Back on the horse – what to do after taking a tumble
It’s one of those facts of life that seem as inevitable as aging: if you ride your bike a lot, you will, at some point, fall off of it. It’s in the anecdotal evidence: I know enough fellow cyclists to realize that even with luck and caution, there could be an ominous cloud looming, waiting to unleash a downpour of bad drivers and train tracks.
It doesn’t seem like something you can prepare for – an accident by nature is unexpected – but knowing what to do after a spill is likely the best insurance you can carry, and there is no better salesperson than a cyclist who has learned the hard way, by experience.
As a commuter cyclist who rides daily from East Vancouver to the west side, Eliza Drake (who asked that her real name not be used) has taken a tumble or two. Her worst spill happened about four years ago when she was hit by a car, ending up with a concussion and chronic neck pain – as well as the emotional repercussions from that kind of trauma.
“If I fell now,” said Drake, “I would try to resist my initial impulse to get away from the public eye, and I would allow myself to just sit on the curb and do a full-on inventory of my body and my emotions, regardless of bystanders. Right after my accident I didn’t let myself stop and acknowledge that I’d just been hit by a car – I just got up and got out of there. I think that was a mistake.”
If a body is in shock, which often happens after an injurious incident, you might not feel pain right away. Drake only went to the hospital at the insistence of her partner, after a long bus ride home – and it’s a good thing she did. Concussions can be dangerous if they go undetected, and brain damage is often difficult to detect without scanning.
Some types of chronic pain also do not show up right away. “I was having consistent, terrible [neck] pain a year afterwards. I was doing a lot of computer work and it was aggravating my injuries. Also, my neck had become the weak point in my body, so any emotional stress I had around anything would get sent there,” said Drake, noting that even after almost four years, she is still careful about how she sits at a computer, and her muscles are easily fatigued.
Emotional stress and its connection to the body is often overlooked after an accident, often until the advent of chronic pain. Everyone reacts differently to the events in their lives, but sometimes after a bad accident like Drake’s, people experience symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. ptsd which can occur after such a trauma, sometimes include symptoms of chronic pain. In such cases it can be helpful to address emotional healing in conjunction with the physical.
One way that Drake tried to address her symptoms was by seeking treatment through Somatic Experiencing. This treatment, a combined talk and body therapy, is meant to promote the release of physical tension that practitioners say remains in the body after a trauma has occurred. When this tension is not released, say advocates, it wreaks havoc on the body and the mind, causing symptoms of ptsd. Though a new field, and one that has not been studied thoroughly, the treatment did work to some extent for Drake.
“I got hit from the left, so [the practitioner] had me turn my head repeatedly to my left so that my body could see that there wasn’t a car there, and that I wasn’t about to get hit. It was helpful because on some level my body was holding onto the experience of the accident, which was stopping me from feeling safe. The session didn’t cure my injuries, but it helped me to release some of the trauma.”
After a few treatments, all therapies end up being pricey. Seeing a doctor and documenting your symptoms right away will increase your chances of getting reimbursed; however, alternative methods like SE are not covered by medical insurance. That, combined with the added stress of dealing with legal matters, can interfere with your recovery, so many cyclists suggest finding a lawyer you trust to deal with the insurance company.
Now, nearly four years after the accident, Eliza Drake is still biking like a fiend, doing yoga to keep her neck in line, and trying hard not to slip into old habits. “I can definitely be way too impetuous and overconfident,” she says, “but it was a very humbling experience, and I try to keep it in mind. I do wear my helmet whenever I’m around cars.”
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