Injuries, Pain, Generally outdoing yourself - and what you do to mend up

[Kiloch]

Hey guys

Thought id start a thread on injuries - every one has fallen off at some time, or suffered pain after training, or outdone themselves on a trail and paid the price later

I just want to know what riders do to heal common injuries and reduce strain on their bodies in order to keep riding...

i'll set the pace -

For a noob to the cross country side of things, more than just a ride to the park with the dog, i did a 4 hour ride around the extent of Daisy Hill with a couple of other guys who have trained longer and harder at this than i have. I was carrying a pack which probably weighed a bit much for my fitness level,

general exhaustion set in, and for a day or two it took me a while to pick up my energy again. however, the more serious side, i can barely lift anything now, my lower back is causing me a LOT of pain, sometimes i cant sit, other times i cant stand, sometimes if i move my legs to turn while walking i nearly go through the ceiling... i havnt been to physio before, and i believe my doctor isnt the right person for this kind of injury.

Any advice? Post your own experience below.. you never know, someone might need to know the difference between a serious injury, and just pure simple lazy-person-related-injuries such as mine.

 

[richie_gt]

My injuries that I've accrued through mountain biking and soccer have only been fixed by one thing...time!

If you injure yourself your body needs time to recover...in my experience I've found physio etc has sometimes prolonged the healing time (I'm specifically talking about a knee injury!)

Again everyone is different but that's what I've found works for me!

 

[bolger]

I have issues with my knee from time to time and see a physio. A physio will give you stretches and exercises to do to strengthen areas that are lacking. Try it and decide for yourself.

Also, keep in mind that a 4 hr XC ride for a noob is massive. You've done well to even finish an XC ride that long as a noob. As has already been stated - give yourself time to heal, don't push your body too hard and repeat injury and build up your strength and endurance over time.

Hey guys

Thought id start a thread on injuries - every one has fallen off at some time, or suffered pain after training, or outdone themselves on a trail and paid the price later

I just want to know what riders do to heal common injuries and reduce strain on their bodies in order to keep riding...

i'll set the pace -

For a noob to the cross country side of things, more than just a ride to the park with the dog, i did a 4 hour ride around the extent of Daisy Hill with a couple of other guys who have trained longer and harder at this than i have. I was carrying a pack which probably weighed a bit much for my fitness level,

general exhaustion set in, and for a day or two it took me a while to pick up my energy again. however, the more serious side, i can barely lift anything now, my lower back is causing me a LOT of pain, sometimes i cant sit, other times i cant stand, sometimes if i move my legs to turn while walking i nearly go through the ceiling... i havnt been to physio before, and i believe my doctor isnt the right person for this kind of injury.

Any advice? Post your own experience below.. you never know, someone might need to know the difference between a serious injury, and just pure simple lazy-person-related-injuries such as mine.

 

[nismo]

Firstly with the level of pain you are feeling, unless it is getting better after 3 to four days I would definitley see a physio. Sound like very stiff and overused muscles are extremely tight right now.

Now that you know your max next time set out for only a 2 hour ride until you get use to the load.

Once recovered I would add some core strength exercise to your workout, planks, side planks, lundges and squats for example. It will help !!

In terms of recovering right now only time will help this pain go away. Massage and light general movement can help remove bruising in some cases.

Ps. Were you sitting and riding alot? All that impact (hardtail) can really bruise up the lower back.

Ps. I'm not a phyio just some guy that has wrecked himself the same way you have

 

[Xavo.au]

Voltaren gel is really good as well. I sometimes get lower back pain and I use Voltaren just before bed to ease it off and get a good nights sleep. Nismo might have the right idea, core body strength is pretty important and can help you avoid quite a few strains etc.

 

[mr chicken legs]

make sure your bike is set up right. better to avoid those sort of injurys than to try & get over them. i wrecked my lower back that way saddle was cracked.so i was riding one hip down took a long time to get over it.

 

[Halo1]

Hey guys

Thought id start a thread on injuries - every one has fallen off at some time, or suffered pain after training, or outdone themselves on a trail and paid the price later

I just want to know what riders do to heal common injuries and reduce strain on their bodies in order to keep riding...

i'll set the pace -

For a noob to the cross country side of things, more than just a ride to the park with the dog, i did a 4 hour ride around the extent of Daisy Hill with a couple of other guys who have trained longer and harder at this than i have. I was carrying a pack which probably weighed a bit much for my fitness level,

general exhaustion set in, and for a day or two it took me a while to pick up my energy again. however, the more serious side, i can barely lift anything now, my lower back is causing me a LOT of pain, sometimes i cant sit, other times i cant stand, sometimes if i move my legs to turn while walking i nearly go through the ceiling... i havnt been to physio before, and i believe my doctor isnt the right person for this kind of injury.

Any advice? Post your own experience below.. you never know, someone might need to know the difference between a serious injury, and just pure simple lazy-person-related-injuries such as mine.

Hi,

I think you need to separate general recovery from injury recovery. Then you need to look at whether your injury/pain is caused by bad repetitive movement or if it is more impact related such as a decent fall off the bike. If you are injured you should really get some kind of professional treatment. But if it is related to bad movement in your body on and off the bike then you need to address this as well.

Check out bikejames.com as there is some good info on there about mobility and bad movement issues.

For normal muscle recovery get a foam roller.

 

[nickz]

I have had back pain for the last ten years at least (I'm 32 now) from a previous job of lifting and twisting , generally lifting very heavy things with my back and not my legs. I developed a bulged disc in my lower back. I went to the physio back in the day, but all I got out of that was the concept of stretching my hamstrings to aid in lessening back pain. I have since had back pain any time I have played a real impact sport, like basketball or tennis, they really seem to cook my lower back right at the disc I hurt. Mtb can leave me in a bit of pain at times, but at least you have your legs to absorb impacts.

What helps is the gym and stretching for me, I do barbell deadlifts (start very light!!!!) and back extensions (on a machine) to work my lower back, and this had reduced the frequency of lower back pain big time. Bike riding doesn't leave me with back soreness much any more. If you are carry extra weight obviously that will not help, as it's that weight (plus your backpack) going straight down your spine which is hurting you.

 

[Kiloch]

Thanks for all the support guys..

I believe its just a movement related injury, twisting, turning, strain, having a backpack whack and pull down and cause a bit of extra pressure on my system, having only just got back into biking, and doing the 10k's around daisy just really threw my system.

I'm working harder at setting up the bike properly, i'm chasing down compact tools, and small under seat pack, water bottle and holder, etc to take away the need for the backpack

i cant really adjust the dual suspension any further, i've completely unwound the pre-tension on the front forks, and the rear spring i believe is only there for 'looks' as its pretty rubbish and its just a standard part - can you convert to a dampner?

I'm also going to get into training mid week and do shorter weekend trips and work my way up, exercise and correct stretching, after what i read above from you guys, is the key to strengthening muscles and joints, and relieving your body of future pain.

I am really enjoying this sport its taken over me - so you can tell how unimpressed i am to actually be injured - or as someone wrote up their a bit - just a bit sore GRRR!!! haha

 

[Dwain]

Ahh the dreaded back pain.
I suffered from this and it rears its ugly head if I dont go to the gym. Initial pain was treated with morphine, diazepam and indocid.

Now I just keep doing the right back exercises and I haven't had this for while.

I hope I didn't mis read the op's title but I'll mention my moment of outdoing... Well.. Myself

I'm writing this while recovering from a significant injury received on boxing day at ourimbah.

I hit the ground pretty hard and ended up with a ruptured kidney, ruptured spleen (internal bleeding) and three broken ribs.

As for advice on this particular recovery. Don't move for 4 weeks. No riding for 3 months (Risk falling off again)

Prevention - No matter how many times you ride a trail, you should always bring your "A" game
I'm now researching some form of guard for that area of the body so as soon as I find a good one for MTB/Dh use I will let you guys know,

 

[harmonix1234]

I bonked once pretty bad and took me near a week to feel normal.
Rode 150km for the first time ever and got all excited and then thought I'd tackle Mt. Wellington and tag it onto the end of the ride. See if I could make the 200km mark.
I was out of food and water before I even got there. In fact I only ate some cinnamon toast for brekkie and packed two bananas for the ride.

I thought I'd be a big man and push on.

I got to a place called fern tree (roughly half way up the mountain) and I caved pretty hard. I had to stop for a bit and collect myself.
Hands so weak I could hardly hold the grips and I had tunnel vision. My peripheral vision was all black and my ears started ringing and I couldn't feel my feet.
So dehydrated now that I had already stopped sweating and I was cramping up.

Only another 5kms and about another 800 metres up. Keep on going. You can do it. There'll be plenty of time to recover at the summit.

I got to the summit (don't actually remember the bit between fern tree and the summit at all) and collapsed in the car park and just lay there for a while staring up at the clouds amongst all the tourists and mini buses.
The toilet block was closed so no water.

After about 20 minutes I got back on and started descending and I almost had a blackout when I first lunged on the pedals to get going.
That's OK, just take it easy. It's all downhill and only another 30kms to home.

I made it home and collapsed in the shower and went all dizzy and couldn't hear properly.

A week later I still felt weak and it took me about a month to get my strength back in my legs.

My right knee has never been the same since. I fucked it somewhere up the mountain but I blocked it out along with everything else.

It's mostly a blank now. My most vivid memory of the whole thing was an Asian man offering me a lucky strike cigarette at the top. Which I accepted for some stupid reason.

Now, I always take more water and food than I need, and I don't go too far past my limit too often, and I rest a lot after a decent ride.
Good quality rest is the key. 6 hours solid is better than 10 hours broken.