Apart from Arnica, what's good for bruises?

If the skin is broken, you could cover it with a dressing until that heals over. Hope it stops being sore soon.

I just ignore bruises and they deal with themselves eventually.

I would agree with the suggestion of witch hazel. Years ago a friend's daughter was hit in the eye by a cricket ball. I was convinced that a black eye would follow, but her mother immediately applied a pad soaked in witch hazel, after which there was no sign of any bruising - I was amazed, and have used it myself since then.

My only reservation with ice is your age! - poor blood circulation in the shin which can compromise healing so don't want to constrict the vessels too much I would have thought.

Take a couple of paracetamol maybe??

I was going to suggest ice too. Whether you administer it to your shin or add it to a glass of brandy is up to you, phoenix.

I wish I'd just left the damn knife in there, but it was part of a set.

treat like with like eh?
ice it phoenix is what your chiros and physios always say.

Well phoenix go for a homeopathic approach and take more alcohol!

I have found quite by serendipity that Atrixo hand cream seems to aid skin healing - found it was very good last winter when I had a few run ins with the door of the wood burner and more recently when I had a bit of a do with a very hot frying pan- the burns healed very well and the burnt skin peeled off and left new pink skin underneath. Maybe worth a try.
Hope it feels less painful soon.

I think it was partly alcohol that caused the "incident"

Alcohol of any kind? Dabbed on for its astringent qualities and taken internally as an analgesic.

It really does hurt! I do hope the neighbours didn't see.

Nature will do instead of arnica phoenix.

I haven't got any witch hazel either

...oops phoenix; thought you were Gracesmum; start again...don't let the cats jump on it ....

...and don't let Grace jump on it....

Witch Hazel perhaps? I did something similar in the winter; rushed outside to feed the birds, slipped and knocked my shin on the side of a flowerpot. It just seemed to get worse and worse [didn't help by the dog jumping on it one day when I was resting it on the sofa]. Eventually had to get it looked at by the practice nurse cause I thought I was getting phlebitis [I wasn't]. Showed it to a doctor last week as the skin is slightly brown still and it gets darker when I have a hot bath. I told her I was worried about blood clots, but she said it was just tissue damage and I must have given it quite a wack [I didn't; it was just a slight knock]. I did soak cotton wool with witch hazel and kept it raised whenever possible but probably did too little too late . The moral of this tale being take it more seriously than I did as that part of the body doesn't heal itself too well.

But I haven't got any arnica!

If you were a child I would suggest something cool like a wet flannel, but when we get to a certain age shins are slow to heal because of their poor blood supply. I would stick with the arnica and allow nature to do its work.