Post pics of your injuries

[PotomacCyclist]

@dbb 70562 wrote:

While I’m cool about blood and guts, this tread seems a bit counter to the general theme of the forum, which is to encourage cycling. I’d hope we would find a better venue to share our photos (maybe the happy hours?) so as not to suggest to the visitors here that cycling is so dangerous that even skilled cyclists bleed a lot. As a sales pitch, that one might be improved.

Just say’n

I already pointed out that I’ve had more injuries from running, and that was mostly in my first year or so. Same with cycling.

I’ll also add to the thread that my worst injury all time occurred when I used to be fairly sedentary. It happened because I was so weak muscularly and then I got back to piano playing, this time for a community theater show. The weak lats plus the pounding on the piano during weeks of rehearsals led to a severe muscle imbalance between the lats and the trapezius muscles. (Many people have a lesser version of this imbalance, from sitting at desks in front of computers for hours a day, while they never use their lat muscles. Unless people are training or participating in particular sports, most people rarely use their lat muscles in modern life. Rowing motions and pull-up movements engage the lats.)

That severe imbalance caused the traps to be so tight that it was a mess waiting to happen. And it did. I had already felt sore for weeks in the upper back/traps. Then one day, while I was eating dinner, I finished and stood up. Just that simple movement was enough, given how messed up the lat/trap balance was. The trap partially tore and the entire (large) muscle went into powerful spasms. Most painful experience of my life. I couldn’t move an inch because each movement set off new waves of muscle spasms in the trap. These were not garden-variety spasms. They were so intense that I almost passed out from the pain. Because I couldn’t move, I couldn’t sit down either. So I just stood there, for an entire hour. Unable to sit, unable to walk over to a chair or bed, or anything.

Eventually, I realized that I had to do something. I couldn’t stand there all day and all night. So I slowly walked down a flight of stairs. Because quick movements set off more muscle spasms, I think it took me an hour or even two hours to go down one flight of stairs! The intense pain subsided by the next day, but I had to deal with problems from the partial tear for quite a while, especially since I was so muscularly weak at the time. That’s what led me to start with strength training, eventually. I had rehab exercises but I quickly realized that they were designed for 80-year-olds with no muscle tone at all. I was a fairly young adult with no major health problems until that muscle tear, so I thought it was ridiculous for me to be so weak.

I did strength training on and off for a few years. I still had almost zero aerobic endurance. (A few years after that point, I remember doing a set of squats. The squats taxed my aerobic system so much that I was out of breath for about 10 minutes!) When I started swimming in 2004 (only casual laps of breaststroke, and only during the summers), my first lap got me so tired that it took me 5 or 10 minutes to recover. But I did build up a basic level of endurance by the end of that summer, so that I could do easy 30-min. swim workouts without feeling like I was dying.

***
Another item: I’ve met people at work who have been injured from non-athletic activities, primarily because they were inactive. One person tore her knee ligaments at a wedding reception. One of her cousins ran up to her and jumped up on her shoulders, causing her knee to buckle. Another guy ripped his rotator cuff muscles, while riding Metro. No fight or any criminal incident. I think his shoulders and surrounding musculature were so weak that a sudden start or stop of the train might have caused the injury.

Just adding this so that future readers don’t think cycling is necessarily so dangerous. It’s not. Nothing in life is risk-free. That includes attending weddings, driving, riding Metro, walking on streets or sitting on the couch stuffing one’s face with candy, fries and soda. Actually, it’s the couch sitting and junk food that ends up killing the most people each year, at least in the U.S. Not right away, but eventually that lifestyle grinds you down, at an early age, and the time up to that death is usually full of health problems.

[KLizotte]

@dkel 88381 wrote:

I lost *a lot* of layers of skin off my elbow in my slide on Thursday. If I don’t keep up the pain killers, I’m a cranky mess to be around. It still looks repulsive, and I’m wondering how long it will take to heal. Fortunately, I can ride without discomfort, and have done 40 miles since the crash. I don’t have a day off of riding planned in the near future, so I guess I haven’t lost my confidence. The different tires I put on help, of course.

I’d recommend seeing a doc just in case. A tetanus shot might in order if you are not up to date on those sort of things. You want to keep that kind of wound moist (and clean of course). Scabbing is really not a good idea. Docs have learned from burn patients that skin tissue injuries respond best when kept in a sterile moist environment. Hydrocolloid bandages work best for the first week or two then you can eventually switch to Tegaderm.* The former soak up moisture which may be seeping from the wound while still providing a sterile, moist environment plus they are flexible and won’t come off if you are bending the area. The trouble is finding them in sufficiently large sizes to fully cover a wound (Band-aid seems to have stopped making the big ones). Haven’t had a need to check the shelves at CVS for a couple of years on what is available these days (knock on wood). Best of luck on healing quickly.

*I learned this the hard way when I left a few layers of skin on the pavement from going over the handlebars without gloves (I now always ride with gloves). Try finding bandages that will allow you to bend your palms and keep everything clean! After spending about $30 on all varieties of bandages, I finally discovered hydrocolloid and Tergaderm. They made life a lot, lot easier.

[PotomacCyclist]

@dkel 88381 wrote:

I lost *a lot* of layers of skin off my elbow in my slide on Thursday. If I don’t keep up the pain killers, I’m a cranky mess to be around. It still looks repulsive, and I’m wondering how long it will take to heal. Fortunately, I can ride without discomfort, and have done 40 miles since the crash. I don’t have a day off of riding planned in the near future, so I guess I haven’t lost my confidence. The different tires I put on help, of course.

On my left knee in the Dec. 2012 accident, I had a wound about 1.5″ x 1″. All the surface layers of skin were gone. I guess the deeper layers were still there (or else there would be nothing left). I didn’t take any painkillers, mostly because I think all that junk messes you up eventually. Even the milder painkillers like Tylenol or Advil. Every drug has side effects and they are usually not too good for you.

Immediately after skinning my knees that day, I wiped off the wounds with a dry paper towel, but I didn’t have an antiseptic wipe available right away. I continued with the rest of the run workout. Not too long, maybe 20 or 30 minutes after the fall. When I got back, I washed the wounds with soap and water. Then I covered them with bandages that probably weren’t large enough.

Later on, I found large square bandages at Rite Aid or CVS, large enough to cover the entire wound. Those seemed to help. I also bought some antiseptic spray, Dermoplast. I bought the spray instead of an ointment because I wouldn’t have to touch the wound, potentially contaminating it.

As I noted before, I didn’t swim or run for at least a few weeks.

OK, I just looked up my training notes from that winter, on SportTracks. According to one note, I didn’t train at all for the next 2.5 weeks. That included cycling/spin bike, since I skinned my knees, not an elbow. Both knees healed up after 2 weeks but a small scab remained for another week after that (3 weeks total).

My first workout after the break was a strength workout. I felt sluggish but that’s normal after taking a break. The next day, I ran on a treadmill. At the end of that week, I did a 3-hr. ride on the MTB, at very easy effort. More of a bike tour ride than a true training ride.

I didn’t have a problem with infection. I don’t know if I’m lucky or what, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a wound get infected. When I was in grade school, I would get nicks and scrapes from running and playing around outside and I would never use an antiseptic spray or ointment. Nothing as bad as the skinned knees in 2012, but there were many minor scrapes over the years. I don’t think I used bandages that often back then either.

Now I do try to wash and clean scrapes as soon as I can. I carry an antiseptic wipe in a portable packet on the bike (either in the bento box or the underseat bag). If I get a scrape, I’ll wipe it off with the wipe. Then when I get back home, I’ll wash it with soap and water. (I don’t use antibiotic soaps. There are serious questions about the safety of triclosan, the active ingredient used in most of those soaps and even in antibacterial toothpastes.) If it’s a larger scrape, I’ll put a bandage on it, at least for a day or two, until there’s enough of a natural cover to keep the wound from getting dirty. That’s what I did after the Phoenix Derby last month, when I had a small scrape on a knee. Nothing major and no complications.

[PotomacCyclist]

I’ll also add that good nutrition can help speed up the healing process.

[dkel]

The elbow is really healing up fast (faster than I thought, anyway). It has a ways to go, but it’s clearly better very day. I’ve also gotten good at positioning the dressing so it mostly stays down when I move my arm, instead of popping up when it straighten it. On the other hand, my ribs were killing me today: it took three Advil to make them stop screaming at me. I’m not a fan of pain-killers, but I’m even less a fan of pain (like this, anyway).

[KLizotte]

@dkel 88497 wrote:

The elbow is really healing up fast (faster than I thought, anyway). It has a ways to go, but it’s clearly better very day. I’ve also gotten good at positioning the dressing so it mostly stays down when I move my arm, instead of popping up when it straighten it. On the other hand, my ribs were killing me today: it took three Advil to make them stop screaming at me. I’m not a fan of pain-killers, but I’m even less a fan of pain (like this, anyway).

Could you have fractured a rib??

[dkel]

@KLizotte 88501 wrote:

Could you have fractured a rib??

It’s probably just bruising of the muscles around the ribs. The pain is aggravating, but not so bad as to discourage taking deep breaths. I think the source my problem yesterday was that I stopped taking Advil for the first part of the day, allowing the pain to get going. If I keep up the meds, it really feels *much* better. Even if I cracked a rib, I’m pretty sure that’s all the treatment there is for it anyway.

[dasgeh]

@dkel 88508 wrote:

It’s probably just bruising of the muscles around the ribs. The pain is aggravating, but not so bad as to discourage taking deep breaths. I think the source my problem yesterday was that I stopped taking Advil for the first part of the day, allowing the pain to get going. If I keep up the meds, it really feels *much* better. Even if I cracked a rib, I’m pretty sure that’s all the treatment there is for it anyway.

Just be sure to follow the directions – e.g. eat whenever you take Advil. Found that out the hard way after knee surgery.

[Subby]

Just a heads up, but the place where Superdave Pomeroy went down (15th St. NW @ Constitution) is still a mess. I tweeted to @DDOTDC today and also filled out a road repair request on http://311.dc.gov/. If other folks who go through there regularly want to follow suit it might save a broken bone or two!

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[cyclingfool]

Just submitted a request, though I rarely ride on that side of the Ellipse. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that…

[Fast Friendly Guy]

Thanks sincerely to you both for your support on behalf of all riders who deserve a safe street to ride

[cyclingfool]

I also had the problem someone else did with the quadrants being messed up in the reports. My 15th St NW report became 15th St SE. Unable to find a contact email or form to report problems with the problem reporting website… :confused: …I tweeted them about the quadrant issue (gotta love Twitter) and gave them my request confirmation number so that a crew doesn’t go to 15th St SE and find noting. They quickly responded with a thanks and said that they would work on the website issue.

[dkel]

DANG IT!

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This is the same elbow I scraped off last month! If I hadn’t already injured that thing, my minor tumble into the grass probably wouldn’t have even left a mark. Just ridiculous!

[cyclingfool]

@dkel 90458 wrote:

DANG IT!

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This is the same elbow I scraped off last month! If I hadn’t already injured that thing, my minor tumble into the grass probably wouldn’t have even left a mark. Just ridiculous!

Bummer. I trust you Talansky’ed it the rest of the way to your destination, though.

[dkel]

@cyclingfool 90462 wrote:

Bummer. I trust you Talansky’ed it the rest of the way to your destination, though.

I rode on, then stopped later to rinse it off with my water bottle (which stung like a–well, you know), then I ended up stopping again to actually put some ointment and a bandaid on it. The whole thing was stupid. Rockford10 has told me I’m not allowed to do any more “dumb stuff.” Sage advice.

[Author]

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