Crutchlow: Arm is 'massive', doctors concerned

Having faced a huge amount of fluid leaking out of his right forearm during the two weeks since major arm-pump surgery, Cal Crutchlow suffered the opposite problem during Friday practice for the Misano MotoGP.

Despite the open hole still present in his scar, through which he can see the muscle, fluid has stopped coming out and his arm has now swollen "to the size of most people's leg".

Cal Crutchlow, San Marino MotoGP. 11 September 2020
Cal Crutchlow, San Marino MotoGP. 11 September 2020
© Gold and Goose Photography

Having faced a huge amount of fluid leaking out of his right forearm during the two weeks since major arm-pump surgery, Cal Crutchlow suffered the opposite problem during Friday practice for the Misano MotoGP.

Despite the open hole still present in his scar, through which he can see the muscle, fluid has stopped coming out and his arm has now swollen "to the size of most people's leg".

The LCR Honda rider said it doesn't trouble him too much on track, finishing eighth and 20th during the pair of practice sessions, but doctors are unsurprisingly concerned.

"The fluid doesn’t seem to be coming out like it has been. The arm is really swollen, probably the size of most people's leg," Crutchlow said.

"Riding the bike I feel not so bad but it can't continue to be like this, because it's just getting bigger every single time I ride and the doctors are concerned about why the fluid is now not coming out.

"Over the last two weeks the fluid has been coming out of the hole. The hole is still there but now the fluid is not coming out. So not a good situation. The arm is just massive. Incredible swollen."

Unfortunately for Crutchlow, what the arm needs – rest - won't be possible until the end of November. Unless, of course, he steps back from racing.

"The problem is that the arm needs rest. Obviously, it's not healed enough but with 9 races in 11 weeks it's not going to get any rest. And it's not going to recover when you're riding the bike," he confirmed.

"So we need to speak with the doctors and take their advice on what they think is best to do. We spoke to them now and they said we'll see how it is in the morning."

"Ironically, I feel quite good on the bike," Crutchlow reiterated. "The arm on the bike is not too much problem, I don't feel great but I feel okay. And I can control the bike well. I don’t feel I have any particular loss of power.

"But you can't come in at the end of every session and your arm be this big and have so much fluid on it. It’s not normal. It's not natural. So we'll see what they say tomorrow."

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