United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi Guys! Glad I Found you lot. I suffered a bpi during a motorcycle accident. I was a professional motorcycle stuntrider and a few weeks before had the pleasure of performing 5 shows with the world champion, Kevin Carmichael, in Cape Town, South Africa. Then whilst attending a rally, had a collision with another bike.

This was 10 months ago. My injury seems to be quite extensive as i have just about zilch use of my left. I have dealt with it well so far and luckily am right-handed.

My problem is the severe pain in my hand (I call it "hand in boiling oil" syndrome).

I have kept the range of my arm in pretty good shape with hydrotherapy and have noticed small improvements in mobility in the water (zero gravity = less effort). I cannot bend my elbow, so that is the major limiting factor.

I quite enjoy the challenges that I am faced with each day but am battling with the pain. Any suggestions? I use a very mild anti-depressant when things are tough but it only helps a little. Nothing else I've tried works (ie. painkillers).

Thanks for taking time to read this message and feel free to e-mail me at recycle@worldonline.co.za. p.s It's encouraging to read your messages, 'coz I know it ain't over by a long shot!

Hi Chris,
Your amoung a bunch of like minded people here,a lot of us are here due to our love of bikes ,Though it has to be said not by choice,as you may know there are tratments available to you but as you say your accident was 10mth ago it is imperative you see a hand consultant asap,the cut off point for the most affective treatment is approx 2 yrs post accident,so time is one thing you dont have,
On a positive note there is plenty of treatments available to you,i'm 5yrs post accident (gsxr 750)and have had most of the opperations going done to me with good results,i too had no movement but am now back working as a builder,and now ride a yamaha r1,so there is hope!!!

as for the pain this really is a bummer and im afraid most people do agree that the only affective solution is to do something distractive to take your mind off it,eventualy it does get better but for me it took about 2 years,
try to stay possitive dude anymore questions feel free to post here.

karl.

Neurontin is supposed to help a lot with nerve pain.
Dennis

Hi! I have and still suffer from a similar kind of pain. I tryed everything but had no luck... The feeling my hand was on fire 24/7 let up a little over a year into the injury. Now I only get that pain back when I am stressed. The shooting pain is still there along with my arm's dislike of wind and cold. It is really hard to live with somedays but I get through them primarily because of my children. Distraction can take many forms. I learned a lot of relaxation techniques that also help. So take it one day at a time...
My two year anniversary will be here next month. I am not looking forward to that at all. My arm was caused by a defective car airbag going off.
I hope this has helped.
God bless
Mindy

Hey Chris. Glad to meet you sorry its under these circumstances but we're here to help. I too was in a motorcycle accident left arm is still totally flial. It was over two years ago. I had surgery at LSU but not much sucsess. My pain is much more managable now but still gets me somedays. I gave up the narcotics and Nuerontin none had much effect on my pain. I take a vitamin called DL-phenalaline it seems to help me with the pain. I have found a brand that also contains 10mg of vitamin B as well it seems to curb the pain. I dont know if it will help you but its another option. I save percoset for the really bad day but rarely use them.
Work or other distractions are the best medicine. I recently got back on my bike thats good medicine as well. Gets my mind off my arm. I own a motorcycle shop so i can identify with your position my whole life is bikes kinda hard to go to work for a while but I love it still. I hope you get feeling better. If you need any advice or just a friend to talk to about it feel free to contact me.

hi there chris and welcome. i too got my bpi after a bike smash, you are pretty unique hitting another biker tho, what are the odds on that? i've had mine 22 yrs, no surgery, slight biceps recovery but not much else. the good news is it ceased to affect my life pretty much at all after a couple of years and that really searing pain does go away after a while. life with one arm isn't so bad :0) like everyone else says, occupying the mind is the best thing for the pain, try and avoid long term use of heavy duty pain meds, the damage they can do is pretty bad. there are some (non legal in many places but far less damaging) alternatives which really do work. i did have a great link about 3 guys who rode R1's with only 1 arm but i lost it...if anyone else still has paolo's link (i think from MCN archives) please repost it, it's pretty inspiring. feel free to mail me if you need a long termers perspective, and good luck with recovery. take care jen nz ps if you want to mail anyone here click on their name, the details will come onto the screen.

Hiya Chris...

Well, I can only agree with everything evryone else here has posted; the pain does lessen after a while, and keeping busy, distracted, whatever, is the best 'cure'. The pain medications are there to help when you need them, but beware of relying on them completely. I was taking amytriptylene (don't know what that is in the U.S.)for about 8 years; I have just recently managed to slowly wean myself off it..it wasn't easy but had to be done because the side affects became intolerable.

Like most people here, I do still get pain at times, particularly when stressed or in real cold weather, but I know it will pass. When it is really bad, I just go back to bed! (lucky I don't have a full-time job!)THE most important thing is that you get the right treatment for your injury from a specialist who knows how to treat BPI's in particular.

Here is the link jen was telling you about;

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/deta ... entID=4569

these guys just prove that life with one arm is not really a problem, only if we let it! ;0) Please feel free to email me if you want more details about pain relief etc. Best wishes...Liz B xx

WHOOOPS! Sorry...the link i posted in the previous message will take you to the latest magazine issue....try this next link...

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/redirect? ... Type=STORY

..if THAT doesn't work, use the search engine on the MCN site type in "15 March 2000"; click 'go',then in the advanced search window (at bottom of page) type in "..one armed riding..." ...then you will see at list with the article "Not Missed Anything" which is the one you want...!! sorry 'bout the last link...should have realised it was well out of date...doh!!

Hi Chris, welcome to the mad house!
i was BPI 2 years ago on my ZXR (stoopid car driver pulled out and parked in my lane) and was glad when i found these folks survived ok injury or no. Have you done any stunt shows in the UK? I try see a few and might have seen you there? A living as motorcycle stunt pro shows you've the guts and determination you need with BPI, but like the others mentioned dont be fobbed off get to a BPI specialist ASAP (there are links off 'resources' on this sites homepage) in case there is treatment that may help, time is prety critical for many treatment options.
If you have any pics of you 'in the office' (stunting) can you tell the wheelie fans where to see em?? cheers and good luck!

sorry i forgot to answer your pain query,, time and distraction are the best solutions i found, long term codeine use did NOT do much except damage my stomach so be careful with opiate based painkillers they are so keen to prescribe. Just my lesson learned from that, the faster you get off any script painkillers the better for your bod, hope it eases in time.