Icelandic CrossFit® athlete and weightlifter Sara Sigmundsdottir has broken her first rib and will no longer be competing at the Dubai Fitness Championship in mid-December . The DFC is an international fitness competition in which many of CrossFit’s most elite athletes will compete, including Annie Thorisdottir, Kara Webb, Kari Pearce, and Ben Smith.
In an Instagram post, the 2017 CrossFit Open winner discussed the details surrounding the injury.
I was faced with quite the challenge this week. There had been some pain in my shoulder blade ever since the ‘Games’. In recent weeks the pain started to grow and I thought it was just because I had been on a break and now the intensity in training had been increased. Then last week something happened during a training session. I didn’t think it could possibly be serious but as the days went the pain just got worse and in the beginning of this weak it had simply become unbearable.
(…)
A couple of X-rays and MRI scans later it was determined that my first rib is broken. The pain was so unbearable because the tight muscles that are protecting the rib were hitting a bundle of nerves with all the swelling around the break and that made it so that for a few days it was even hard for me to breathe. This is just a wall that I need to climb over and I have already started it because today I am already feeling so much better, I could even pull my pants up and put my socks on 👌🏼
Because the first rib is right at the top of the ribcage underneath the collarbone and it acts as an attachment site for several muscles (including neck muscles), an injury can have a wide variety of effects, including head, neck, jaw, and shoulder pain.
Sigmundsdottir added that it will take her 6 to 8 weeks to recover. We wish her a speedy recovery.
Featured image via @sarasigmunds on Instagram.
