Accident update
 

Well it's coming up to three months since my accident and it's not been plain sailing (shortly after the cast came off I managed to pick up an infection in the elbow wound which took five weeks of antibiotics to clear up). I've started physio and the prognosis is 80% movement in the shoulder and a similar amount in the elbow - not too bad considering the damage. The surgeon doesn't want me to cycle outside for at least another two or three months (a slight knock could be problematic). The arms is still very weak anyway.

With being unable to get on the bike I've not been around here much - I didn't want to remind myself what I was missing.

This weekend though I've bitten the bullet and bought a trainer so whilst I might only see the spare bedrooms walls at least I'll be able to get my legs back up to strength ready for when I can get out.

Richard

hey Richard,

i hope your recovery continues to go well... and i think the trainer sounds like a good idea.

i know it's not anything like your injury, but i pulled my right knee ligament/tendons in a ski-jumping accident just over 2 weeks ago (nothing torn! although it was SWOLLEN and i had about 5 degrees movement for the first few days and could barely walk - stairs were a challenge!) --- end of the 1st week i was cycling one-legged -- and then last weekend (12 days later) i was able to ride again... commuting is now no problem and i went mountain biking last saturday! but oh, i hate not being able to ride!!

Hang in there guy. Keep up with the PT, it will increase the range of motion with time. Good luck with the trainer. If that gets too tedious, consider finding a spinning class. A good instructor can make it much less boring.

You'll be back outside in no time. Make sure you take the time to completely heal. Have a good recovery.

Here's to ya, old buddy.

:beer:

May you never have to go through that again.

I sure hope you get better fast, man!

(Very good to see you back!)

Agree with that one. Make sure you're 100% so you don't aggravate it. Heal fast.

Thanks folks :)

I also notice your MTB has a similar personality to mine :)

I had a crash 2 years ago that broke my ulna in 2 places and that required a 4" inch wood screw to hold it together. My surgeon told me to go out and FORCE myself to do as much as I could as fast as I could after the initial recovery period which was about a month as I recall. I also had a broken shoulder blade and a broken collar bone and 2 broken ribs.

For my recovery, I was walking 2 days after the accident to keep myself in some kind of shape. Once the cast was off, I was on the wind trainer. The hard part with the trainer was getting on with an injured arm. Once on, I did not have much problem. After about 4 weeks on the trainer, I was out on the road. Riding on the road was a different story. My elbow got tired and sore pretty quickly and every little bump hurt. Things gradually got better. I was able to do a century after about 10 months. But it took about 18 months for each bump in the road to not hurt.

I did have physical therapy. But once they got me to the point where I could hoist a beer with my injured arm, they figured that was enough. So I continued working on it on my own to strengthen the arm. The physical therapy did teach me a bunch of exercises that worked on different areas of the arm and helped in different planes of motion so it was useful from that point of view.

Hey,

I had a crash several months back after colliding with a rider that was almost stopped. I was doing about 50km/hr and hit the road hard. First point of contact with tarseal? My right elbow. To this day, I cannot lift more than a few kilograms with that arm due to the pain I get in the elbow joint itself. Also if I keep it still for too long it gets very sore.

Just a note to yourself when you are on the trainer, and eventually back on the road - try and move your elbow and shoulder every 5-10 minutes if you can, this will save you from un-needed pain later.

Visit to the surgeon today – on the good news side he doesn’t want to see me for 3 months and I can try and cycle in a couple of months or so if my arm feels strong enough. On the okay news, I’m unlikely to regain much more movement. On the not so good I’m probably going to need an operation in a few months to remove the elbow support wiring, and may need an op to increase blood supply to the shoulder (but only a possibility) oh and early arthritis in the elbow is pretty much guaranteed…