fell off bike (in much pain) advice

[jimmyhackers]

i fell off my bike 2 days ago. was an icy path and i was doing all of 5mph
i landed somewhat flat on my back with my right arm bent and folded behind my back.
it feels like it has pushed my whole right lower ribcage forward. (can see its ribs more prominantly though my chest)
and that my spine is twisted/misaligned.

breathing is painfull, moving is painfull, i cant bend over, i cant put any force whatsoever through my right arm/side (dominant side)
almost every muscle down my spine is guarded/tense.

i went to the nhs doctor the next day and all she did was stethoscope my chest while asking me to breathe in an out.
she said its either bruised or cracked ribs, nothing she can do, go home and take pain killers, can take upto 6-12 weeks to heal, come back if it gets worse

no ex-ray, no assesment of my spines alignment, she didnt even feel my spine or ribcage.

ive had similar to this a long time ago at uni, picked up a guitar amp, messed up lower back (essentially crippled myself)....nhs doctor said take pain killers and come back in a week if not fixed (no ex-rays or assesment of my back).....pain didnt improve, returned to doctor after 5 days....asked doctor about chiro/osteopath. was catagorically told wouldnt help, went to a local chiro next day.....and after an hour session i was hop, skipping and carthwheeling out of their practice.....like a miracle.

bit long winded, but just wondered if anyone can advise?

[DogDipstick]

If you cannot breath contact an emergency service provider . Get an X-Ray. Get a second opinion if pain persists.

Good luck to you. Sometimes you just fall the worst way.

I once went down from 30mph and my chest hurt for two months... Dented bike when the rear shock broke and the swinger hit the triangle.

I once went down at around 50mph and got right up and kept riding... bent bars and all.

[999zip999]

Three of my worst bike accidents happen under 6 miles an hour. Broken collarbone cracked ribs All the above.
Yeah there's nothing that could do about a cracked rib they can't wrap it they can't tape it it was broken in many places they could pin it together but usually they just let the muscles in the chest go back and forth like a balloon inflating and deflating and it'll find it spot and heal.
The worst part is trying to find how to sleep on it
Good luck take it easy I know it hurts to cough or the sneeze sorry to hear about it but my e-bike weighs 80 lb and when I go down I throw it aside

[Chalo]

bit long winded, but just wondered if anyone can advise?

Naproxen. Patience. Don't stop moving, but go easy. Eat right; get plenty of sleep.

[99t4]

Why not go back to the chiropractor?

[jimmyhackers]

thanks for the advice. it pretty much what i have been doing minus the painkillers.

it doesnt really feel like its gotten any better, or worse over the past three days.
more so my bodys learned how not to move as to not aggrovate it.

the original chiropractor was in oxford..... i live in birmingham now. i have booked an assesment/appointment with a local chiro for tomorrow.

[ZeroEm]

Go easy on the Pain Killers. Take them if pain is bad but if you can do with out them do it. Pain killers over the longer term increase your pain. How do I know, i'm living it. First doctor was giving me all the painkillers needed and it was getting worse (One reason when on pain killers you feel like to can function when you really can't). Second doctor explained it to me what was going on with pain killers and told me to get off all that crap as he called it. After a while my pain went down. Did not fix my back, over all pain is way down and sometimes non existent.

Doctors are not good at fixing back problems and if cracked ribs then only time will fix it. Follow everyone's advice take it easy let your body heal. Lot's of sleep and good food.

[goatman]

if nothing is broke, im a big fan of chiropractors when my back pops out, but sometimes if its a really bad injury i go for that electric shock thing you get at physio and crank it right up

its like Dr.Ho's thing but on steroids
https://www.amazon.com/DR-HOS-Therapy-P ... B01ES0M8WK

[jimmyhackers]

I went to the chiro today for assesment.

He confirmed my ribs were broken/bruised, but not out of place.
In addition there were two areas of my spine that were put out of place and needed adjustment.

however....as one of those points is near the swelling/muscle guarding caused by my ribs, it would be best to leave making any adjustments untill our next session which will be next thursday.

he said it wasn't "super" serious, i.e. my spine bones arnt broken, im not in imminent danger.

his advice was to get rest, stay mobile, light stretching but not asto aggrovate it.
use ice to help with pain if needed, but no longer than 5 minutes at a time.

[fechter]

I broke some ribs after a crash on time and it was one of the most painful things I ever went through. There is nothing they can do, really. It takes 6-8 weeks for a broken bone to heal. It might start feeling a little better after 2 weeks when the bones start to stick.

Just avoid doing anything that would re-break the fracture once it starts healing.

[ZeroEm]

Crashed my trike 14 months ago and i'm sure that broken ribs were involved. I was not posting on Endless Sphere for a few months and did not move very much. I'm in my 60's so took me couple of months to really feel better. The first days were the worst.

[Matt Gruber]

Read Dr Barnards book
FOODS THAT FIGHT PAIN
https://www.google.com/search?q=dr+barn ... e&ie=UTF-8

[jimmyhackers]

i dont suppose you can summarise the foods in that book?

i already eat a raw carrot every morning... natural anti-histamines, i eat them as it seems to quell my hayfeever.

[Tony01]

I’ve bruised ribs just by coughing too hard. It really hurts and makes you think something is wrong internally. It’ll pass but it’s going to take a while and you’ll soon learn which side you can’t sleep on.

[speedmd]

Slow speed crashes suck! Sorry to hear about it. Last one for me, had me curling my shoulder forward for several weeks and eventually cramping up my side and arm to the point it would wake me up from a deep sleep with shooting pains down my arm. After a few weeks of no good sleep, I convinced the doctor to get me some physical therapy for the situation prior to a more invasive shoulder remedy.

I was contorting and clenching my upper body to the point that my shoulders were not able to move as designed due to pain. This went on for a good 6 weeks and I lost a bunch of mussel mass due to atrophy. One thing I learned from this is that your posture and mild stretches will straighten this all out if done daily. Within a week of doing that twice a day, most all of my pain and cramping went away. Basic yoga stuff. Just mild stretching and flexing the best you can without major pain. Morning and evening. It's worth a try.

[jimmyhackers]

went to the chiro today,

he was able to do some adjustments to my upper neck and lower back area, but the mid back/chest/ribs area was still to "tender" to attempt.
this provided almost instant relief to half of my pains.

i can now walk/move without pinched nerve pains shooting about my back at every jolt.
but kinda obviously, it still hurts to breathe or use my left arm with any force due to my ribs.

i have been given a list of yoga type stretches and exercises to do twice daily.
i have to go back in a week.

[speedmd]

Bob and Brad are great at explaining things. A Bit goofy, but I now check in with them when I start to stiffen up a bit too much.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQwlu7FVJPY

[jimmyhackers]

haha, i watched them already. they really helped

im pretty much back to normal now. minmal pain, all of my mobility back.

the chiro and stretching exercises really help.

the NHS doctor who saw me......reallly didnt.
didnt even seem like she wanted to help.

i suppose thats bound to happen when you apply for a free UK university course because it comes with a bonus visa :s
meanwhile those who dont need a visa, have to pay through the nose for the course.

englands doomed

[Chalo]

My sweetheart fell off her e-bike a week ago and sustained a bad head injury including a brain bleed. She was wearing a good helmet, but it was not enough to save her from pretty grievous injury. She spent five days in hospital, which is very good considering the severity of her situation. She's recovering quickly and steadily, but her speech and walk are still affected, and she sleeps a lot (which is good). No clue as to when she can resume working, and she still needs 24 hour supervision (which is me, at least so far).

She wasn't hit or near-missed by a car, and she has no memory of what happened. I was able to find out the approximate location of her fall, and I couldn't identify any major surface hazards when I inspected it, but it was dark when I had a look. We haven't reclaimed her bike from police impound yet, and I hope it yields some clue as to what caused her to fall.

[Chalo]

the NHS doctor who saw me......reallly didnt.
didnt even seem like she wanted to help.

i suppose thats bound to happen when you apply for a free UK university course because it comes with a bonus visa :s
meanwhile those who dont need a visa, have to pay through the nose for the course.

englands doomed

If you think that's fun, try getting through the money grubbing USA health insurance system and persuading then to come through on their end of the deal. I spent hours on the phone yesterday trying to get my sweetie's insurance company to even acknowledge that she's a member. I had to pay them some more just to have them tell me they'd fix the problem sometime in the future. Until then, I can't even get some of her required follow-up appointments scheduled because the doctors won't schedule them without confirmation of insurance.

So complain all you want, but I'd go for UK or Cuban health care every time, over USA health care. We pay the most for the least effective, most difficult to use coverage.

[larsb]

I truly hope she recovers fully. I’ve been in accidents with memory glitch afterwards - i was lying in the wake of a lorry at 70kph with my road bike when there were old train tracks crossing the road at an angle. I went down, didn’t see it coming because of the lorry.
it was creepy, i lost about half an hour of memory that i didn’t get back. Dragged the wreck of my bike to work, tried to work but couldn’t see straight.. took quite a while to recover. That’s when the swedish healthcare shines. 20usd for the initial doctors visit, and received 80% of my pay during my convalescence.

[Chalo]

I truly hope she recovers fully. I’ve been in accidents with memory glitch afterwards - i was lying in the wake of a lorry at 70kph with my road bike when there were old train tracks crossing the road at an angle. I went down, didn’t see it coming because of the lorry.
it was creepy, i lost about half an hour of memory that i didn’t get back. Dragged the wreck of my bike to work, tried to work but couldn’t see straight.. took quite a while to recover. That’s when the swedish healthcare shines. 20usd for the initial doctors visit, and received 80% of my pay during my convalescence.

I wish that were as bad as it got for her. She'll be fine eventually I think, but it's going to take a while. She has Obamacare subsidized private insurance from a company that exhibits little interest in insuring her. Her employer is a bike shop that doesn't have workers compensation insurance as far as I know.

I've saved about half a year's meager pay a few dollars at a time over many years, for a rainy day. Well, it rained hard. I'd give it all away and more to get her healed up again.

[ZeroEm]

Chalo, hope it gets better. Our health care system is for the rich. even they need to go to 3-9 doctors to get anything done.

[jimmyhackers]

sorry to hear that chalo, hope she gets better soon.

ive always found the idea of the size of a doctors income being dependant on custom and moreso repeat custom a scary thing.

then you find out things like frequent use of paracetamol can cause migranes.

im fine now, chiroprator really helped a lot. A doctor suggesting pain killers (id have have to go and buy myself) didnt.

to me its maddening, how so many people right now are living with life debilitating situations that theyve had for years that could of be fixed with one or two adjustment sessions from an osteopath or chiro.

They havnt been becuase its been grouped into "not real medicine" and "dangerous" by the pill pushing pharmacutical companies and their various media lapdogs and doctoral salespeople.