Bob,

Watch that hip situation. I had a similar situation about two years ago, and mine was a sheer injury to the hip. It swelled up like that, and the trauma physician immediately drained it of liquid. I had lost feeling on the skin in about a ten-inch diameter area. This is the skin that had sheered from the underlying tissue. Fluid developed between the two layers, and for a month after the accident, I had it drained weekly. After that, for another month and a half, it was drained every two weeks. Finally, it filled in with connective fibrous tissue, and no more fluid could be drained out. At that point, the physicians were satisfied that it would heel on its own. I maintained circulation to that tissue throughout the period.

Today, I still have a "lump" there of fibrous stuff, but the tissue is healthy and I'm regaining feeling the the entire area. The feeling is somewhat different there, as I don't have pressure sensation, but do have feel sensation and some pain sensation. At times, the pain receptors will simply fire on their own, and I'll say to myself "Oh ya, another receptor has gained connection!"

The docs said that if the draining had not worked, they may have had to do surgery to try to reconnect the tissue. But there was a potential for infection if they did that, and a worse outcome.

I've changed a lot of my riding since then, and am now riding a Rans Stratus long-wheel base recumbant. You cannot go over the handlebars on a LWB recumbant. I don't ride on Fridays (which is when I've had my last two crashes with cars), but I cycle almost all week. This week, I'm at 54 miles, and last week it was over 70 miles. Today (a Friday), I walked to work (actually, I'm finding my running legs, and did some short running with the walks).

John