common injuries of cycling

There you are, looking down the trail. Tree trunks are passing by at the speed of light. Your hands are on your brakes, your wheels are a blur. You pass rocks so fast that it reminds you of a starship in Star Trek. Bumpity-bump, bumpity-bump, your bike flies over the roots. By now, your legs are feeling like jelly, your stomach muscles are pulled, and your lungs are on fire. You smile as you descend onto the summit. Though you are tired, it's going to all be downhill from now, as you speed on your bike back to the parking lot, far far away at the foot of the mountain.

Biking is a very popular sport all around the world. It is wonderful pollution –free transportation. But being on a bicycle is not without its problems. Let’s start at the head and work our way down to the knees!

Head Injuries

Prevention

Head injuries are among the most serious injuries involved in biking. Always, wear a proper fitting helmet! If you are ever involved in a crash, safety gear is your only prevention to avoid serious injury. Now let’s talk about avoiding that crash. Always follow the rules of the road. Remember these?

• Never enter a road from a driveway or other entrance point without slowing or stopping for traffic,

• Never ride into an intersection without obeying stop or yield signs or traffic signals,

• Never ride on sidewalks where this is prohibited,

• Never weave in and out of the street,

• Never cross driveways without observing traffic,

• Never ride at night without lights,

• Never turn without signaling or looking for traffic, and

• Never attempt to pass a motorist at a roadway junction.

Let’s fantasize that even though you followed all the rules, you were not Tarzan, and didn’t get out of the way of the tree! Oops, you got a concussion! A concussion may result from striking your head during a fall or your head hits a moving object. A blow that twists the head could produce unconsciousness as well as any significant bump to the head. (Seeing stars?) How long the person is unconscious may be a factor in how serious the concussion is. If the person has vomiting, unequal pupils, is confused or cannot wake up go to your doctor immediately.

Treatment

A “baseline” neurological evaluation is the treatment for an uncomplicated concussion. After the exam the child should be kept quiet. (You’d better take a break from your PSP, Xbox 360, or Wii!) If a blow to the head leads to unconsciousness, a trained person must determine readiness for continued participation and timing for return to play. In this situation, if a child or young adult has lost consciousness, that person should not resume athletics for a period of three months. Studies have shown that there is an increased rate of brain injury and occasionally death in people who have had a previous concussion with unconsciousness.