FIRST AID IDEAS

• Medications. Anti-inflammatory medications can be helpful. Ibuprofen, naproxin and aspirin are all available without a prescription. Acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) is NOT an anti-inflamatory. These drugs are most effective if they are taken early since inflammation is hard to get rid of once it's become established.

  A danger in anti-inflamatory drugs is that they are also pain killers. Pain is your body's way of telling you that your doing damage. If you block the pain signals, you can easily aggravate your injury without knowing it.

  Muscle relaxants are sometime prescribed for back problems. These should only be obtained from a physician.

• Ice, Heat, and Massage.
  • Ice can be a great way to reduce pain and inflammation. Ice is particularly good for the first couple of days. Some injuries respond to focal icing -- rubbing ice directly on the exact spot of the pain. Stop when your skin begins to get numb. Several five-minute sessions per hour up to three times a day should provide plenty of therapy for your ailment without injuring your skin.Remember to protect your skin with barrier cream or baby oil if you are using ice massage directly to the skin.

    A good way to apply ice is to freeze water in a paper cup. Peel the cup back to expose the ice and then use the cup as a handle while gently rubbing the ice over the effected area. It helps to use a hand towel or paper towel to protect your hand (and skin) when using both the crushed and block ice. Another alternative is crushed ice in a ziplock baggie.

  • Heat, especially moist heat, can be useful. However, it should not be used for a couple of days after injuring your back or after aggravating a current injury. Regardless of the timing, if you feel worse during or shortly after heat treatment, stop doing it.

Treatment depends on the type of fracture. With a greenstick or hairline, one can forgo a figure-8 brace as long as the rider is careful not to stress the shoulder. However, any simple or compound fracture needs to be immobilized. Motion in an unset fracture can cause excess calcification with a noticeable bump or an abnormal set angle. These are actually quite common as the brace is uncomfortable and it's even more uncomfortable to sleep on one side only. This can be remedied with a little tape and a couple of thumbtacks. It only takes a couple of nights to get used to it.

Broken collarbones rarely hurt unless reinjured. That's why it's important to understand the seriousness of a second trauma. A wide figure eight brace with padded straps 2 to 3 inches wide and tightened firmly will help prevent reinjuries and bad sets. All it takes is a slight turn or reaching for something at the wrong angle.

A word of warning. If the break is not allowed to sufficiently heal the ends of the bone will calcify preventing a strong bond and probable refracture from normal cycling loads. Also, a crash with an inadequately healed collar bone could sever the innominate or common carotid artery.

One can resume training on a turbo trainer after three or four days. This is best carried out with a road bike with dropped handlebars. Turn the bars upside down. Then take another set of road bars and tape them to the upturned set. This makes a big S giving you a rail to hang onto at a convenient height. This allows you to resume training on a turbo in a more upright position. If you feel any pain or discomfort stop.

Q. Can I ride with a broken clavicle?

A.It's not that unusual to break a collarbone (or clavicle) in a fall. Although it is uncomfortable, you can still get on the bike and train. You will only be limited only by pain and range of motion of your upper body. You will need to be aware of your body position. Because you'll be putting little or no weight on the broken side, you could experience back pain from constantly leaning to the other side during indoor cycling sessions. Being aware of this and doing your best to balance your position on the trainer will help. Another option would be to add some aerobic alternatives into your training program such as walking on a treadmill at 8-10 degrees of incline. The incline will decrease the pounding (and thus pain in the clavicle) while keeping your quads and heart strong.