Google Searches About Injuries Say a Lot About How Montanans Spend Their Time

Being injured is a bummer. I should know--I'm currently recovering from shoulder surgery on a bicep tendon tear. My injury overlapped with a vacation I took to Oregon and a few days in, I started to notice people's worried glances as I walked around wearing my sling.

They all looked at me like, "Did you do that here?!"

Their reactions stuck out to me because when I'm wearing my sling in Montana, nobody seems to notice. This might be because they don't care, but I think nobody noticed because my wearing a sling wasn't that unusual. Montanans are often hurting themselves. You see people in casts, slings, or on crutches all the time, and when you see so many people with injuries it doesn't stick out anymore.

Now we have data to suggest just what types of injuries Montanans might be getting based on their search history.

Using data from the average monthly searches on Google, the attorneys at Injured in Florida compiled a list of the top 5 most searched injuries by state. See how many of these injuries Googled in Montana you've had:

5. Shoulder Dislocation

4. Rib Fracture

3. Burn

2. Sprained Ankle

1. Concussion

What this list confirms for me is that Montanans are active, and being active can lead to injuries. In the release, Injured in Florida confirms that one of the most common ways to sustain a shoulder dislocation is from a sports accident, but also falls and road accidents. Montana ranks high on lists ranking where it's most dangerous to drive, which would correlate with road accidents, and road accidents correlate with shoulder dislocations.

I've also known athletes to suffer rib fractures, sprained, ankles, and of course, concussions. As we've previously reported, the Montana High School Association has claimed 109 concussions on its insurance since 2015 according to executive director, Brian Michelotti.

Then again, being active isn't required for getting injured. I've had 5 concussions and only one of them was because I was being active. Most of the rest of them were because of falls on the ice. The bicep tear? Also ice. So the only injury on this list that seems misplaced to me is #3 - Burn.