Well my whole year went kaput 3 weeks ago when I went out for a very easy morning training ride but I was about 20 minutes too early and it was a little too cloudy and I missed a tree that was laying across the trail (didn’t bring a bright enough light).
Crash, left a chunk of my chin on the trail and broke my left forearm up by the elbow.
So the good news is it’s a “good” break, so good in fact that it doesn’t require any kind of cast or sling, so this being the third week since the crash I re-upped my Zwift membership and got back on the trainer. I can’t really put my hands on the handlebar for long periods so I’m confined to mostly lower power rides although I did crack 500-600W over two sprints this morning (FTP 175).
My issue is that everything sucks. Everything is sore. I can’t sleep right - I wake up with headaches every single morning since the crash. My left shoulder is sore (but improving). Both wrists are sore - certain angular movements are absolutely excruciating, both on the broken arm and the “good arm”. My left bicep is routinely just agonizingly sore. The good news is my legs feel pretty good and I can at least type with both hands (I work at a computer all day) although I definitely get sore late in the days.
Just trying to figure out what stretches or movements I need to do in order to loosen this back up. I know it’s probably a 6 month + process but just trying to make it shorter / not drag on forever.
I go back to the ortho doctor on 8/14 to check on the arm but they really don’t care about anything else.
For those who are going to tell me to go to a doctor or physical therapy, I live in the United States and with the way our system works, you have no idea what anything is going to cost until everything is said and done and they leave you with a bill that you may or may not be able to pay. No one can actually afford the health insurance they actually need (we are no exception) so we just deal with emergencies like this that pop up with a strong HSA balance. Translation : I’m not going to a doctor or physical therapist so that they could charge me $1,000 to watch me flex my arms and wrists 3 days a week and go “hmmmm” while I roll my exasperated eyes at them.
Don’t know if you are taking any painkillers, but if you have pains (especially nights) I would take Ibuprofen (according to Google: Motrin, Advil, Equate, Kirkland Signature or others in the US). Could relax your sleep, and could help your recovery over night.
I’ve been trying to withhold painkillers for when the pain becomes really disruptive but I probably should be taking the more at bedtime. I’ve woken up with a headache every single day since the crash, painkillers or no (which is also somewhat normal for me).
I would consider taking either Ibuprofen or Naproxen (Alleve) to deal with swelling. This is the real benefit of the NSAIDs, is dealing with inflammation, more so than for the pain. And in this application, just taking a minimum dose and staying on it for awhile will be more effective. Naproxen lasts longer, 8 hours vs 4 for ibuprofen, so in this application, might be easier. But it doesn’t work as well if you take it ad-hoc for pain as needed, you want to get on top of the inflammation and stay there with a consistent does.
I’m with you on avoiding any sort of medication. But no need to make yourself miserable.
I don’t mind giving my advice, but don’t consider it medical advice. I don’t have any degree in medecine, I’m just a technical engineer with over 25 years of experience in medical diagnostic equipment for neurology, physiotherapy, cardiology and pneumology.
That did give me quit a bit of understanding on the matter.
First of all, you need to prioritize recovery at this moment. Don’t do anything that increases the pain. That might lead to chronic pain and/or injury. Avoid any effort on the trainer that leads you to push-pull on the handlebars. That may cause smaller cracks in the healing bone structure and lead to longer term problems.
So, absolutely no pain killers to hide pain during exercise! But do use pain killers at rest and sleep. Pain leads to tension and stress. Those use up lots of energy from your body and that energy can better be used for the healing process. They also lead to sleep disruption and a good sleep is your best friend right now. During sleep, growth hormone is released and that’s what you need to heal your wounds. If possible, take a nap during the day on top of at least 8h of, as good as possible, sleep.
Regarding anti-inflammatory drugs, be careful. If your body temp is not increased and the swelling reduces day by day, avoid them. Most of those drugs are a straight attack to the stomach. If your body temp is increased, you have fever and/or swelling on the impacted body parts is not getting any better, you may need them for a couple of days to help your body get on top of that. But carefully read the instructions and don’t take more/longer then recommended. If that still doesn’t help, get to a doctor for intravenous anti-inflammatory medication.
On your head-ache: were you tested for an eventual concussion? You crashed on your chin, so that may have caused a concussion. But it could also be a whiplash or an over-extension of the big muscle going from your neck to the top of your head. Make sure to hydrate well, because you wouldn’t be the first athlete forgetting that now that you are training a lot less.
Broken limbs usually come together with overstretched muscles/tendons. Those need time to heal, nothing you can do about that.
Make sure to eat healthy, lots of green vegetables, fruits and maybe have a bit more of the milk products which will aid in bone restitution. If you already have a healthy and varied diet, no need to take any supplements.
Light aerobic exercise shouldn’t be a problem. To improve comfort on the trainer, add a block of wood or a book (10-20mm) under your front wheel. That will decrease weight on the front (your arms). Avoid tissue breakdown exercises (VO2, anaerobic) because that requires your body to not only heal your injuries but also the muscle tears. Don’t force your body to do both. it will only slow down the healing.
If you can keep doing light aerobic exercise, you will not loose much cardiovascular fitness. The strength will need to be regained afterwards.
Massage, mobility exercises and IR (as suggested above) will help the healing of tendons and muscles. Again, nothing that increases pain!
ooh - you probably are not going to like what I’ve done.
I’ve been trying to avoid painkillers period but last night I took ibuprofen and woke up the best I’ve been yet so … I guess we will continue that - I didn’t follow any of that temperature stuff - my apple watch monitors my skin temp - there’s nothing out of line there.
Re the concussion - was tested at urgent care / emergency room - they were all amazed (me too) no concussion symptoms period. The neck makes sense, I really haven’t felt that - the shoulder was a nightmare but is getting better.
I already eat a bowl of spinach every day and 3-4 6oz milk protein shakes
Oooook - so last week I re-upped my Zwift membership - I’m on week 2 of the beginner FTP builder and this morning I posted a PR 651W in 5s (FTP 175). I’m mostly not on the handlebars - I can’t grab the hoods yet (pain) and I can’t get into the drops (pain). I mostly use the handle bars for balance but this morning yah I got a little over my ski’s but holy crap it felt great.
I have a red light pad on the way today - will start on that tomorrow.
Thanks for the advice - I like all of it except for not doing workouts - there’s just too much harm there to my mental health - I can’t live like that but I think I am being smart how I do them.
I fractured my pelvis in three places in mid-May and had a lot of pain. Four years ago I fractured my medial tibial plateau which is very bad place to have a fracture - I was in a full leg brace and non-weight bearing for about 10 weeks. So in other words, I have some experience coming back from a significant layoff.
The most important three things I can tell you is what both times the doctors and physical therapists have told me - 1) if something causes significant pain while you are doing it, stop immediately 2) if something feels ok while you are doing it but you are in worse pain shortly thereafter and it doesn’t get better quickly, you did too much and should not do that again for at least a week or 10 days 3) in other words, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.
The first time I tried coming back to quickly and all that does is slow down your recovery. I understand being very anxious to get back while at the same time trying to limit the loss of conditioning as much as possible. But you have to get that out of your mind and be realistic about where you are at. My experience is that even after 2+ months of almost no activity, if you are smart and cautious you will still be relatively strong within a couple of months of coming back and can be back to your previous conditioning/fitness level within about 3 or 4 months depending on how consistent you are with your workouts. BE PATIENT - you will get back to where you want to be faster that way than by pushing things too quickly.
“The most important three things I can tell you is what both times the doctors and physical therapists have told me - 1) if something causes significant pain while you are doing it, stop immediately 2) if something feels ok while you are doing it but you are in worse pain shortly thereafter and it doesn’t get better quickly, you did too much and should not do that again for at least a week or 10 days 3) in other words, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.”
This is really affirming for me because this is exactly what I have been doing - I am flexing the arm, trying to regain motion but I am quick to stop if I feel pain and quick not to repeat that action if I feel exaggerated soreness afterwards.
Fortunately or unfortunately, my arm has not been shy about letting me know when I’m doing something I shouldn’t.
Went to my ortho doctor for follow up appointment - elbow/arm is healing well, sat in the waiting area and then in a private room for about 20 minutes. PA comes in, says move your arms this way, move your arms that way, good, break is healing well.
I start talking about some of the other problems that I had from the fall, particularly my right wrist and I got about 5 words into that and she says “oh do you want us to x-ray your wrist?”
Now, she doesn’t know this but I had lasik last November and my wife has had a bunch of varicose vein work done on her legs. We were flirting with the end of our financial rope (HSA balance) before I broke my arm and the bill for the arm just completely cleaned us out. We don’t have a single dollar to spend or spare.
So the minute she suggests another x-ray, my heart just drops and I say “no thanks, I’m sure it will get better.” Meanwhile, I can’t put any weight on my right wrist without pain. I can hold a gallon of milk just fine but my hand flat on a table and push down and oh my god. You can see the swelling on the back of my wrist. I’m 90-ish % sure it’s not broken but even if it is I can’t do anything about it.
I wanted to go into stretching or lifting type exercises that would encourage healing in the wrist. But I just left. American health care is just the worst.
Sorry to hear this Jason, this is a terrible spot to be in.
The only people in the US who think we have the best healthcare in the world are the wealthy, and those who haven’t needed significant medical attention.
the thing is … I would be okay with it if I could make a value judgment at the time of decision. For example, I’m going to x-ray your wrist, give you an evaluation today and a follow up 4 weeks from now for $300. That at least makes sense to me but having absolutely no idea what the cost is going to be leads me to turn down most healthcare options unless I have no other choice.
To me, I think the healthcare industry has hidden behind “that’s insurance” for far too long. If insurance won’t work with you on those things, refuse to do business with them because you’re selling a capital “C” Crappy product to your customers.
