Delayed Onset Bruising

Most of my bicycle fall wounds are healed now, with skin so new that it still itches. The deep cut on my elbow is still there, still held shut with wound closure strips, and had a bit of a stink to it yesterday when I last changed the bandage. Stink is a sign of infection, so I've been vigilant since then. I think that the problem was that I'd left the bandage on longer than is recommended and it got funky. I've been smelling my elbow all day and it seems better.

A surprising thing about this elbow smell is that I didn't expect it to be so difficult to get my nose near my elbow. At the start of all of this, I thought to myself that I should smell the wound, because I'd read on the internet that a bad smell is a sign of infection. I wanted to be alert to possible infection, so it seemed like a good plan to involve another of my senses in the detective work. I lifted my elbow up to my face and tried to take a whiff, but it was harder than I'd anticipated. I have to stretch my neck and use my unwounded arm to push my elbow back under my nose. I guess I was expecting to be able to do it without any extra effort.

The real trouble now is soreness and bruising. My left hand hurts across the base of my palm and up into my thumb and pointer finger. And my elbow bone is so painful that I can't rest any weight on it at all. I keep forgetting and trying to use my elbow for things, and it keeps twingeing and reminding me not to do that. I had been avoiding yoga because I didn't want to reopen the cut, but now I'm avoiding yoga because I don't want to have to support my weight on that arm.

At least I'm no longer smelling strongly of Neosporin like I was before my road rash healed.