United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My ex husband and I used to be cyclists (yes believe it!) - I stopped riding when I got into an accident and fractured C7. He stopped riding when I sold all 3 of our bikes right after that - probably the reason we got divorced.

Anyway - just heard from my 20 year old that her dad just got a new motorcycle. I'm actually happy for him - but do all of you have any advice about how to avoid an injury? Is there something - some reason? Is it the width of the helmet when you crash - how your neck gets wrenched into lateral traction? Can you explain this to me? I just don't understand the mechanics or it and need you guys to educate me. Please forgive me for my stupidity about this subject.

Thanks in advance,
francine

I'm sure that helmets are a good safety measure, but
I also believe that what's meant to happen, is just
meant to happen. My BPI is from a motorcycle accident.
There was only 1 helmet, and the driver refused to let
me have it, and it turns out that was a good thing.
My head was on the sidewalk, and my body was on the
road, so the curb was in my neck. They said if I had
had a helmet on, I would have been dead, because it would have broken my neck. So, I think we just have
to use common sense, and trust that we are doing
the right thing. I myself have never been on a motorcycle again, although now after 19 years, I think
if it was a necessity, I could probably do it!

Wear a helmet and all the other safety gear you can afford (full leathers and boots, no matter how hot it is). The best advice I can give is to take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class. This will help any rider, no matter how experienced, to be more aware of all the risks involved and to practice defensive driving. Unfortunately, sometimes circumstances are way beyond our control. I was wearing full leathers and a good helmet. After my accident, I didn't have a scratch on me, but still ruptured my spleen and suffered a BPI. Without the protective gear, I may not have survived. Take care,
Dennis

Hi
I'm afraid theres nothing much you can do to prevent this injury happening on a bike,all you can do is wear the best gear you can afford and keep your eyes open.
I had over £2000 of equiptment on and although it stoped my injuries being worse im convinced that the bpi would happen what ever precations were taken.
Its happens the same as any tbpi injury,on impact the body goes one way and the head geos another.
Im sorry to say with motorcycling you pay your money and you take your chance


karl

Fancine i just want to say that its really nice to see you trying to educate your ex. ive talked to so many ex wives that have said " i wise he were died" its great that even though you are devorced that you still want the best for him.

Hi Francine, i agree with what the others have said, tell him to always wear the best gear and ride defensively-that means assuming all other road users are imbeciles. The traction to the plexus happens when the head and body go in different directions (you need to see it with a crash test dummy to see what i mean-most of us got thrown around like rag dolls). in the uk the number of bpi's rose sharply after helmets were made compulsory, that was mainly because a similar crash without a helmet would often cause death. Before 1972 many tbpi's ended up on the slab. I was also told that for every bpi who survives there is probably at least one who doesn't and many tbpi had other more serious injuries than a bpi, most of us are very lucky to be alive. Everyone has the odd fender bender in a car occasionally, well on a bike it's not the fender that gets bent, it's you...Getting out of a bike smash with just a tbpi is often a best case scenario, i think thats why so many of us are pretty cheerful types :0) My dad has been riding since he was 18 (he's 72 now) still rides every day and apart from a broken leg when he was 65 has survived unscathed....it can be done! Mind you he drives everyone mad by hooting at every single car he sees waiting to pull out of a side turning, just to make sure they know he's there, it seems to work for him....noone has EVER pulled out in front of him..and guys, what about those pillocks that look you in the eye and THEN pull out.... grrrrrrrrr!

Francine, Dr. Nath described another type of injury to me. It is when the rider is still holding on to the handle bars and the bike takes off without them...the arm is pulled upward and out with a jerk so hard that it injures the plexus from the bottom instead of the top.
T.

Well guys I sent my ex your posts and he thanks all of you for your input...was surprised to hear from me too I guess.... he never did wear leathers, so maybe that'll be his next purchase.

Thanks for all of your posts!
-francine

Hi Francine, i posted a reply to this but it never came thru, i hope there aren't 2 posts now! Anyways, as for the mechanism of injury yes violent wrenching of the head away from the shoulder can cause BPI, also violent wrenching of your arm/shoulder past normal ROM can rupture and stretch the nerves, not crashing is the best prevention but there's more than the rider in the equation. I would say a light (expensive) helmet is very important, i wore an expensive Arai (i believe the best helmets in the world) and still broke a few vertebrae, the helmet compounds the whiplash effect, if i hadnt wore a helmet tho i would probably have been killed so im not complaining. The race leathers and body armour i wore minimised the other injuries but you're still pretty vulnerable on a bike - no matter how much experience he has a training school is always a good idea, there are loads of them for all levels of rider;
http://www.superbikeschool.com/us/keith ... lity.shtml

Check some out this guy is a very advanced race tutor but there are loads of other schools.
PS i reckon selling 3 motorcycles is of course reasonable grounds for divorce ~KIDDIN dont hit me! ;O)

thanks dave...well actually we both made that decision to wait on riding until adena was old enough to take care of herself...and she is 20 now...and he's got his bike back - so I commended him on waiting as promised. The divorce did actually stem from that..as a symptom of how our lives changed after we had a baby - he couldn't handle it all those changes and went a bit beserk. Anyway. Thanks for your advise.

-francine