Nasty Fall
 

Hi all,

well today I took a nasty fall...riding home from work, its lightly raining, im on the cycle pathway which happens to go under a bridge. The pathway is damaged and very bumpy. Couple that with the rain and my speed...my rear tire slipped on the turn and the bike fell from under me. I skidded down, hitting my left side of the my body hard....and the worst part... was that my head bounced off the concrete. Luckily I was wearing my helmet, but I still feel shaken up. My head hurts (I hit the back side of it). By pain, I mean I have a headache.

Im still in disbelief that i fell. I feel stupid for now slowing down and im also pissed off because I have asked the city to repair that stretch of the path and they still have yet to act. I just e-mailed them though sharing my story with them.

Where did that happen ? Which path was that ?

Hope you're okay -- pay attention to that headache, and seek medical attention if it doesn't resolve prompty.

+1... My grandfather fell off a ladder once. After several days of headaches, his wife (not my grandmother) took him into the hospital. Turned out he had a subdural hematoma. Several hours of surgery later, and a long time in the hospital, he recovered enough to carry on for another 11 years.

One of my high school classmates took a fall out of the back of a (moving) pickup, felt fine for a while, then began feeling quite ill. Three hours later he died. Subdural hematoma's are nothing to mess with.

It was on the Cooksville Creek Trail, just where the path goes under Mississauga Valley Blvd.

Well thanks for re-assuring me. I was wearing the helmet and I did hit my head. I expect there will be some discomfort. Should I be running for a CAT scan? I dunno. I am feeling MUCH improved from earlier in the day. (although im still a bit rattled) I'll be driving in tomorrow, that's for sure

The only discomfort im feeling is a tingling sensation on the left side of my body...im not to sure how much to read into this

It's always better to get it checked out, rather than wonder or ask us knownothings. I'm the first to grin and ignore my wife telling me to go to the doctor, but she's usually right. (I can write that because she doesn't read this forum. ; )

Don't want to scare you, but helmets don't do much to prevent the brain from injuring itself against the skull (think of your helmet like a crumple zone on a car; it helps, but without a seatbelt you can still smash yourself against the steering column or whatever, where you=brain and steering column=skull). It's been pretty well established that helmets can't prevent concussions (just ask the NFL, or more specifically, their sports medicine doctors and experts; also look to the military and their doctors and risk reduction experts), but if you're feeling better then you're probably in the clear.

It's a good sign that you can remember the crash clearly, as memory loss is a pretty solid indicator of brain injury. It might not be the worst idea to have someone check on you throughout the night, just to make sure that you're still breathing, if that's possible. But again, the fact that your pain is going down is a really good indicator that any brain injury you might have suffered is negligible, or even non-existant. At least that's what they taught when I was an EMT/ski patroller (and yes, we saw a lot of head injuries, mostly from the terrain parks, many wearing helmets, and helicoptered a lot of them out).

If the pain persists or gets worse, do go to a hospital. If you have insurance, there's really no reason not to.

A good friend of mine lost his brother to a seemingly harmless rear-end accident where all he had was a headache afterwards. Not trying to scare ya either, but it killed him.

Also, replace the helmet. They're pretty much single use, and if the fall rung your bell like it sounds, it has probably compromised some of the protective qualities of the helmet.

Go see a doctor as soon as you can. A helmet can lessen some injuries but cannot eliminate them completely.

A concussion can happen even without hitting your head against anything; for example car spinning out on the highway and throwing someone around can cause a concussion even if seat belted. One of my colleagues waited 2 days and then randomly passed out at work which resulted in an expensive ambulance ride.

Go see a doctor, right now!!!

Headaches are a very bad sign after impact.

- Slim :)

Good Luck! :thumb:

That particular stretch of the pathway is very rough, I always slow down when going under that bridge. One time I made a mistake of riding that trail after heavy rain, the entire section of that pathway where it passes under the train tracks ,was so flooded I had water up to my bottom bracket...never again will I ride there after rain, I just take a different route and by-pass that section of the trail. Cooksville creek is very prone to overflowing and flooding parts of that trail.

sounds like its time for a visit to the chiropractor

I always slow down too...im not sure what happened the other day. I have already e-mailed the city about it and got a response back. They are aware of the situation and I was told are working to resolve it. The thing is I made them aware of it 6 months ago. If you have time, I would appreciate that you e-mail them as well and to give them your input too. I'll pm you the appropriate e-mails.

I took the day off of work and went to the ER last night. They checked me out briefly and the doc said i had no indications of a concussion and that within 24 hours I should be up and running again. I do have a bit of a stiff neck, but it may be due to the way i was resting my head yesterday or possibly whiplash. Im not sure.

Glad you are Ok, Replace the helmet, A couple years ago in a similar accident to yours mine was obviously and totally cracked. One good crash is all they do.

Injuries aside, The thing that always shakes me up the most is how you go from peacefully tooling along months/years/decades crash free to instantly laying on the ground. It just seems surreal. I fricken hate that!

Given what you describe I would go see a doctor and buy a new brain bucket.

3.5 weeks ago I ran through the gaurd post at the Security shack at work doing 15 mph. I never saw it. Dislocated my right shoulder and got road rash from my head to my toes on my right side. My head hit the asphalt so violently they said my head bounced 12 inches off the pavement. My helmet wash broken in a half dozen places. I snapped the guard pole clean off the raising mechanism.
I'm alright today. I hope you are too.

wow...that sounds a lot more violent then mine. Head injuries are the scariest. I can deal with pain in the arm, joints, muscles...as i know they'll go away, with the head though you never know what type of permanent damage might creep up later. I will buy a new helmet although I had just purchased this one...kind of a bummer.

My biggest fear right now is getting back on the bike. Im just to afraid to hop on it so quickly. Even when I rode it home, i kept thinking the bike was going tip over. Hopefully it'll pass.

Ironically tomorrow the city starts repairs on the part of the path where i fell. I wonder if I hadn't blasted them how much longer it would have taken

You'll probably have whiplash if you were going at any speed... good luck getting an MRI it will be two month wait unless the ER sends you. :)

I'm sure the paraesthesia will die down, you may have injured or stretched something in there and it's swelling a bit. Keep a log of how it goes in case things get worse.

On day ONE of a long tour I went down when I plowed into some loose gravel - caught in the dark with my "to be seen" lights going, but not my actual "see where I'm going" rig My body took most of the impact in the gravel itself and the bike darn near avoided touching the ground, but my head hit real hard on solid asphalt. Put a nice big crack through that corner of my helmet. Replaced that thing at the first bike shop I passed!

In the end, I had a headache for a day or so but in my case I traced that to a neck muscle that didn't appreciate the whiplash. Not saying this is your case, and if you have ANY doubt I'd go see your doc, but I was right as rain in a couple days.

My most hated thing about crashes : the massive roadrash scab.

My shoulder went out and came straight back in. There is tendon damage but I road the bike home an hour after the accident. Check out the frame; get on the bike and ride.

Well its now D-Day + 2 since the event. Most of my headaches are gone.....a sight discomfort on the top right of my head (that didn't make impact) but it is going away real fast. The only lasting effect that im really feeling is the right side of my neck muscles. Its feeling very tight and hurts. I am assuming it is a sign of whiplash that my neck muscles experienced from the sudden stop. Im glad at least my body hit first and then my head, rather than vice versa.

Anyhow, I don't see myself getting on the bike any time soon. When I rode the bike home that day, I kept feeling the bike veering to the left, as if it was going to fall over. ...anyhow im done for biking for at least some time.

Interestingly enough, the city started on correcting the trail today.

Yeah, you probably have a concussion. That pain is probably where your brain smashed into your skull inside your head. My girlfriend had a concussion a few months ago and whenever she would drive she would start to get dizzy. I did a lot of driving her around for a week or two. She saw a doctor and gave her some medication that greatly improved that aspect of it. If you still have any dizziness, confusion or pain you might want to see someone. For her, the first few days were fine, but then it got worse.

I feel your pain brother!! I am just recovering from the same situation; hit water on a hard, steep turn in some foothills and ate gravel for 25 feet. It took 5 days for the gash on my left hip to stop bleeding, during which I was taking motrin by the gram.

If the pain doesn't cease, definitely see a doctor if you can, but don't freak out from people telling you that you have a concussion...most of the grade 1 & 2 concs we saw from IEDs in Iraq amounted to nothing but 24hrs of light duty then back to patrolling.

It will take a few more days for the whiplash to come in full swing... so be ready for that. Also lay off the heavy aerobics for a while... Don't get your heart rate above 68% of max, stay way from the computer, bright lights, loud noises, a lot of reading - all that can bring on spells if you have a concussion. Take it easy.