Hematoma (I guess)

[ChickWithBrains]

Hematomas can take weeks, sometimes months, to resolve. And in rare cases they can calcify and never go away completely. You're doing the right things, especially massage. You damaged the area, and as good as the body is at repairing itself, it's not a perfect system and not everything heals perfectly. Persistent hematomas are one example.

[jules]

the hematoma might need to be drained by your doctor. if you wait too long, the blood or whatever can get too hard. i'm not a doctor and i know i'm not using the right terminology - just going by what happened to my friend.

also her doctor told her that she could still work out as usual, which for her meant lots of running and biking.

[OakLeaf]

Thanks. It's a lot smaller and continuing to shrink slowly. I haven't been for a run since the crash, but for the last couple of weeks that's been because of other things, not pain.

[Kalidurga]

Thread resurrection!!

My question is: Is it safe to cycle with a hematoma on the inside of the thigh? I crashed this past weekend and my inner thigh apparently slammed against the saddle as I went down. It's gotten larger over the past couple of days and hurts a bit if I move that leg the wrong way or put my foot down with too much impact. As of this morning, I can see a smaller yellow/greenish bruise at the top, so it's obvious that the reddish/purple mass below it is all blood. I'm going to the dr next week to have the stitches in my elbow removed and the nurse said it should be fine to wait and have the dr look at my leg then.

In the meantime, I'd really like to get out for a gentle ride or two this weekend-- just an easy spin on a flat trail, no mashing up any hills or anything like that. What say ye knowledgeable ladies? Do you think it'll help, hurt, or not have any effect at all?

[alpinerabbit]

Sure, go for a ride -

except don't sue me if a blood clot moves and you get an embolism. But I guess it's not that large.

BTW
Last time I crashed hard on my MTB, I got a big tube of heparin gel to help dissolve the hematoma.

[Cataboo]

I went to urgent care a couple months back when I crashed my surly and had a big bump on my knee and then the bruise slid down my leg to the ankle and my entire calf was swollen. (that was like 3 weeks afterwards). I've still got a bump on my knee & it's numb around there.

Since I didn't have any pain other than the bruising, they didn't think there were any blood clots to worry about. So they just told me to elevate, wear a support stocking, and take 800 mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours, I think it was.

They didn't actually do all that much but look at it and massage it a bit. I wore the support stocking for a couple of days, even while riding and the swelling/edema in my leg went away.

So I think you're fine riding - wear a support stocking or compression shorts if you're worried about fluid collection. Exercising will get a bit of blood flow to the area, which can help if you haven't knocked out drainage.

If it was your ankle or something, I'd say you could alternate hot water & ice baths to try to take the swelling out - but that's hard to do with a thigh.

[Kalidurga]

It doesn't seem to be very swollen, but it sure is vividly colorful. I posted this once over in my little tale of woe, but in case anyone wants to see it again...

I started using Arnicare gel and pills last night and have been trying to avoid anything impactful, and I might try elevating it tonight. I was hoping someone would say that cycling would help with circulation and drainage