crash

[fretwes]

Unfortunately I was in a crash on Friday morning. I locked up my brakes and catipaulted myself onto the pavement.

Luckily, my injuries were pretty minor - broken finger, mangled ear (is held together with stitches for now) and skin abraisons on my neck, face, shoulder and back, as well as a lot of bruising on my back, neck, shoulder and head.

I'm feeling pretty good all things considered and the doctor is pleased with how quickly my skin is healing. What I hadn't bargained for was the exhaustion! I get up to do some simple task and have to lay down and rest afterwards. Is this normal?

By the way, my helmet saved me from serious head injury. It was broken in two.

[TsPoet]

Glad you were wearing a helmet and are OK.
No advice, though. Suspect your body just needs time and rest.

[bikerz]

OUCH! Glad you are healing well - just take your time and rest when your body says so!

Thank goodness for helmets!

[Trekhawk]

No advice for you but Im pleased to hear you are doing ok.

Take care of yourself and get plenty of rest.

[Lenusik]

It is pretty normal to be tired of bruises. It is pain and it makes you exhausted. If you take pain meds – more so, they are usually drowsy.

Take care of yourself and speedy recovery to you! You should frame your helmet!

[Brina]

Glad to hear you had that helmet one and are healing nicely. So sorry for your crash. yes, unfortunately, the exhuastion is normal. Your body is using a lot of energy to heal itself leaving not a lot more for other tasks.

[Duck on Wheels]

Uff da. Ow ow ow.

As for tiredness ... I'm not a medical expert, just an ol' lady. But to me, good sense says that especially if you're healing fast enough to impress your doctor, your body's working hard at doing that job. It'll need rest. There's also always a bit of emotional trauma, stands to reason, when you take a sudden dive over the handlebars. That has to be a nasty surprise to body and psyche. So if your body tells you to take a nap now and then these days, I'd say pamper it for now and show it you're grateful for its resilience and healing power. It'll be grateful back to you later.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[fretwes]

Thanks guys I appreciate the good wishes. I always wear a helmet but considered it a pain - until now, I've seen firsthand how it can save a noggin! Yes I guess it makes sense that healing requires energy.

[mtkitchn]

Wow, sorry to hear about your crash! What bikeless and the others have said.....emotional trauma and your poor body trying to heal itself from what sound like a little more than "minor" injuries!

[DeniseGoldberg]

Wow. While I'm sure that you would have preferred to skip the crash, I'm happy to hear that you can say "my helmet saved me"! I'm sending healing wishes your way... and I agree with what everyone has said about giving your body time to heal.

--- Denise

[Susie]

I'm so sorry to hear you crashed --I was hit by a truck a month ago and can relate. For the first few days, I got tired pretty quickly, too. It does get better, though.

My bike shop wouldn't throw my helmet away until it had been completely destroyed, so I got to take a sledge hammer to it out back. They are surpisingly sturdy. It took me 4 wacks before I broke the plastic. To have split yours in half had to have been quite a nasty crash.

Take care of yourself and get a lot of sleep. From my experience, the aches and pains do start going away after about a week.

Susie

[Deanna]

Glad to hear your injuries are relatively minor and healing quickly. I'll second the notion that being tired is normal--you're body is working over time.

A while back my husband was in a similar accident that split his helmet. He was working in a bike shop at the time and saved it for display in the shop. They highlighted the crack and whenever somebody (usually teenagers) started in about how goofy they look they'd show them the damage and explain he got a concussion anyway and it saved his skull from splitting. It's hard to argue against helmets with physical evidence like that.