Soft Tissue Damage and Tendon/Nerve Trauma.

[madisongrrl]

I've had pain in my left quad for over a month now. I injured myself in a mountain bike race, but don't specifically remember what I did (the race was super technical, it was pouring, the course was impossible, I fell so many times that I don't remember)

I went to the doctor and he thinks it is soft tissue damage. He wants me to see the PT because the concern is that there could be scar tissue. I can't get into the PT for another month, so I'm not sure what I should be doing until then. Anyone have a similar injury? What was the course of action?

I haven't been riding my bike for the past three weeks as I also seriously injured my left hand in a subsequent race. My nerve has been compressed and the tendon in my wrist is swollen and is sticking out. (I changed my setup - grips, barends and my watch was on too tight....raced a four hour race and now my hand is majorily screwed up). I'm not allowed to ride my bike off road and it hurts to ride my bike on the road even with my wrist splint. The doctors says my hand needs to rest. Again, anyone have a similar injury?

[crazycanuck]

Hey MG,

Owie!

I am unable to provide the necessary information you require BUT I am here to ensure you know someone has read your post and hopes you find someone in your area to help you.

Wahine Or Knot might be able to help you when they're back. Wahine on Tues or wed.

Rest & take care of yourself

C

[Sheesh]

Will you be seeing an occupational therapist, too? I have carpal tunnel syndrome, in addition to plantar fascitis and achilles tendonitis, so I'm seeing both a PT and an OT - and I'm amazed at what I've learned in such a short time seeing them both.

For the hand/wrist, I've learned some wrist stretches, but I don't know that you should be doing those at this point. My OT also recommended ice to reduce the inflammation.

I'm afraid I can't provide any suggestions, but hopefully Knot and Wahine can chime in. They've given great advice on other PT-related threads.

Good luck with your healing!

[LBTC]

Hey, MG

Sorry, I'm also in the I don't know enough about that stuff to help you camp.

But I do feel for you that you're hurt so badly and must stay off your bike. That part I can relate to. It sucks. But it is temporary, so have faith that you will heal.

In the meantime I'm sending light green and cream coloured butterflies to help you heal completely and quickly and to remind you to do only things that aid you in healing.

Hugs,
~T~

[Pika]

Hi madisongrrl-
Tell us more about the pain in your quad- then it is easier to know what to do.
Does it hurt all the time or only when you move it a certain way- does it hurt more when you straighten your knee or bent it?
Where is the pain- is it closer to your hip or your knee- on the inside or outside?
Is there a lump where it hurts?

Your wrist sounds like it could be a big problem! Does your hand or some of your fingers fall asleep? Does it get worse with certain movement? (bending your wrist up or down- or side to side?
A hand therapist or OT can be a big help- be sure to keep that splint on for now though- if it is really swollen you will have to rest it and a splint can usually help with that.

With more info wahine and Knot ( or me) can you you some more specific advice

[madisongrrl]

Hi madisongrrl-
Tell us more about the pain in your quad- then it is easier to know what to do.
Does it hurt all the time or only when you move it a certain way- does it hurt more when you straighten your knee or bent it?
Where is the pain- is it closer to your hip or your knee- on the inside or outside?
Is there a lump where it hurts?

My quad hurts mostly all the time. Maybe slightly more when it's bent, but I can feel it there all the time. The pain is between my hip and knee...but is a little closer to my knee....and is slightly on the outside of my left leg. I think I fell on the handle bar of my bike when I running the bike (the race was pure rain and mud) but I can't say for sure what happened. I think there is indeed a lump where it hurts.

Your wrist sounds like it could be a big problem! Does your hand or some of your fingers fall asleep? Does it get worse with certain movement? (bending your wrist up or down- or side to side?
A hand therapist or OT can be a big help- be sure to keep that splint on for now though- if it is really swollen you will have to rest it and a splint can usually help with that.

With more info wahine and Knot ( or me) can you you some more specific advice

The wrist is turning out to be a huge problem. Most of the numbness has gone away. But sometimes when I take off the splint I'm still getting a little numbness up the inside of my pinky finger. I can move my wrist around, but mostly I try to wear the splint and rest the tendon. Dropping the bar ends, changing my grips, having a wrist watch that was on too tight and slogging through 4 hours of a muddy race caused this. You can see that the tendon is swollen right underneath my wrist watch line.

Thanks!

[Pika]

Thanks for the info- sounds like you have given yourself a nice contusion in the muscle- there are a few concerns with this type of injury.
If it happened about a month ago the tissue should be well on its way to healing- but then you raced again after that right?
Tissue healing (if you don't reaggravate) it is about 4-6 weeks.
At this time you want to keep the tissue ( muscle) mobile with out further aggravating it.
Some very light self massage can help- if it too tender on the lump just work around it. I like to use this http://www.thestick.com/. Some of my patients just use a rolling pin though!
Sometimes with a very big contusion the bruise can go right to the bone and then the bone thinks it needs to try and heal so your body starts to produce calicum deposits in the muscle. This is called myositis ossificans.
Aggressive stretching and massage can make this problem worse- the best thing to do is very light gentle range of motion -
1) lying on your back slide your heel to your bum
2) lying on your stomach bend your knee until you feel a gentle stretch in your thigh- then lower it slowly.
The trick is to keep you muscle working gently and not overdoing it.
PT will help- so keep that apt- they may need to use some modalities to help break up the scar tissue around the injury- other more aggressive stretching and massage can help too if there is no indication of myositis ossificans.
If the lump is very soft and mobile it is likely just scar tissue- if it is very hard or still hot and red then please be gentle with the stretches!

hope that helps

[madisongrrl]

I ordered the stick. I want to do a little prework before I goto PT. Do hand injuries of this nature also take a long time period to recover from?