Cycling UK Forum

Coming down a lane from old Winchester hill fort (East Hampshire) on my Sunday morning ride i hit an unmarked speed bump at somewhere over 20mph an ended up colliding with the road and using my head and right shoulder as a cushion. Fortunately the helmet worked so although I have several cuts and bruises the brain part still seems to be working. Very grateful to the couple of people who stopped to lend assistance and call the ambulance and take my bike home. However i have an extremely painful fracture and the hospital have put my arm in a sling, so now feeling rather battered. Has anyone got any advice on achieving a speedy recovery?

GWS! I'm not into ambulance-chasing, but it seems odd that I'm posting almost identical replies on two different fora within ten minutes (for different people and incidents). Take photos/document all your injuries and losses. Ask LBS for written estimate for repairs of replacement of your bike, and contact Russell, Jones & Walker (CTC Solicitors). It would appear that you have a claim against the relevant council for your losses and injuries. Good luck!

Sorry to hear about your injuries flat tyre and hope you do get better soon.
I had a similar incident many years ago (but ran over a fellow cyclist's shipped pannier)
and damaged my shoulder.
Forget the actual term for the injury (my clavicle is displaced from the actual joint and won't go back in).
I was off work for about 6 weeks and the best advice I can give is to do lots of exercises once recommended by your physio.
Mine's been great until a couple of months ago, when my mate had to haul me out of the canal
I did lots more exercises and it's been OK until midweek, when I damaged it again lifting logs.
If yours is an actual fracture, then hopefully once it's healed it shouldn't give too much trouble long term.

As advised above, I'd certainly contact the CTC's solicitors, but wonder do speed humps really have to be marked?
I've seen plenty (luckily just in time) that weren't.

fausto copy wrote: Forget the actual term for the injury (my clavicle is displaced from the actual joint and won't go back in)

The medical term you're looking for is 'cream crackered'
Fractured both my schaphoids and a radius head recently & it's killing me being off the bike

I sympathise Flat tyre having had both clavicle and scapula broken.... very painful.
As others; get some photos of the speed bump asap.
Did you get name address for people who stopped and were they witness to the accident?

Do not be in a rush in next few days to do lots of exercise other than cycling, let your body have time to repair and restore itself.
Multi vits, extra calcium and vit D, Arnica for the bruising as well as any pain killers supplied by hospital.

When you do start physio, do 3 sets of 10 of the exercises daily, do not over do it or 2 days later you will be so stiff you will be crying in the shower while to trying to loosen shoulder off.

If you have access to or can borrow a static trainer/exercise bike, then some pedalling while home watching daytime TV will help keep the circulation and legs moving. I also did a fair bit of walkiing until I could cycle again.

flat tyre wrote:Has anyone got any advice on achieving a speedy recovery?

Someone will give you advice about exercises. At some point the shoulder will stop aching. Don't do what I did and forget to do the exercises because the shoulder is no longer painful. I only realised a couple of weeks later that I did not have all the movement available that I should have had.

Sounds like you had a much worse injury that mine, no broken bones here. Hope it heals soon.

eileithyia wrote:I sympathise Flat tyre having had both clavicle and scapula broken.... very painful.
As others; get some photos of the speed bump asap.
Did you get name address for people who stopped and were they witness to the accident?

Do not be in a rush in next few days to do lots of exercise other than cycling, let your body have time to repair and restore itself.
Multi vits, extra calcium and vit D, Arnica for the bruising as well as any pain killers supplied by hospital.

When you do start physio, do 3 sets of 10 of the exercises daily, do not over do it or 2 days later you will be so stiff you will be crying in the shower while to trying to loosen shoulder off.

If you have access to or can borrow a static trainer/exercise bike, then some pedalling while home watching daytime TV will help keep the circulation and legs moving. I also did a fair bit of walkiing until I could cycle again.

Does arnica really work? I love the smell but had the impression it was a bit of a placebo. Leather, arnica and white horse linement. The smell of rugby. Vasilene for your ears too! (not sure I've spelled that right)

nez dans le guidon wrote:

eileithyia wrote:I sympathise Flat tyre having had both clavicle and scapula broken.... very painful.
As others; get some photos of the speed bump asap.
Did you get name address for people who stopped and were they witness to the accident?

Do not be in a rush in next few days to do lots of exercise other than cycling, let your body have time to repair and restore itself.
Multi vits, extra calcium and vit D, Arnica for the bruising as well as any pain killers supplied by hospital.

When you do start physio, do 3 sets of 10 of the exercises daily, do not over do it or 2 days later you will be so stiff you will be crying in the shower while to trying to loosen shoulder off.

If you have access to or can borrow a static trainer/exercise bike, then some pedalling while home watching daytime TV will help keep the circulation and legs moving. I also did a fair bit of walkiing until I could cycle again.

Does arnica really work? I love the smell but had the impression it was a bit of a placebo. Leather, arnica and white horse linement. The smell of rugby. Vasilene for your ears too! (not sure I've spelled that right)

Arnica doesn't perform any better than placebo. If it's homeopathic, then it is placebo because there's none actually in it.

Arnica is currently used in liniment and ointment preparations used for strains, sprains, and bruises.....With respect to the range of homoeopathic Arnica creams available on the market, these are generally formulated using the mother tincture rather than a dilution and therefore contain measurable quantities of the medicinally active substance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnica

I find it rather good, even if it is a placebo. My GP recommended it.

I ended up in Winchester hospital, 2 years ago, after landing on my shoulder from a 20 mph crash, but unfortunately for me the damage was bad enough to have an operation to remove and clean the joint and now it is permanently wired in place with screws holding it together as well. I had no idea how complicated the shoulder was, but got great advice from fellow sufferers during my rehabilitation period.

I was fortunate enough to have a great surgeon who also called on a shoulder specialist who is resident at Winchester Hospital and the initial treatment proved to be good enough to be long-lasting. It was 8 weeks after the accident before I could start physio and as I was already a member of a gym and regular user I carried out my daily exercises with due diligence and I think my rate of recovery was both faster and more successful than some had given hope for. However, it was 8 months later before I could ride my bike for the first time and I had put on unwanted weight during that time.

As a wise and mature ex-athlete I had the patience to recover at a constant progressive rate without compromising the healing process for haste of return to past glories...and that is the best advise I can offer!!

I'm beginning to wish I hadn't started to read this thread after reading Phil Parkers contribution!
I'm going for an MRI tomorrow as the shoulder specialist treating me after seeing my CT scan is sure I shall need surgery similiar to Phil's, and wants a better look before the surgery. I had a look the CT scan report with my GP. The description of the damage was frightning, talking about loose fragments in the joint and marked distortion. I came off at 30 mph that resulted in the shoulder injury along with 5 broken ribs, a punctured lung, fractured clavicle and cracked scapula. These injuries have delayed surgery on my shoulder.
I didn't realise how long it may be before I can start physio, but I'll be better prepared in my head for this now, thanks Phil.
I've started going to the gym to work on my legs but it's surprising how difficult it is as having your arm in a sling and avoiding any movement to my shoulder. If I didn't go I would go "stir crazy"!

So I suppose the message is keep motivated but be careful you don't do any damage that may inhibit recovery.

Well, I won't go into the gory details of mine, but there was no delay in surgery!!

Gory enough for those not used to such sights I would think PP.
That 's a nice line of staples there and some lovely multi colours you could market it as cycling top for those concerned about us wearing dark colours !

Hill lover, you must be careful not to start to exercise your arm too soon after the surgery, the soft tissues have to recover and strengthen and wrong exercise too soon can cause problems with dislocation.
As said the shoulder is an immensely complicated joint and I learnt a lot about during in my physio sessions.

Well it looks as if the most sensible advice is to sit here quietly for a few days, improving my left handed typing. I'll consider obtaining legal advice. The road in question is a country lane, national speed limit and no warning of speed bumps and the one I hit is completely unmarked.

Great, do I get one of these tops after my operation? Looking forward to it now!

Thanks for your concern Eileithyia. I keep my arm tightly strapped to my chest, and cycle etc. at a pace and effort that doesn't cause any undue movement. I just need to do something active. The instructors at the gym are eagle eyed and would give me a well earned slap around the head if I was doing too much, and that's the ladies.

Flat tyre, have you taken any photos of the road as what you describe sounds like an accident waiting to happen before you start any legal action. If not, I would suggest you do ASAP and let your council know to enable them to do something about it before someone else comes a cropper.