United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

hi george,
this is somthing how i think it goes.....
on impact car/tree etc the natural reaction is to hold on tight,immidiatly the force throws your body one direction and your arm is still hold of the bars,and this must tear the nerves also the weight of the crash helmet will affect the outcome as you know in a car crash whiplash can hurt and with the added weight of the helmet the forces are multiplied emencely.
as for the chances of preventing this it must be quite remote,i was wearing an arai helmet which is the top brand on the market and as such is the lightest and still tore 3 nerves ,maybe with the heavyer/cheaper helmet i may have done more damage.
this is my theory anyway .
all the best karl

Hi George, Karl has a handle on it; when the head is forced away from the point of shoulder if enough force goes in it can damage BP. Having your arm wrenched way out of normal ROM can damage BP. I was actually separated from my bike when i hit the car, as i had locked the front in emergency braking and trying to miss it, i slid into it head/shoulder 1st and my humerous arm bone got kind of drove in a bit like a spear so there was crush damage there too. I think that covers it for how bikers get BPI, as for prevention, maybe some F1 style neckbracing could be built in helmets, but getting car drivers more skilled and attentive is the best way to prevent biker TBPI as the majority are involved in collision with another vehicle, the stats on THAT are sickening. But you know what i think, how lucky are you that tree hit your shoulder and not a few more inches on top of your head, good dodging mate! :O)

Thanks for the explanation guys. I was always under the impression the injury was the result of the impact itself. Never occurred to me that the natural reaction is to hold on to the handlbars. Of course I guess landing the wrong way could injure the bp also. Kind of spooky to even think about such.

Yep Dave.......I am very lucky. Believe me, I know it. A half inch to the right and it would have been a different story. I got a pretty good scratching down the left side of my face. So close. There is still a numb spot about the size of a baseball right above my left knee cap. Havn't figured that one out yet, and it doesn't appear that it is getting any better. Not a real problem though.......just weird.

Hi

Exactly what I heard too.
I was also told that the injury occurs due to wrenching the shoulder/arm downwards or upwards. Apparently the other main causes of this injury are sports like rugby or US football or for babies, childbirth.

George, don't know if this helps, but my left leg was also paralysed for the first hour after my RTA but it came back gradually over months. You might find that with stimulation the numb patch regains some feeling.

I dunno if there's any way of trying to prevent this for other bikers. Maybe just letting them know how this happens might help, but is it realistic to believe you could consciously decide to let go of the handlebars before impact in that situation..?

Dan

Hi Dan.......you are right. I seriously doubt one would be thinking of how they were going to turn loose of the handlebars in case of an accident. Seems it would defeat the purpose of having the wind in your hair.

That numb spot above my knee doesn't really give any problems, except for the fact that it's numb. No pain there at all, just curious as to why. I'll chalk it up to another war wound )

George

good question george. According to witnesses at my accident I let go of the 'bars and flew like a bird on impact with the truck, i hit the ground with my head (thank you Bell helmets for saving my life!) and slid along for a long way-classic bpi manouver. I had weird numb stuff up my whole right side for a long time post accident-years in fact. Couldn't touch the right side of my head for months and my hairdresser (yes I do have one despite appearances to the contrary) says the hair on that side 'grows funny' to this day. I agree with Dave, the single biggest preventative would be educating drivers to actually see bikes instead of seeing thru them. The roads in the UK were mainly built well before cars were invented and there ain't a lot of room for error! Still, after seeing the truck that hit me, I'm just glad to be alive!

Good question. In my case, dont remember, was something in the jeep that i crash. May be the first impact ocurs betwen the head and the shoulder. Or the arm (jacket) get stuck in the jeep.
Best to you all
Paulo

o.k....someone said there is no such thing as a silly question, and I hope I am not inventing the first one.

I know how the traction on my shoulder occurred during my accident with the tree. Where does the traction on the shoulder occur during a biking accident? Is it upon impact with the ground (or other things)? If so, does that mean if a person lands feet or legs first that a bpi is less likely to occur? This is something I have been meaning to ask for a long time.

One more.........Do you think there is any preventative steps that could be taken to minimize the likelihood of bpi's to bikers? I still find it amazing the number of peeps (bikers) injured each year from accidents. The statistics really stand out. George

That would be right about question
There are many bikers with birth erbs posting
We live the evil conevil life
I vote for holding on your bike as long as you can, con evil did it to, but were not jumping things ether
Foot ridged foot pegs help in a fall to.
Tip Slow down if you can see a possible crash if you can and try to find a softer place to fall. After that your screwed The problem is finding a doctor after these injuries is the quest, no matter from birth or latter in life injuries to. That so wrong to be left without a referral or a way to find that helps
Just thinking
Tom