Why I Won't Be Extreme Ironing Anytime Soon

I'm a bit late writing today, partly because what I'm writing about didn't happen until this afternoon and partly because I've been trying to think of a title for this post which wouldn't, shall we say, make it come up in search results for people who are definitely not looking for a blog about novice cyclists.

As you'll recall, nearly two weeks ago I had my first ever fall off my bike and, as a result, this afternoon I had my first ever cycling-related doctor's appointment.  I am fortunate enough not to have to wait nearly two weeks for a doctor's appointment, it is rather that until now I hadn't realised that the particular injury I saw the doctor about was quite as bad (or would be as long-lasting) as it is.

When I fell off my bike, I had a number of minor scrapes and bruises (the one on my left knee was a particularly pretty colour, and I still have a visible imprint of my gears just above my right ankle), but the thing which actually hurt was my shoulder.  At the time, I assumed that I would eventually get a mammoth bruise, which would go through a rainbow of colours and then fade, along with the pain.  Not so.  The bruise never came, and although the pain did subside slightly, over the last few days it has actually got worse.  It isn't debilitating in any way - it hasn't stopped me from doing anything I'd normally do (including, crucially, cycling) - but it's there, all the time.  So, reluctantly, I booked an appointment with a GP as I had come to the conclusion from a bit of internet self-diagnosis that I might have a whiplash injury.  Yes, that's right, whiplash (now you can see why the title was tricky!)

As I fell off the bike (I say that, but I actually stayed on the bike, more or less astride it like one should be; it was really the bike that fell over, not me!) sideways, my neck will have been jolted sideways towards the floor.  I'm not sure if my head hit the floor or not, but regardless of that, my reaction will have been to pull my neck back up to centre again immediately, causing alternately hyper-extension and hyper-contraction of all the muscles and other bits and pieces (ligaments, tendons, etc.) in my neck, particularly on my left side - the side I went down on.  Since my fall, I've gradually been able to narrow down and now pinpoint the focus of the pain to a small area on the back left hand side of my neck, just above the junction with the shoulder, but I've been getting all manner of weird tingling, discomfort and aches in my shoulder, head and arm.

I explained the accident and the resultant pain to the doctor and he said yes, you've probably got whiplash.  A few years ago, the immediate response to such an injury would have been to put a cervical (neck) collar on and hope it got better.  Things have moved on, especially when the patient presents with the injury 13 days after sustaining it!  I've got a referral for physiotherapy, but I won't be able to take advantage of it straight away as I'll be away for the next two weeks (more on that in a day or two) - in the meantime, it's more ibuprofen, no extreme sports (I was going to do some extreme ironing while I'm away, but I won't be able to now) and hoping that a bit of a break will mean I don't need to use the referral on my return.

Don't worry though, I'm still cycling (with doctoral consent).  Cycling doesn't seem to exacerbate it and, in fact, because I have to concentrate so hard on what I'm doing, it actually takes my mind off the injury for a while.