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The Leg

On June 19th I went mountain biking with G in the Santa Cruz mountains - El Corte Madera trails. Came to a downhill technical rooty section and probably tapped the front brake a little too hard and went falling over the handlebars. I guess the pedal swung and hit my leg but I popped right back up, told some nearby hikers "I'm fine!" and pedaled out of there. Maybe it was the adrenaline- I was able to continue biking for a bit (and pushing some of it uphill)- then my leg started swelling and hurting bad. Leg so hurty.

A few hours after the crash

Later that night

The next day I went back to Seattle. Needed wheelchair service at the airport (awesome!) and went to the ER for an X-Ray and Ultrasound. Contusion and hematoma. No biggie they said. Just lay off it and rest. I used crutches for a few days and since then I've just been gimpin' and hobblin' along. Got a handicap parking placard too. I'm amazed by the regenerative properties of the human body. The circulation is turning the rest of my uninjured leg strange colors. Wiki:

The striking colors of a bruise are caused by the phagocytosis and sequential degradation of hemoglobin to biliverdin to bilirubin to hemosiderin, with hemoglobin itself producing a red-blue color, biliverdin producing a green color, bilirubin producing a yellow color, and hemosiderin producing a golden-brown color

2 days after - turning more blue

4 days after

5 days after - yellow setting in, still hurts a lot

6 days after - comparison

Trying out acupuncture treatment. It may help circulation and speed healing. Results on efficacy are still unknown... I didn't feel any different immediately after. The sessions are relaxing but I'm not sure if it's all placebo.

Day 8

Day 8 - electro acupuncture "Surrounding the Dragon" technique. They ran current between the needles - I felt tingling

Day 8 - colors are very pronounced in a hot bath (been taking a lot of baths with a kindle in a ziploc baggie)

Day 12 - not much better

Now it's been 18 days and I think the swelling is finally going down- it's still crazy colors though. It hurts to stand for more than a few minutes, but if I keep shifting my weight I can use the leg for awhile. Even more if I ice it out for awhile.

First thing I'm going to do is get back on the bike.