leaning back too much. I think it was much the same as when you brake in wet or icy conditions. In both cases the result is not good. I would have done better to avoid braking so much. In addition, I probably would have done better if I had bent more at the waist and leaned forward a bit more.
Crikey minimalist and bnolsen 
Wishing you both a speedy recovery 
Heās smarter than me. He was actually wearing ankle braces. If I hadnāt rolled my ankle I wouldāt have broken the top of my foot. And I did mine on straight pavement as well (although Iām a new rider and had only been freemounting for 2 weeks or so before the wreck).
Those braces are impressively expensive! Did they survive the wreck?
Yes, there was no damage to the braces. They are expensive but since they saved me from major ankle surgery they now seem relatively inexpensive. Another thing I love about these braces is that they are very easy to put on and they will fit in any shoe. If an ankle brace is too hard to put on then it is likely that it wonāt be used for long.
About one year ago I broke my arm. I was riding on a path in the wood and tried to ride down a small slope where rain had eroded some soil. I fell backwards and had an unfortunate landing on my right hand/arm. In fact it felt like I had fallen on a sharp stone, and first when I looked at the arm I could see that something had gone totally wrong.
Pictures after the surgery can be seen here: verletzungen...
6 weeks after, however, I managed to participate (with caution) in some competitions in Unicon 16.
Then about 4-5 months ago I suddenly was not able to bend my thumb. It showed up, that the tendon to the outer part of the finger was broken, which probably was a side effect/consequence (Iām not sure of the correct English term) from either the titanium part or mere irritation of the tendon after the fracture. Anyway, I had a surgery on that two months ago, and was not allowed to do any sports for 12 weeks 
! The tendon needs time to grow properly together, and an unlucky fall or overload of the hand could make it break again.
Luckily the surgery was performed after the DĆ¼sseldorfer Marathon in April, which I completed - my first marathon! 
Now Iām longing to be allowed to run, swim and ride my bike and unicycle soon again!
The scar 5 weeks after the tendon surgery:
Best regards,
Sanne
PS. I have now bought KH gloves ā¦
My first injury (except some bruisers) ā¦ Cross-pedals stroke my calf ā¦ 2nd day on my 29" Muni I changed to p*ssy-pedals (pedals without spikes)
Well being tall I have gashed my head open with a tree branchā¦
The worst though was a bruised tail bone and currently a swollen knee.
The most up-to-date research on the subject!
A colleague of mine sent me this article that analyzes unicycle injuries in the US that was recently published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine. While it might not be the worst unicycle injuries I thought it was certainly relevant to this thread.
I love the authorās line: āSince the advent of vaudeville entertainment during the early 20th century, there has been a growing enthusiasm among those looking for an alternative method of recreation and transportation.ā
This study represents nearly the totality of published evidence on the subject (outside of this forum, that is). Enjoy!
Unicycle injuries in the US_Wang_J Emerg Med_2013.pdf (168 KB)
Excellent post, pstrick, and a good read! Thanks for posting!
My observations:
- I think the reason for the very low injury rate is that most injuries are minor, and do not call for a trip to the emergency room. I think this accounts for the predominant number of breaks (the "go-to-the-hospital threshold is crossed) over other types of injuries. I think the reality is there are way more cuts and scrapes than bone breaks.
- While it is very probably true that the largest group of riders is young teenagers, it does not necessarily hold that these are the most frequently injured. What is more likely (my opinion) is that this group will get taken to the hospital by a parent more often than an adult will take him/herself. (I probably could have gone in a couple of times for some of my more serious UPDs, but Iām just too dang stubborn.)
- I like that he called Amy Drummond (UDC) for detailed consumer data. (Is this guy a member of this forum?)
Thatās an awesome article, well done!
I wondered if the author is a unicyclist myself
Interesting - And itās findings definately seem to agree with this thread (And my own riding experience) - Injured arms/hands are prevalent because thatās where you tend to land if you UPD! I wonder if head injuries would become more prevalent if we found a way to ride fasterā¦ I could imagine myself bailing at 25mph and my head travelling further than my hands 
I just had my worst injury this past Saturday. I was doing a usual ride and coming up on a jogger on my right. As I was passing her I had to stay to the right to avoid a car on my left, all while dodging some sewer grates.
I ended up dismounting very hard and slammed down on my left leg. I badly sprained or strained my calf muscle after which I immediately slammed down my right foot and bruised the heel. The pain was as bad as Iāve experienced. The jogger, a cute girl, asked if I was OK. I proudly and middle-agedly said I was fine and she ran on.
I laid my gear on the sidewalk and almost immediately started to feel dizzy and unsteady. I sat down on a guardrail to try to clear my head.
I woke up with a face full of leaves wondering what had happened. I then realized what had happened and slowly stood up shaking off my unconsciousness. I recall wondering why there was a guardrail at that spot when there was no curve to speak of in the road.
A foot or so to the right and I would have tumbled down into a ravine.
I called my wife who came and got me. Walking is quite painful still.
I am under doctorās orders not to ride until my muscle and bruises heal up since falling on them again even lightly could exacerbate them to the point where healing would take quite a while. Iām also getting tests done regarding the fainting even though my doctor and I agree that my tendency toward low blood pressure is likely the cause.
I wonāt be riding in Converses any longer (someone from another thread is right now saying to themself, āI told you soā) since the lack of padding and support likely contributed to the severity of the muscle damage. I wonāt be able to ride in the LBI Unithon which transpires this Saturday and I am a bit pissed.
That stinks, R! Iām sorry to hear about you having to miss the Unithon, which I know youāve always enjoyed.
As for the Converses, Iām with you. Even my cycle shoes havenāt been enough to help me avoid almost the same injuries (tho luckily for me, no calf sprain). Iāve had a few hard UPDs off my g36 (and even a hard PD ā youāre just up there so high!), and at this point, I have a bruised L heel, a lost R big toenail, and a bruise on the ball of my R foot (all within the last few weeks). It actually hurts a lot more to walk than to ride, so Iām riding as much as I can (tho not necessarily on the g36).
Not my worst really, but Iām sure I would get banned from this board if I was to drop my pants and take a pic of what I just did to my ass on a UPD into some rocks going down a hillā¦lets just say it looks bad
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I already posted this in the āUnicycle Chatā Facebook group but decided to post here as well after meeting a unicyclist friend using the same rotor that caused my injury who is not using Facebook. So, I figured there may be others like him and they should be aware of this.
A month ago I had a very bad injury from my disc rotor (seen in the picture). I dismounted my unicycle (KH 29) badly and my leg hit the rotor. The leg was severely cut by the rotor. A cut of about 20 cm long and 3-4 cm deep in my right calf (a few internal stitches and 16 external). The Achilles tendon was exposed and I was very very lucky to not have severely damaged it. The rotor practically sawed my calf. I was wearing knee guards, not full leg armor.
The rotor belongs to Qu-Ax and, to the best of my knowledge, is mounted on their unicycles. They did tell me they would instruct their dealers to stop selling it separately. Nevertheless, I highly recommend anyone with this rotor to consider replacing it ASAP. I see no reason not to use the widely available non-jagged rotors for unicycling, as the leg is so close to the rotor (unlike when riding a bike).
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Saw your post on the Facebook chat, hope you heal up quick! Definately one of the more graphic pictures Iāve seen related to unicycling
Those rotors look cool but they really are just an accident waiting to happenā¦
That rotor is effectively a circular saw. I canāt see any good reason to manufacture a toothed rotor 
. Your post is a good warning to us all.
Was there any damage done to your muscle.
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Worst accident I had was getting hit by a car a few years agoā¦
Halfway round a roundabout on my old 36er and he slammed into me from the left, at about 25-30mph. I picked myself up and crawled to the side of the road. He pulled up and ran over to me, offering to drive me to hospital. I declined his offer, thinking I was just a bit scraped and bruised, and asked him to drop me and my uni at my mumās. Shock was setting in on the drive homeā¦
Once he dropped me off I told him to get himself to work, that Iād be fine. I didnāt take any of his details and off he went 
Inevitably I started swelling up where Iād broken bones. Iād broken and displaced my left thumb and broken a bone in my big toe somewhereā¦9 weeks off work, basic sick pay
The story didnāt end there though! He came back to my mums after his shift at work, with a grand in his handā¦He explained that he was a teacher, and really couldnāt afford to have a claim against him, but if thatās the route I wanted to take heād be fine with that (had his details written on a piece of paper ready to give me, should I decline his Ā£1000 offer)
I gladly accepted his offer as it covered my lost wages perfectly. Over the 9 weeks healing he came back twice and took me for a few pints and a bite to eatā¦Genuinely nice guy
There should be pics somewhere about, of my cast. Lots of people virtually signed it
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