Saturday 19 July 2008

Incapacitated

Due to a ridiculous injury sustained whilst trying to negotiate the entry ramp to the underground car park at work with my bike, I find myself unable to function normally. I was attempting to put my security pass in my mouth so that I could ride safely down the steep ramp before the barrier came down. No doubt the bloody thing has sensors, but I'm always afraid it's going to bop me on the head as it takes a few seconds to sort oneself out before riding on. Anyways, the bike got away from me a bit and I could feel that I was going to over-balance and fall in a heap of sharp metal and concrete face first, so I took emergency action and yanked hard on the anchors, which stopped the topple, but meant that the bike caromed into my achilles tendon at some velocity, dislodging the chain and giving me a sharp intake of breath and a jabbing pain at my ankle.

Now, a pedal bash (sounds similar to pebble dash, doesn't it?) is an occupational hazard for any cyclist, and I'm almost always carrying a cut, graze or bruise on my lower leg, but I could tell immediately that this was going to be a sore one - though I did manage to ride the bike back home at the end of the day. This was probably a mistake.

The next day when I awoke, it was painful to walk, and so I hobbled onto the tube. As is always the way when you have a limp, you seem to come across someone else who also has one, and I was afraid, when the guy opposite me painfully struggled to get off the train, that he would think I was taking the piss. Luckily, the morning crowd at Victoria soon swallowed him up and so I could hop my way to the escalator without fear of such things.

Needless to say, everyone has been offering advice (see a doctor, use Deep Heat - er, no - take anti-inflammatories - er, yes) and needless to say I have ignored most of it, thinking that it would wear off in a matter of days. It hasn't though, and I have just started taking some ibuprofen, which seems to help a little for a brief period. If there is no improvement by Monday, I will force myself to attend at the quack.

It seems such a trifling thing, but is in such a vital place (I have previously suffered from a couple of stress fractures in my foot, so I am not unaware of the hassle of a foot injury) that it impacts on almost all areas of your life. Except using a computer, thank god. More than usual, however, the injury has made me think about getting old. Despite the systematic abuse I subject it to, my body has held up reasonably well so far, and though I'm no Daley Thompson, I can at least manage to ride to work most days, swim 42 lengths (soon to be 43) every Sunday and generally run around with the kids, playing footie or 'what have you'. As time goes by, I am of course likely to suffer from longer term and more serious mobility problems, and that scares the living crap out of me. I really value my independence (cycling is a true expression of that) and shudder to think how I would cope with either a mobility chair or simply lying in bed, waiting for the meals on wheels to arrive.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sympathise with your plight as I have had numerous cycling injuries through the past 2 decades or so. Luckily mes jambes have come off more favorably in accidents. I probably could have cycled with a fractured elbow or a bruised rib and would have if I hadn't become a couch potato during my convalescences! Your bike becomes an extension of your body and you feel as if you've lost a limb (not that your's is going drop off). But the great thing about being off it for a while is that it's all the better when you get back on it. I'm talking cycling by the way! Some macho thing like racking up the old war wounds and being a stronger person for it, or some bollocks like that.

Anyway for pain relief I suggest you invest in some Neobun strips. I swear by them and within minutes of sticking one on they warm up the area and the pain is gone. Anyway that's one to add to the many people badgering you with remedies for the pain.

Myeral said...

Thank you anonymous. Sorry to hear that your jambes have come off and I really have a great deal of respect for someone who can continue to ride under such circumstances.

I will give the Neobun strips a try if the slow recover I'm in doesn't continue.

Anonymous said...

You should ignore the pain whilst at the same time acknowledging it for what it surely is: God's punishment for shirking.

Anonymous said...

And eating too many crisps.

Myeral said...

You've just mentioned my two favourite pastimes right there.

Anonymous said...

How apt, how poetic, that your achilles heel should turn out to be your achilles heel. Guards! Seize him!

Anonymous said...

Aw brother, c'n you spare a buck? I hurt my foot, ya know?

Anonymous said...

The money from the Walford Social Club was my downfall. No state bleedin fun'ral for me!

Anonymous said...

Shut up, you loser!

Anonymous said...

Who's for a nice bit of cobbler and a plum duff?

Anonymous said...

No. Thankyou.