jdcutter

Hello all,
Back in April I was involved in an accident where a car hit me on my bicycle going across a cross walk. Long story short it's been about 5 months or so and I've recovered from 2 broken ribs and am fighting my way through post concussion syndrome with the help of my wonderful girlfriend. I'm also slowly but surely getting back into working out again with some swimming due to it being super low impact on my joints. There is something that is bothering me though. Recently all of my joints really seem to be bothering me unlike anything they did before wreck. My lower back and limbs especially flare up at times after relatively simple uses. I've been checked out by docs for xray, ct and so on saying I'm good in terms of bone breaks and or nerve pinches, however, the pain still seems to be getting worse little bit by bit. Is this common post a car hitting you while riding?

Thanks in advance.

DanBraden

I'm sorry to hear about your wreck. Recovery can take a long time and is difficult if you were active before and you want to get back what you lost...

Is it possible you're pushing too hard? Give us an idea about how much and what kind of training you're doing!

Some in here might have some "off-bike" recommendations to increase your riding strength without over working areas that hurt.

Clyde1820

Can't speak to getting hit by a car, but I've been through a handful of hard falls and crashes that left indelible changes in my musculature and ligaments (here and there). Makes for a longer recovery, that's for certain.

Uncertain whether you're doing any specific exercises focusing on strength and flexibility. Uncertain whether your muscles and joints are prepared for these things, yet. Depends heavily on how hard you hit, how much you bent during the crash, the depth of the injuries, and the degree to which your body is healing itself.

Am not a doctor, but I've been through a handful of impact-related situations where I've had to deal with periods of altered physical activity (even 'therapy') in order to recover fully. Including one instance of spending months learning to walk again before a several-year recovery back to 'normal.' (Wouldn't want to go through that one, again, but it taught me much about my own body's recovery ability, resilience, determination, listening to my body as it 'talked' to me.)

Some general suggestions, which will be heavily dependent upon your specific medical situation of course: take it slow; listen to your body; do strength exercises that'll get your muscles back into the game; do flexibility exercises that'll help your body work out the kinks; work on range of motion; work on improved blood flow (cardio, massage, etc). Definitely can benefit from massage; might benefit from ultrasound (depending on the type of injuries). Yoga can help. Pool work (water therapy) can help. Absolutely, allow your various muscles, and your body in general, recovery time in between workouts. It can take awhile, in some cases a very long while.

Definitely consider all the low-to-no-impact activities you can. Bobbing in the pool, kickboard, swimming (various strokes, if you can), rowing, recumbent bicycle, recumbent or upright ellipticals machines, upright skiing stations, TRX (strap) training in lieu of weights, light handweights (if you're able), etc. Again, as your body allows, listening to what your body's telling you about the recovery.

As for the concussion related aspects ... that's tough. I've had a couple of fairly mild concussions, over the years. They're never easy, even mild ones. And the impacts can be strange, and hard to tie into what's going on. Can affect perception, balance, memory, vision, and probably a host of other things.

I'm much older, now, compared to when some of the earlier impact-type injuries occurred, so I'm nowhere near as quick to heal or recover as I once was. And I certainly have somewhat limited range of motion compared to those early days. But I'm still active, just not as malleable and flexible as before, nowhere near as capable of taking "a hit" as before (without damaging things).

So, I work within the limitations that requires ... strength training to the limits of what my body will allow; cardio to keep the blood flowing and all areas of the body involved; stretching and flexibility; yoga and Pilates; occasional massage ... and no injuries over the past 30+ years.

Can't say those things will work for you, in your case, but many of them likely could help. As always, leverage your own doctor for specific advice and recommendations. Definitely listen to your own body, in terms of its limitations (which will change over time).

jdcutter

Thankfully I'm a patient sort. I don't get too gun ho about getting right back to where I was, but I'm definitely not used to my body being limited. I'm 6'6" and before the wreck I was about 230lbs. Now I'm 247. My previous style of fitness was HIIT (high intensity interval training) akin to crossfit, but with a more consistency based pace rather than WoDs. I'd only been on 2 rides before the guy at the stopped right hand turn hit me. So I'm still very new to riding a bike. Since being healed up mostly on the rib side of the injuries I've been doing mainly stretching with yoga bits here and there (my girlfriend is a trained yoga instructor) and I've been trying to swim one to two times a week. Very slow, and trying to focus on eating things to encourage body healing and losing a little weight with the lower back pain. I go on occasional walks as well trying to relieve the pain.

I think overall, my main concern comes from the overall joint aches across my body. They weren't there a few months ago, but now they seem to be slowly growing in frequency. Even after sex it proves to be something I need to rest up from in terms of aches and pains. My concern is that this isn't a normal healing pattern and I should swing back through my doc.

It has been a while since I got a massage though. That would probably really be very beneficial. Thank you for the suggestion!

toddbiker

If your healing protocol includes a low in sugar and high in anti-inflammatory foods, you may be experiencing a Herxheimer Die-Off Reaction.

jdcutter

Hi Todd, thanks for the suggestion, however, I'm not entirely sure I understand what Ive read so far about this. I generally eat relatively low sugar and foods I'm told are better for arthritis which I was told I might be feeling. If I'm understanding this correctly, I'm having a withdraw symptom based on this suggestion?

toddbiker

It might be, happened to me. Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoarthritis
Gout are on the list : https://www.vsan.org/pdf/Top-10-myco-toxic-foods.pdf
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