Most doctors aren't athletes so I find they tend to be a bit conservative on the whole "time off" issue.

I'll share a happy "It Could Happen to You" story just for balance.



One of my good ridding buddies is also a RN. She crashed her bike and had a nasty bruise. One week later she was doing a long trail run and fell on the exact same spot. Now she had a huge nasty hemotoma (looked similar to the pics you posted) on her thigh. She did the ice and elevation thing.

She took one day off, then started swimmimg. Two days later she did an easy spin. By the end of the week she was running again.
Less than a month later she did an olympic distance tri.

What does this prove?

Nothing.

Just wanted to let you know that not everyone who gets injured ends up with a blood clot and loss of life and limb.

I think her theory was that keeping active would help with blood flow and help with healing. She still has some light bruising and bumpiness in the area, but doesn't seem overly concerned about it (and she does have the benefit of medical training).