crash bruise ouch!

[ski girl]

I went mountain biking today and came over a pile of rocks, straight over the handlebars and landed on my face. I have a bloody lip which is not very pretty, but I also collected bruises on both knees, an elbow, and one thigh,

The thigh one has swollen up and the leg is not supporting my weight very well. Do I get concerned enough to go to the hospital? (I'm on warfarin )

 

[Agian]

If it was me, I would get it checked out in the ED, especially the leg. Try not to fret too much, you're probably fine. But it's better to play it safe.

 

[ski girl]

Heheh I'm the least likely to fret person around! I've discovered that if I keep moving the leg feels better, although I'm unlikely to break any land speed records tonight!

And I got off lucky, I've since heard that the back side of that particular pile of rocks has indeed been removed to create a drop off, under the guise of trail maintenance, and another rider did the same as me last week and broke his shoulder!

 

[Agian]

Did you go to the hospital? I'd put something cold on it to reduce the swelling.
RICE: rest, ice, compression, elevation

 

[gerrychuck]

Two comments: First, when I saw a thread titled "Crash, bruise, ouch" I didn't even have to look to know it was from Ski Girl

Second: Don't mess with a hematoma in the thigh; when bleeding is contained within the very tough connective tissue sheath of those large muscles, it can damage the muscle itself (called a compartment syndrome) or sometimes calcify and result in long lasting pain and dysfunction (the classic "charley horse"). Get it checked so that it can be drained if need be. Get some ice on it (short duration; 10 minutes at a time, repeat as often as necessary as long as the skin warms back up to normal temp in between) in the meantime. Good luck!

 

[carolinemc]

Just be sure to listen to the sound advice here and be sure to get everything checked out. You can't be too careful with being on warafin. Just be on the safe side. And let us know how you are doing in recovery. You did get hurt, ouch!. And I always get a bruiser and forget how I got it. Hugs for today.

 

[Jkm7]

When in doubt, check it out.
I'd have a doctor take a look.
Good luck..... hope you get a good report.

 

[ski girl]

Thanks guys, and ha ha Gerrychuck! I've woken up with much less swelling although everything from my neck down hurts so I'm having the day off. I'll keep a close eye on everything though, in between icings !

I think I'm the poster child for warfarin not needing to have a huge impact on your life. The ground seems to have more of an impact on my life!

 

[catwoman]

I would get it checked out -- warfarin or not... I've known folks who took a fall and learned later they had fractured a bone... Better to pay a little $$ and find out it's nothing than to live to regret not doing so...

 

[gerrychuck]

Definitely a good sign that the swelling is down; do keep an eye on it though!

 

[Ryan CA]

Ahh, the price you pay as a mountain biker. Anytime I have a crash like that, it is a relief to get it over with and have no serious injuries because I know that if you spend any moderate amount of time on the mountain bike...crashes will come. I feel good that I got it over with and can ride for a while without another one!

 

[TheGymGuy]

Hey Ski Girl, how are you doing today? Is the swelling gone? Are you back on the bike yet? I would not put it past you to get back and ride 7 days later

GymGuy

 

[ski girl]

Heheh GymGuy I was indeed back on the bike seven days later . . . how did you know? Riding stopped being painful on the Wednesday after and I got through Thursday spin class (and felt better for it) so I was back on the trails on Sunday for 22km.

This time I followed the very obvious mountain biking rule of 'keep the rubber side down'!!!

The thigh bruise is still a bit painful if I poke at it, so I've stopped poking at it, and running is now pain-free as well. Whew!

Thank you for asking about me!

 

[njean]

OMG, thank God you are okay! It could have been much, much worse, so you are lucky.

I had a similar spill some years ago while on a camping trip on my bike, (Christine, the bike from Hell!) I remember picking up speed on this steep incline going from the campground to the lake and the front tire of the bike catching the lip of the pavement and the shoulder. BAM....I spilled all over the road....lucky there wasn't any traffic or I could have been killed by a passing car! But I picked myself up, hiked up about a 1/4 of a mile, holding on to the bike. I almost blacked out twice but I made it back to camp about 2 hrs. later! Later that evening my husband had to drive me to the nearest hospital, 38 miles away through mountainous terrain. I had a fractured left elbow and banged up right knee! The arm was splinted, the vacay was ruined and we returned home. Oh well....after I healed though, Christine was my friend again!

The bruising may be pretty bad and getting checked out by the doctor is not a bad idea. Some of these injuries have a way of coming back to haunt us!

Take care!

 

[scott.eitman]

good for you! I am glad to see you pushing the envelope. I love this stuff.

 

[pellicle]

Ahh, this will be from that sedentary life forced upon you by Warfarin...

Well ... where are the pictures?

 

[jarno1973]

Hi Ski girl,

Good to hear you are ok..I love reading how you continue to enjoy your life and are not afraid to take a bit of risk here and there.

I am trying to do the same...have since a few months been back on a motocross bike...I promised myself to stay at a safe pace and not take too much risks but find that, once I am on the bike, I sometimes forget that part. Crashing every now and then is part of our game. In the few rides that I have had up to now I have already had a few fall-overs and one little bit harder crash...Crashing is never fun but these initial crashes have actually helped me gain some confidence in my body...had some bruises here and there but nothing significant..made me realize that not every tiny hit is going to have major impact and land me in hospital.

BTW what is your target INR? Do you try to stay at the lower end of your range or not?

My target is 2.0-3.0. Unlike most people around here I prefer my INR to be in the lower half of my range because I want to keep the increased bleeding risk at a minimum. INR's of 1.9-2.0 on my cougacheck have so far not bothered me or my surgeon much as where others seem to get really nervous. I have the On-x valve and I am assuming that if others who are in the test group can be in the 1.5-2.0 range there is probably not too much to worry if I drop down there every now and then (besides the warfarin I am on aspirin).

Regards,

Jarno

 

[Protimenow]

With the On-X, you may be at somewhat less risk of clotting than with some of the other valves. The WHO apparently thinks that a meter that is within 30% of lab values is okay -- so a 2.0 on a CoaguChek XS could POSSIBLY put you considerably below 2.0. Perhaps your higher (than my) activity level also helps reduce the risk of a clot forming because the blood is moving through your valve more rapidly, more of the time.

For me, historically, a 2.0 is a warning.

I'm glad to hear that you're okay.

 

[ski girl]

Thanks Jamo!

"Crashing is never fun but these initial crashes have actually helped me gain some confidence in my body...had some bruises here and there but nothing significant..made me realize that not every tiny hit is going to have major impact and land me in hospital."

This is EXACTLY how I feel. I've just stopped worrying about getting hurt, and live my life as I would if I wasn't on warfarin. I think we're safer on trails than roads anyway, at least the trees and rocks we hit are stationary and not trying to kill us, like, for example, cars . . . .

My INR target is 3.0-3.5 and I seem to stay on the low side of that. Protime I like your thinking, that really active people are at less risk of clotting as we are regularly pushing the blood through our valves at high speed!

 

[jarno1973]

With the On-X, you may be at somewhat less risk of clotting than with some of the other valves. The WHO apparently thinks that a meter that is within 30% of lab values is okay -- so a 2.0 on a CoaguChek XS could POSSIBLY put you considerably below 2.0. Perhaps your higher (than my) activity level also helps reduce the risk of a clot forming because the blood is moving through your valve more rapidly, more of the time.

For me, historically, a 2.0 is a warning.

I'm glad to hear that you're okay.

I guess it is all a big balancing act...I don’t want to be at risk for a stroke but with taking the additional risk of bleeding I also don’t want to be at the high end of my range...If I had a choice I would pin it down at 2.2 or 2.3 as in my comparison tests with lab results, I found the cougacheck to give readings that are between 0-0.2 higher than the lab result...I do not necessarily feel comfortable with an INR of 1.9 or 2.0....I would probably take some additional tests to make sure it would not stay there too long or drop any further...luckily the home testing makes all of that possible...