Fall from a bike, and ICD

Hello,

I am 26 years old and an avid mountain biker. On Sunday, I fell hard, hit my head, and my chest (including the ICD), went to the ED, had a chest x-ray, and a head CT, both of which were negative for injuries. On Monday, I sent a remote interrogation to my device clinic and everything looked good on it. However, today, the area around the icd has become a lot more tender. Should I call my doc, or just keep icing/Tylenol. Best, Paula

3 Comments

Head over a$$

by AgentX86 - 2020-09-30 21:57:29

You've just whacked yourself badly.  You have a hunk of metal in your chest and if it's hit, yeah, it'll hurt like hell.  You just got between a rock and a hard place.  You probably bruised the area around the PM so it'll hurt for a while. 

Your pacemaker is made out of titanium so you aren't going to hurt it by doing anything that won't turn you into mush. There is a chance of damaging the leads but this would be obvious from your remote interrogation.  IMO, you have nothing to worry about.  Ice and tylenol will help with the swelling pain.

Count yourself lucky and don't do that again.  ;-)

 

Only time will tell

by Gemita - 2020-10-01 05:21:23

Hello Paula,

Oh I am so sorry to hear about your accident.

Just keep watching the site for worrying signs (like a sudden increase in swelling, redness, oozing, protrusion or visible movement of device, or ever increasing pain despite pain meds) and report these immediately to your team for their assessment.  But as AgentX86 says, your interrogation of data seems to suggest there are "presently" no worrying signs of any real damage to the leads or device, but do report any increasing/new symptoms like arrhythmias (or shocks) in case these could be significant and point to the start of a problem.  

In the meantime, rest, have some nice warming baths/showers to ease your discomfort and/or icing to help with any bruising.  Icing never worked for me as well as "warmth" but we are all different.  I hope for the very best

bruising

by Tracey_E - 2020-10-01 11:08:44

I'd be surprised if you weren't sore! I've bruised mine pretty good a few times, it took some time for the soreness to go away. Ice helps a lot. 

You know you're wired when...

You have a 25 year mortgage on your device.

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My pacemaker is intact and working great.