# Bruised hand recovery?



## besnard (Nov 16, 2010)

Hit a jump at a bad angle, could not recover and landed HARD on my side! My front wheel is FUBAR. My hands were still on the grips when I hit the ground. My Ergon bar ends probably kept my right hand on the grip, but the impact killed my hand. I thought it was broken, but X-rays were negative. Left hand also bruised bad not sure what happened there, probably because I'm an idiot and ride with my wedding ring on. My wife was determined to get my ring off, which she did with baby oil. She did not want them cutting it off, especially since it was our anniversary!

If anyone has had this happen, how long before you can shake hands without tears forming in your eyes? It's been 2 weeks and swelling is mostly gone. Some small swelling still around pinky and ring finger knuckle,


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## wahday (Mar 23, 2012)

I feel your pain. I think you will be fine but hand bruises can take quite a while to heal. Had my own (non-biking) experience with it and I feel like it took a whole month to be able to put weight on my hands while riding. Be patient.

I know all about painful handshakes. Had hand surgery last week for an infected thumb. Now it looks like this so I do a lot of waving instead:









Planned an overnight bikepacking trip this weekend that I still plan to go on. At this point I can't use this thumb to shift without crying like a little baby so I've been coming up with alternative methods...


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## dickeydoo (May 11, 2007)

That looks painful. Not to make light of your pain but the swelling makes it also looks cartoonish.


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## wahday (Mar 23, 2012)

Make fun of it all you want. It is absurdly swollen and more than once I have imagined it as a pulsating red glowing cartoon owie...

I am going on the bikepacking trip. Its much improved, though still not 100 percent. But I have been planning this trip for two months so I am determined...


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## swingset (Oct 14, 2010)

A lot depends on hand injuries and healing varies from person to person anyway, but I've had two bruised/sprained hands in the last year (getting over the 2nd now) and they generally heal up in a month, two months max.


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## RobHarmer (Oct 21, 2012)

I came to look for similar answers. I recently lost the backend of my bike and fishtailed. Managed to punch a tree at full speed. Pretty painfull but the worst part is just how long it takes to heal properly. For the most part it's ok, but I still get pains on my commute to work and if I have to grab things a certain way. It's been two months now, I guess hand injuries are hard because you're always bending and moving it.


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