Shins

[Kraeg]

I'm often hitting my shins on my pedals when walking my bike, usually in the city when getting out of and into trains and stations (because a lot of people have a habit of stopping suddenly, or organising themselves badly on trains). At home I then look down (usually my left shin as I favour my left arm when carrying a bike) and figure, blood is drying, scab will form then it'll heal.
But two weeks ago my leg was quite sore, then the week before last it felt REALLY sore. I finally checked my shin out and thought, this is a big scab and it's not going away, and the area around it looks pretty bad.

So next day I head to the Doctor, and you know it's bad when they gasp. The scab was really dead skin, and the infection had spread partway around my leg. They gave me a tetanus shot, put me on antibiotics and began a treatment involving a wound redressing every two days. And I am not at all tough when it comes to this sort of thing, and am never sure if I'm going to cry or puke or pass out when they're redressing it. The initial visit though they were surprised I cycled to the Dr's with such a wound. It's been a week now and it is healing really well.

So it comes down to me leaving each hit to heal, and then as one is healing I get another pedal strike, and I got so use to it I'd just put up with a sore shin... until it got infected and too unbearable (although as I told the Dr, I've been able to handle the pain and discomfort best when cycling).

I've now got some shin guards from the LBS. They fit really nicely... I can hardly feel them (I tested one on my right leg). They're going to be for when going to work and other mixed-modes of transport (ie; cycling + train). And I'll also be sure to deal with seemingly trivial injuries (and another thing is I usually have a small first aid kit in my handlebar bag, with things like antiseptic wipes, which I could have made use of).

It's been a painful (and easily avoidable) experience.

[wombatK]

I'm often hitting my shins on my pedals when walking my bike, usually in the city when getting out of and into trains and stations

Prevention is better than cure. You need to ride more and train less

Regards,

Dr WombatK

[Ross]

When I was a kid I smashed my shin on the bike pedal. It hurt at the time but not life threatening (I didn't think), Mum (ex-nurse) cleaned it up and dressed when I got home. Similar to Kraeg several weeks went past and it wasn't healing. I went to the doc and he said it was almost gangrenous, if it got much worse they would have to look at amputating my leg below the knee. Luckily it healed up eventually but I was quite concerned for a while.

[trailgumby]

if you don't have rear racks, flick your bike up vertically and walk it around on the rear wheel...

... like the guy getting in the lift in the Sons of Science music video

[Kraeg]

This sure is taking its time to heal, but it is healing. Last week I started the cycling part of my commute again (5km home/station, 1km station/office). Mid-week I had soreness in my upper left leg, and while I figured it was from cycling more than I had been I mentioned it to the Dr; turned out to be a secondary infection of lymphangitis.

It seems to be going though (I was put on stronger antibiotics), but today the Dr advised no cycling for about 10 days (so my leg gets used as little as possible).