Eastern Medicine for crashes

[dirt dame 561]

I have been going to an acupuncturist lately, and when I went in today for a session, my doctor (or healer) asked me what had happened to my left eye, so I explained that I had been on a night ride in the desert and gotten poked in the eye by a bug and a branch (not necessarily in that order). She said she had something that gets rid of bruising fast and mixed up a mysterious little cup of herb extracts for me to drink. I hope it works. If it does, it might be something I want to keep on hand for those days that are sort of crash filled out on the trail. Instead of saying "That's gonna leave a mark" I can just break out the eastern medicine bag and brew up a little remedy.

[Chief Gunner 2]

I've heard that warmed spoons used smoothed side down with mild pressure & mild massage on bruises works too

Good luck

[dirt dame 561]

I've heard that warmed spoons used smoothed side down with mild pressure & mild massage on bruises works too

Good luck

Maybe I'll try that too. I don't like the "beaten wife" look with sunglasses or a cover-up with makeup. Thanks.

[christi20 0]

I bruise super easily. So, if that works, let us know. I am willing to try it.

[Spaugh 1]

you should invest in some wrap around glasses, or a helmet with a visor if you are going to refuse to wear goggles. Might save your eye some day

[sandiegoland 0]

Everything you wanted to know about bruising.

The conventional wisdom is the first 72 hours after an injury, ice packs are applied to constrict vessels and reduce leakage out of blood vessels. After about 72 hours, hot compresses are used to increase the lymph drainage.

...also take a peak at RICE.

[dirt dame 561]

you should invest in some wrap around glasses, or a helmet with a visor if you are going to refuse to wear goggles. Might save your eye some day

I know, I know.....and it's not like I don't have plenty of nice goggles and spare lenses. And I even wear them sometimes. Just not enough. I spend so much time doing slow little singletrack trails, that goggles fog up and become uncomfortably hot and I have just gotten in the (bad) habit of not wearing them. This is the first time I got whacked by something hard enough to leave a bruise, although I actually got a small branch right in the eye a couple of months ago up at Pinnacles. Maybe I'll have to drill some holes in my lenses to keep air flowing inside the goggles. If I ever get any money again, I'll invest in some sport glasses.

[Ride-Orange 2]

She said she had something that gets rid of bruising fast and mixed up a mysterious little cup of herb extracts for me to drink.

"...fast..." is a relative term. Did it work or what?! :i-m_so_happy:

[dirt dame 561]

Everything you wanted to know about bruising.

The conventional wisdom is the first 72 hours after an injury, ice packs are applied to constrict vessels and reduce leakage out of blood vessels. After about 72 hours, hot compresses are used to increase the lymph drainage.

...also take a peak at RICE.

Well, I wouldn't have any problem resting the area under my eye! It never does much work anyway :i-m_so_happy:

I did put some ice on it for a little while when I got home and discovered that I had a shiner, but that part of my face is pretty sensitive to cold and the bruise was already pretty well established by the time I got home (after 2:30 in the morning). I probably hit a scraggly tree around the start of the ride, before we got to any of the technical stuff, so it was about seven hours before I even knew I had a bruise. I remember taking a hard left in some soft sand and blowing through a bush on the inside of a turn and I remember thinking at the time that it hurt pretty good. But shortly thereafter the pain dissappeared and I didn't think about it till I was on the highway getting hit in the same spot by a large insect.

In the past, I have found that getting ice (and some pressure) on a bruise as soon as possible, like immediately after the impact is the most successful way to keep from getting a dark bruise.

[dirt dame 561]

She said she had something that gets rid of bruising fast and mixed up a mysterious little cup of herb extracts for me to drink.

"...fast..." is a relative term. Did it work or what?! :i-m_so_happy:

If it is going away faster than it would have on its own, I can't really tell. It didn't disappear over night, and that, to me would have been fast enough. But it looks about 30% better today.

[christi20 0]

Thanks for the wikipedia info.

I still have this on my thigh from a bad crash in January of 2006:

Some hematomas form into welt-like formations that are hard to the touch. Such a formation is a sac of blood that the body creates to keep internal bleeding to a minimum. In most cases the sac of blood eventually dissolves, however, in some cases they may continue to grow or show no change. If the sac of blood does not disappear, then it may need to be

surgically removed

.

Surgically removed!? Yikes. I thought it would eventually go away.

Maybe lipo can suck that right out along with flab. :i-m_so_happy:

[darylhunter 1]

Thanks for the wikipedia info.

I still have this on my thigh from a bad crash in January of 2006:

Some hematomas form into welt-like formations that are hard to the touch. Such a formation is a sac of blood that the body creates to keep internal bleeding to a minimum. In most cases the sac of blood eventually dissolves, however, in some cases they may continue to grow or show no change. If the sac of blood does not disappear, then it may need to be

surgically removed

.

Surgically removed!? Yikes. I thought it would eventually go away.

Maybe lipo can suck that right out along with flab. :i-m_so_happy:

I had some serious brusing in the inner thighs after a road bike crash back in '89. After the bruses went away I was left with a hard lump on one thigh that was about the size of a quarter. It stayed there for more than 10 years before finally disolving back into my system.

[darylhunter 1]

I know, I know.....and it's not like I don't have plenty of nice goggles and spare lenses. And I even wear them sometimes. Just not enough. I spend so much time doing slow little singletrack trails, that goggles fog up and become uncomfortably hot and I have just gotten in the (bad) habit of not wearing them. This is the first time I got whacked by something hard enough to leave a bruise, although I actually got a small branch right in the eye a couple of months ago up at Pinnacles. Maybe I'll have to drill some holes in my lenses to keep air flowing inside the goggles. If I ever get any money again, I'll invest in some sport glasses.

When riding the trials bikes we don't move fast enough to flow much air and hence you very rarely see trials riders wearing goggles.

First time out I wasn't wearing mine and the guy I was riding with had me go back and get my sun glasses to at least have some protection. I was glad I did because riding through single track even at slow speeds had plenty of stuff whacking me in the face.

I ride now with a pair of wrap around bicycle style sun glasses and that seems to work fine. I get OK airflow, they don't fog, and sweat doesn't tend to drip down on them all that much.

Only draw back is that I picked a pair that doesn't seem to be that optically clear and can halo or glare over if I'm riding into the sun at the wrong angle. I hadn't given it that much of a thought when I picked out this pair because I've owned several sets of bicycle glasses in the past and never had a problem with glare. I'll spend a bit more time picking out the next pair.

[DigDug 0]

Here's a repeat of my "goggles save eyes" picture and story:

I was riding a very slow downhill in muddy terrain when the caked up knobbies caught a rut and threw my head into a manzanita bush. A 1" thick branch snapped and the end shoved directly into my goggles, pressing on my eye. The two cuts you see below my eye are from the edge of the goggles pressing against my face. It took about a half an hour before I wasn't seeing double, but other than a cool looking scar, no damage. Goggles saved my eye! (If only I could beat that into Mickey's head when I see him riding around with his goggles pulled down to his chinguard because they're fogged up!)

Had I not been wearing goggles, I would have lost the eye.. no doubt about it!!! Had I been wearing sunglasses - even impact resistant sunglasses - I'm sure they would have dislodged and I would have lost the eye. This was easy riding too, just had some bad luck with mud, a rut, and a rock... When I hit the bush, I felt the stick shove into my eye. I laid there for a few seconds, scared to open my eye since it hurt so bad. When I did, I can remember the feeling of fear when I couldn't see (vision was blurred, but I thought I was blind). Luckily, everything came back and is working perfectly today (I just tested 20/15 vision at the doctor today - both eyes).

From that day on - I ALWAYS wear eye protection and try and convince everyone that it's an essential piece of safety gear...

[RogerTOWM 0]

Goggles saved my eye!

Had I not been wearing goggles, I would have lost the eye.. no doubt about it!!! Had I been wearing sunglasses - even impact resistant sunglasses - I'm sure they would have dislodged and I would have lost the eye. This was easy riding too, just had some bad luck with mud, a rut, and a rock... When I hit the bush, I felt the stick shove into my eye. I laid there for a few seconds, scared to open my eye since it hurt so bad. When I did, I can remember the feeling of fear when I couldn't see (vision was blurred, but I thought I was blind). Luckily, everything came back and is working perfectly today (I just tested 20/15 vision at the doctor today - both eyes).

From that day on - I ALWAYS wear eye protection and try and convince everyone that it's an essential piece of safety gear...

Well said Doug! I will try to remember that.

[Jaynen 0]

My eye glasses fog up but my goggles are always fine. Wearing glasses under the goggles sucks tho :i-m_so_happy:

[dirt dame 561]

My eye glasses fog up but my goggles are always fine. Wearing glasses under the goggles sucks tho

Well, maybe it is the glasses that are doing the fogging, but the goggles covering them is whats making it happen. :i-m_so_happy: But whatever the case, it is a crummy deal. But so is this shiner.

[sandiegoland 0]

I wear contacts just for wearing under goggles. You have to pay the opto extra for a fitting, but a package of contacts lasts a long time if you almost never wear 'em.

I still prefer glasses for close-up work, hence I don't wear the contacts routinely.

[dirt dame 561]

Admittedly, the black eye is starting to go away quicker than I thought it would. It's getting lighter all the time. I can hardly wait to see how much has cleared up by tomorrow morning. :i-m_so_happy:

[dirt dame 561]

The bruise seems to be healing fairly quickly.

This was Monday.

and this is today.