Stitches and Recovery

Originally posted by CrazyAuntCarrie

Two weeks ago I was racing in my first HIM. While refilling my aerobottle, I hit a rough patch, went off the road, and went down. The good news is that my bike is mostly fine (need to replace the bar tape), my helmet did its job and protected my head, nothing was broken, and my road rash was minimal. The bad news is that I just hit the ground and stopped. No real sliding, just sudden impact. I ended up with three stitches in my left elbow and ten in my left knee.

The stitches in my elbow were just below the joint, limiting my movement greatly. As the wound healed, I gained some of my movement back. Once the stitches were removed this past Wednesday, I was able to use my elbow fairly normaly. My arm felt weak, the muscles tired easily, and they felt really sore with use. The muscles have improved in the last few days, though bending still hurts the muscles when I do simple things like buckling my seatbelt to drive and pulling my hair up.

The stitches in my knee were unfortunately right on my knee cap. I was very fortunate that I didn't break the knee cap. I believe when I landed I landed on a rock that stabbed me and then dragged through the skin for about an inch. The doctor who removed the stitches said it looked the doctor who sewed me up was trying to sew up a jigsaw puzzle. Pretty gross. Because the stitches were right on my knee cap, I was not able to bend my knee at all while I had the stitches in (had to wear a knee brace and use crutches for a few days). Even once the stitches were out, I was told I could bend the knee a little, but not much for a few days because we didn't want to tear the newly healed tissue. I've been gradually bending my knee a little bit more every day since the stitches came out. Today I could finally bend my knee enough to sit in a chair without having to prop my foot up on something else, though I can't yet bend it at a 90 degree angle.

What I wasn't expecting was the soreness of my muscles from two weeks of non-use. I can tolerate my elbow, but my knee is something else. My leg muscles hurt! I had to take Advil earlier because the muscles hurt so bad. I know it is a matter of time and rebuilding some strength. I still have to be careful because I don't want to rip open the wounds, either.

So my question is this: Does anyone know any good strengthening exercises I can do for my arm and leg to reduce/eliminate the muscle pain while I heal so that once my wounds are healed I can get back into training? I know some rebuilding will come with training, but I imagine it would be tough to start running again with one leg significantly weaker than the other.

Thanks!!