Hi Folks,
I just got back into road biking after like 10 years and am preparing for a 100 mile ride in lake Tahoe in June 2011 . Went on my usual route this weekend and it started raining mid way . Had no choice but to continue . almost half way through my ride is a fairly tough descent . Although I was careful , my bike skidded and I must have been going about 30 MPH at the time . Fortunately no bones were broken but I am really sore and it has been about 48 hours . Got bruised up elbows, knees , side of the hips . How can I speed up recovery apart from resting . Any ideas or feedback would be very welcome . Down but not out :-)

Jas

For road rash, tegaderm or duoderm and some of those webbed "dressings." Keep the road rash moist until new skin forms and then keep it out of the sun. Ice for bruises/swelling. Get checked by a doc if it was serious.

Beige spray paint works well. Add a hint of brown if you're ethnic.

Out of sight, out of mind.

If your hips are sore. Do not bike at all! Same thing happened to me hit a big rock on the side of the road at 35mph did a front flip and landed on my hip. I tried biking the next day and after that I could not walk for more than a week. Took me 3 weeks for full recovery. Stay in bed and do not put any weight on your leg.

Speaking from similar personal experience...

Be very active in your recovery. Rest, definitely, but also ice in intervals. RICE routine - rest, ice, compression, elevation. Stop some of the swelling at those bruises and put your feet up - take a deserved day or two off.

Now, if you already know this, my apologies, but a lot of people think that getting a scab is a good thing - a sign of healing. The opposite is true - that scab is inhibiting the growth of new skin, and ibis_ti briefly touched on this. What you want to do is use an ointment (tegaderm, duoderm, or even just some triple antibiotic), and put enough that you're not skimping on your dressing and put that on your areas. This will help keep the wound moist for new skin to form.

Additionally, since it's been two days, I assume you cleaned everything really well. No pain no gain when it comes to cleaning road rash.

Additionally, I think the post above is a bit overly cautious. A lot, actually. He just indicates having bruises on his hips, which is very normal for this type of crash. In my opinion, the worst thing to do would be to not ride for three weeks. Go for a short ride tomorrow if you can muster it. Like, 10miles short. Just to keep the legs turning. But after that, back to RICE.

you didn't mention road rash...I crashed once on wet roads and there was almost no road rash. if you have swelling, go with cold packs. 15 minutes cold, warm up and repeat. if there is no swelling, for soreness, go with a hot and cold treatments. 15 minutes of each 3 times a day. note that you should not go too cold, if you're using ice or a chemical pack, use a thin towel if its too cold, and don't go longer than 15 minutes...you will know its too cold or too long when you feel the burn.

if you do have road rash, use this: https://www.eltastore.com/product/elt...-jar/3-8oz-jar

No road rash: good luck

Road rash:
https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...lustrated.html
https://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...rash-care.html

Although not pleasant, the first aid wash makes scrubbing wounds tolerable. The sting goes away when you use the wash, just wait about a minute before scrubbing with sterile gauze/whatever.

so how's the bike?

Just kidding, keep everything clean. Did you seek any medical advice? infection will take a long long time to heal so if there'seven a doubt get it checked out.

Actually, how is the bike?

How's the bike - I use times like this to clean and tune my ride - seems when I'm done I'm healed -it's magic

See your massage therapist right away; you're going to have locked-up muscles that need attention. You may need to see them at least once a week for a while.

LMAO!!!! good one!

Day 2 is usually the worst. Advil or Aleve for the pain and swelling. Ice for swelling. If you have range-of-motion problems in a joint or joint pain, see a doc.

I crashed the first time I rode my bike. As a researcher, I looked into the best way to heal. Barring any internal injuries or significant skin rashes, the most critical parts for recovery are the joints. They can never be the same if they're not taken care of properly. Everyone in sports already knows about RICE, as another poster mentioned here. However, a more recent research shows that RICE can be detrimental to recovery. There is a better road to recovery: MEAT - Movement, Exercise, Analgesia, Treatment. Many doctors don't even know about this since most don't keep up with recent research. Since I don't want to write a long essay on this, here is the general idea:

The first 24-48 hours you want to use RICE to allow for some healing
After that, you must start MEAT. Movement must be gentle, like drawing the alphabet in the air
Exercise should be light - stop if the pain becomes acute to prevent further damage.
Analgesia involves only pain killers (if you have to). The idea is that if you take
something to prevent swelling, you will hinder the healing process.
Treatment involves both cold and hot compresses. Do 10 minutes of cold followed by 50 minutes of hot. What this does is increase blood flow to the damaged area and wash away scar tissue.

It is also important to get an X-ray if any of your joints hurt a lot. Broken or fractures bones must be healed differently.

Thanks . Actually , I trashed one of the Brake levers/shifts and the rear wheel is bent . Its a shame as I had just gotten this CAAD9 5 a couple of weeks back . I guess as soon as my sneezing stops hurting my rib cage , I will take the bike into the shop for repairs . Plan to start riding in about a week .

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