Dumb question. Possibly busted bones

Had a tumble midweek and hit tarmac hard. Took most of the blow on my side and shoulder. Managed to ride home about ten miles, god knows how. Right arm just able to grip the tops of the bars. Lots of road rash and face a bit of a mess.

Showered off and went straight to A&E. Was seen relatively quickly as I had banged my head too. CT of noggin and x-ray of shoulder. Results of both came back clear and thought I’d dodged a bullet. However now a couple of days later I still can’t raise my arm and get a sharp pain in the region of my upper arm when I try.

Body is aching all over from whiplash effects now. Icing the shoulder and taking paracetamol. Not got much in the way of pain except when I try to mobilise the arm. Doc told me to try to keep moving it, but honestly that is too much of a challenge.

Not sure what I’m asking. Was thinking of giving it this weekend then heading back to the hospital on Monday if there’s no improvement. Would it be easy to miss a fracture to the humerus if the shoulder joint was x-rayed? You’d imagine not? Can push area with fingers and doesn’t cause pain.

A bit gutted. Genuinely thinking it’s time to hang up the cleats. Only 6 years after another big one where a driver broke my back. Sob.

Rotator cuff or something like that possibly? I did mine many years ago and still can’t raise my arm properly (no pain, but won’t go straight up). Heal quick!

Rotator cuff injury seems likely, either a tear or a possible impingement syndrome.

Book into a routine appointment with your GP (or open access physiotherapy if available), waiting a few weeks for things to settle down are likely to be beneficial anyway. In the meantime take painkillers and keep moving.

It’s not unknown for fractures to be missed on x-rays, but it’s unusual, and most x-rays are reviewed by radiologists these days anyway.

Cat Aids?

Probably not the bad kind, yet.

Thanks. Yes I’d considered a rotator cuff injury. A total disaster as I’m a keen swimmer too.

Kramer, you’d suggest going the GP route instead of back to A&E?

Definitely sounds like rotator cuff – I have done mine twice (once mountain biking, once snowboarding). After the snowboarding one I was similar – I couldn’t lift my arm above shoulder height.

I recovered in full both times (over a few months – it wasn’t immediate) with nothing more than a visit to the GP and advice to take industrial amounts of ibuprofen to reduce swelling which reduces pressure on nerves which is the cause of lots of the pain.

Thanks, that’s a shred of positivity I’m going to hang on to.

Could be anything, I was taken out by a snow boarder many years ago, landed on my shoulder on icy ground. Thought I’d just have a bruise. Next day couldn’t move my arm, lots of soft tissue damage, bone edema, inflamed supraspinatus which partially separated from the bone due to edema. Took a year before I had full range of motion back!

Yup, painkillers (anti-inflammatories in moderation) and keep moving it as much as you can bear.

@wait4me

Kramer, you’d suggest going the GP route instead of back to A&E?

Yes I would. I suspect at this point you need time, painkillers +/- physiotherapy which is what General Practice are set up for.

In our area we have open access to both diagnostic (first contact (not the sci-fi!)) and therapeutic physiotherapy. Either would do depending on whether you want a second opinion or want to try a course of therapy. In general for these sort of things therapy tends to be of more benefit once the initial injury has had 4-6 weeks to settle down.

Have you considered a tricycle or stabilisers? 😉

Definitely GP visit… If you go back to A&E with a clear CT you’ll be waiting forever. And I’d try ibuprofen if you haven’t already.

Thanks for the advice chaps. Yes, popped a Naproxen this morning.

Trike; there’s a thought! Though in my defence I doubt one would have made a blind bit of difference in either prang.

GP roulette on Monday it is then.

Rotator cuff +however many. Takes ages without seeming to improve until one day months later you realise your arm works properly again. Design fault in the human being, sue Darwin.

I am on the rotator cuff recovery route currently. Had a tear in December. Physio says I should hopefully be good by June. So try and see a physio when you can for proper assessment and treatment.

Are you able to online self refer to a NHS physio at a local hospital in your area?

*Yup, painkillers (anti-inflammatories in moderation) and keep moving it as much as you can bear.*
I was ‘prescribed’ (as in told to do it by the GP) a double dose of ibuprofen (so four tablets three times a day IIRC). Do not take this as medical advice for you!

Keep trying to move it can be great advice in many cases, in this instance, I wouldn’t worry a huge amount about moving it too much other than completely comfortable assisted (by the other arm) flexion (straight in front of your body). See how it settles over the next five days and ideally see a Sport Rehabber or Sports Physio if possible.

Although these injuries can take a while, depending what you’ve done and whether it’s just impact related inflammation with minimal structural tissue damage, they can also get better incredibly quickly if you don’t keep trying to load it. I’ve seen lots of patients over the years who just needed to offload properly initially to get on a quicker road to recovery. Sort things like pillows for sleeping and comfort too, and if your arm is feeling achy unsupported, stick your hand in your pocket, pop a cushion between arm and body when sitting on the couch etc etc.

A patient picture I can post 🙂 I hit a tree very hard, for the first four days I had about 10 degrees of movement forward or to the side, by day seven I was back doing pull-ups, presses, dips etc. Fingers crossed it’s quick, but a decent therapist should be able to guide you based on a proper assessment; you will have a much better idea of timescales in the next week or so.

Thank you steamtb, again some positivity that is a real help at the moment.

Got a trip to the Pyrenees for a road tour booked for June. Assumed I had no chance of making it but who knows

I twatted the back of a car at about 15mph in a spectacular misjudgement of intentions a few years ago and my shoulder took the brunt of the impact.

Exactly the same symptoms as you but it cleared up over the course of six weeks. Get well soon.

I ploughed a new furrow in some gravel with my right shoulder last January…still sore when I move my arm up and behind.
I can’t recall the name of the diagnoses but it needed strengthening (upper body strength is non-existant on me)…I’d knocked the shoulder and although not broken or dislocated anything, it’d been enough to wiggle a few bits around and resettle. The strengthening was meant to help it all but I got out of practice and it is still with me.

I banged up my shoulder (stupid crash at Llandegla) and couldn’t change gear properly on the drive home (had to use 1, 3 and 5). Really painful, but it settled down after a few weeks. I ket quiet abou it as I’d had my spine broken a year earlier (car v me), and ‘the boss’ would have gone mad. I’ve also had the left shoulder decompressed after a car hit me – left me with a long term painful shoulder that clicked, so eventually got the AC joint decompressed. Took 18 months to get back to perfect.

Anti inflamatories, maybe volterol gel.

Is the bike ok? We’re 22 hours in and no-one has asked yet. This place is slipping.

If it progresses to bad cat aids what bikes are we going to be considering first dibs on?

Same as johndoh, I have done mine twice by the same method.
Hurts like hell, I remember the pain trying to take off a T-shirt!!
Pain killers and anti inflammatories are your friend and as others have advised, keep try to move it, I promise, it gets easier.
Don’t give up on the holiday, my money is on you being ok. Not fully mended but enough to enjoy a bit of the dark side in the sun.

“Is the bike ok? We’re 22 hours in and no-one has asked yet. This place is slipping”

😂 Yes I think so. Rode 8-10 miles home after the crash on it. Will need to give it the once over but it’s a steel frame so I’ll be able to bash it back into shape if needs be.

Feeling slightly more positive today as it’s only the shoulder hurting instead of every muscle in my body.

Thanks to the positive messages from you guys who’ve been through it I’ve not given up on the trip just yet. Got the grim task of setting up the turbo just as the sun finally arrives.

Are your shoulders still the same height? A/C gives similar symptoms to rotator cuff.

With battered rotator cuffs I found sleeping was easier sitting up and avoided being completely siezed up in the morning.

I still have an arm that runs a bit wide when swimming.

I still have an arm that runs a bit

Definitely cat aids.

Don’t they review the X-rays a few days after the initial check? They did when I hurt my foot, they rang me up and said they’d made a mistake and I had broken a bone and needed to come in for a scan, they then found out I’d actually broken two bones but thankfully didn’t need an op.

So I’d just give the fracture clinic a call, or call NHS 24. I’d not go to A&E though.

Also when you have such a big fall, your whole body takes a beating and can cause inflammation in lots of different places, the inflammation can be the cause of pain and hinder mobility. So might be ok, just a part of your body’s healing.

Despite the initial clearance from the film taken at the time, I’d be cautious about completely ruling out the possibility of the shoulder harbouring an evulsion fracture.  These don’t always show up that clearly on a quick initial examination, so injuries are written up as soft tissue when a physio might help you identify something that will eventually heal a lot faster and more thoroughly.  Just chucking that out there, as it’s worth bearing in mind.

*Evulsion fracture: where a tendon pulls a small flake of bone out of a structure.  Usually heals very effectively with minimal intervention, besides smart physio input.

I went down on my shoulder when I tripped carrying my bike over a fence. Took six months before I could use it properly 🙄

I went OTB once and had one of those ^^ Evulsion fractures, little spur of bone where my rotator cuff attached on the outside of my upper arm.

I managed to carry on racing until I had to jump off the bike and push it up a hill out of a stream and that was a whole load of NOPE.  Then tried to take my top off before going to A&E because i didn’t want them to cut it off me, ****, got stuck with it half on/half off and had to ask a passing dog walker to help me out

Thanks again for all the input. Will keep latest points in mind.

I saw my GP this morning, think he was amused I wanted to see him so soon. Said the x-ray will indeed be reviewed, so will be hoping nothing flags up. See how it is in 4-6 weeks then the physio will have a look. Doesn’t fill me with confidence I’ll be making the Pyrenees. Ho hum.

Had a nice hike across the Downs in the sun, so all’s not lost.

Sensible advice from your GP. 😉

Quick update. Things improved a fair bit over the 3 weeks. First fortnight pretty grim but then got almost full movement back. Still some pain and definitely a lack of strength. Back on bike so Pyrenees is definitely going to happen. Managed a few lengths in the pool but that feels like pushing things a bit too much. Overall feeling positive though. Bullet dodged 😀

Hurrah, thanks for updating us.

Should have said thanks again for all of the advice, it really did make a difference I’m certain of that.