nobody nose the trouble I've seen

I cried at practice a couple weeks ago. 

I cried because someone my nose got in the way of a helmet. 

I didn't cry because it hurt, though it did.  I didn't cry because I was sad, though I did have some concerns about my good looks being ruined.  (They weren't.)  I cried because that is exactly what you do when someone wallops you hard between the eyes.

I tried to do a bit of research on why eyes water when you are hit in the nose but all I found out was that a good portion of people who respond to yahoo.answers are idiots.  Apparently my research skills have rusted a bit since university.  Still, I would like to know the medical explanation, partly out of curiosity and partly because it's damn hard to skate when you can't see for the tears.

I'm also curious about the nature of the damage.  I am not, to my misguided chagrin, a bruiser.  So many times hit, so many sore spots, so little physical evidence.  It's annoying.

So, not having big swollen black eyes was not surprising, though I did have a sort of browny blackish haze around my nose for a week or so.  The bridge of my nose still continues to be very sensitive.  A slight bit of pressure and I see sparks.  I am wondering why some people, when bopped on the nose, end up with black eyes and other people break their noses seemingly every time they sneeze.  There seems to be quite a bit of diversity among people in the amount of force a nose can take.  I would definitely be interested in knowing if there has been some study, though I would not want to be a test subject for it. 

Another bit of idle inquisitiveness has me wondering about role my glasses played in the helmet/nose collision.  My day time personality usually wears glasses, though I'm trying to get in the habit of wearing contacts for derby.  Especially after getting a skate to the face during one practice in a pace line pile up, which bent the frame and produced a small scratch.  That probably should of been a lesson there, but, well, I play roller derby and it takes a bit more than a little kick to the head to get my attention.

However, just that one practice a couple weeks ago, after a very busy day, I barely made it to the arena on time and had not had the opportunity to switch over to the contacts.  Thus, with eye glasses on, we scrimmaged our A team.  Probably not the best scenario for wearing breakable stuff, but I do know of several people who wear their glasses all the time so my concern was not too great.

As it was, after the hit with the helmet, I did have to adjust the nose pieces a bit and tighten the arms.  My nose suffered much more damaged than the glasses and there is a mark on the bridge of my nose when the glasses dug in.  The bruising was on either side of my nose, but it is the very ridge when the pain lingers and causes a sparks when bumped, plus sort of a slow burn through my sinus region.  I think my nose looks normal.  As normal as I look, anyway. 

This is my puzzle: did my glasses make the nose smash worse or did they actually save my nose? 

The glasses, you'd assume, would be an extra piece of debris in a hit, possibly causing additional damage.  The middle over the nose bit of my glasses bore the brunt of the hit and pushed into my face.  However, the force of the hit was dispersed from the contact point to the nose pads resting on either side of my nose.  I had the bruises, though faint, to show for it.  Did the nose pads divert enough force to stop the actual breaking on my nose?  If I wasn't wearing my glasses, would my bridge have snapped on impact? 

Just a thought.  It doesn't pay to take anything for granted.  Sort of like how wrist guards sometimes cause more damage than they prevent and why the seat belt debate goes on.

I'd look into this a bit further but, well, I play roller derby and I have no time.  Plus, without any grisly bruising, no one is particularly interested.  Pain with bruising is interesting, almost art.  Pain without evidence is, well, just pain.  Annoying. 

Of course, anyone who has been hit in the nose with a helmet might also be interested if there is anyway to possibly divert the force so as to minimize the damage.  A bruised butt is one thing, but a rearranged face is slightly more than anyone here bargained for.  It may be time to start looking into googles.  Hey, perhaps they could altered into some steam punk aesetheic? 

If any of one of three of my readers have any information on nose breaking and how much force it takes, please share.  Also, what does a broken nose feel like?  Gruesome pictures of bruised noses would also be entertaining, though not necessarily as informative.  Still, well, I play roller derby and I put a high value on entertainment without apparent meaning.