• Question: is it possible to kick something so hard your leg came off?

    Asked by diamondpwh to Helen, Jenni, Mark, Martin, Stu on 23 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Jenni Tilley

      Jenni Tilley answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I think you’d do a lot more damamge to your feet / the bones in your leg / the thing you’re kicking before your leg actually came off – it’s fairly well attached thanks to your amazingly strong ligaments and tendons

    • Photo: Mark Burnley

      Mark Burnley answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      If you’ve ever had a doctor tap your knee to produce a “knee-jerk reaction”, you’ll understand why kicking your own leg off is unlikely to happen. This is because there are receptors in the muscles and tendons that prevent you from over-contracting or over-stretching on purpose.

    • Photo: Helen O'Connor

      Helen O'Connor answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      I have something called hypermobility syndrome that means that the joints on my hips and ankles are actually too “floppy” – this means that I am at more risk of injuring myself by moving these joints more than they are supposed to go. I have to do special strengthening exercise to reduce the risk of that. But there is still no change that I would ever be so hypermobile that my leg would fall off.

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