Treatment for bad skin grazes

[arkle]

This is more of a request for information than a post. Since 99% of clipless pedal virgins are going to fall off and graze their knees and/or elbows, perhaps some of the more experienced grazees could offer their advice on the best way to treat a bad graze and have it heal in the shortest and least painful way. I tried searching the internet for information but there is a lot of conflicting information, so I figured that the people who know best would be those who have had to deal with grazes many times before. Thank you.

arkle

[thomashouseman]

Get your pet lion to lick it clean!

[sogood]

Experiences in the treatment of grazes can date back to everyone's first ever graze as an infant, and all that came after...

PS. Skateboards were bad...

[hannos]

After cleanign out any gravel (it's going to hurt) use medicated powder and leave them open to the air.

For a hip same deal when you can otherwise a non-stick (AHAHAHAHAHA) wound dressing with medicate powder. Remove the wound dressing in the shower!

[one_damo]

There was an interesting piece on the 2004 TdF dvd with Robbie McKewen following one of his stacks and subsequent road rash. The general idea for his treatment was to A) jump in the shower and put up with the agony; followed by B) dry the wound and dress it, but between the dressing and the wound needed to be some moisture cream or similar anti-stick in order to stop the dressing from sticking to the wound. C) repeat until better. This stopped the dressing from ripping off the scabby bits thus helping the recovery process.

That was quite amusing actually, Robbie's words as he stepped into the shower were "if you know the words, sing along........AAHAAHAAAAAAAHHHRRGGAAGAHHH"

[arkle]

Oh no. More conflicting advice.

So do I cover it with a dressing and antiseptic cream or do I leave it open to the air?

arkle

PS Right now I have it dressed because it would be too painful to wear trousers otherwise.

[sogood]

So do I cover it with a dressing and antiseptic cream or do I leave it open to the air?
PS Right now I have it dressed because it would be too painful to wear trousers otherwise.

Either way will heal and the difference in healing time is minor. Otherwise you've pretty much answered your own question ie. Dressing to prevent the wound from getting rubbed or staining the cloth.

[flammer]

Showering with very recent road rash is very bracing Glad wrap the wound and tape the upper edges of the glad wrap.

I had some left over Endone which also helped.

[elantra]

Here's another suggestion :

go to a local medical centre and ask to see a nurse to have your wound dressed.

go back to a different medical centre each 1-2 days until you find a nurse who is (a) pretty, (b) friendly, and (c), competent.

[Wayfarer]

Antiseptic would be a good idea, unless you'd like an infected wound. Skin's the body's first line of defence

[trailgumby]

Shave your legs and arms, or at least keep the growth ultra-short. Hairs bending over and getting in the wound and scab encourage the transportation of bacteria and infection, slowing healing and worsening scarring. It's better to have them shaved beforehand, but afterwards will do if you can bear doing it. I had to do it after for my two recent collisions with cars - it helped a lot. Would have been less scarring if I'd been less hairy at the time of the crashes.

+1 to getting the debris out and treating with antiseptic immediately - very important, and particularly critical if riding off-road through farmland.

My understanding of the latest thinking is that wounds heal faster if kept slighlty moist, as it helps with the transportation of healing material by the body, and stops the formation of thick crusty and irritating scabs, but the risk of infection is higher.

[fatherofmany]

Hear speaketh the voice of experience. I had grazed my back, my shoulder, my elbow and about 20 cm long down my left leg, including a 20 cent sized hole in my knee, which was an interesting sort of a window into the workings of the knee joint which made motherofmany a bit queezy but really impressed eldestofmany (8yr old son).

Step one: (After knocking back a double of 12 year old single malt - Optional) grit teeth and step into warm shower. When initial shock and pain has subsided move on to...

Step two: grit teet harder and remove debris from wound, this may include using a small brush, I used a clean toothbrush and a clean dishwashing scourer. Take your time and get it all out.

Step three: When you awaken from having fainted in the shower, pick yourself up (well almost!) and check the wound is clean.

Step four: shave around the edges of the wound. If you already shave your legs / arms / whatever... then omit this step.

Step five: get out of the shower and dry yourself but just pat the wound dry.

Step six: apply dettol cream (or other antiseptic cream) to the wound. Dress it and use elastoplast tape to hold the dressing in place.

Daily... remove dressing and repeat step six until healed. You will now appreciate the merits of step four.

Why cover it?... not just because it reduces the risk of infection, not to decrease healing time (which it may very well do) but if you keep it covered it heals without hardening. If it hardens (ie scabs up) then as you bend your knee or whatever, it painfully splits the wound open again and again. If you want to keep riding, the joints have to move with little pain so keep the wound moist.

FoM

[flammer]

These points seem to be more related to an initiation ritual requiring excruciating pain.

Toothbrush! Scourer! You're not a Catholic are you? Just wondering.

How about a soft cloth to dislodge the grit? I too have had the 20 cm and 20 cent coin, plus the hip and forearm, several times.

Not everyone needs antiseptic creams etc, it depends on ones healing powers. Covering with non-stick dressings taped down with the provided tape. After a couple of days applying vitamin E cream helps healing and prevents hard scabs that crack and hurt.

[arkle]

Hear speaketh the voice of experience. I had grazed my back, my shoulder, my elbow and about 20 cm long down my left leg, including a 20 cent sized hole in my knee, which was an interesting sort of a window into the workings of the knee joint which made motherofmany a bit queezy but really impressed eldestofmany (8yr old son).

Step one: (After knocking back a double of 12 year old single malt - Optional) grit teeth and step into warm shower. When initial shock and pain has subsided move on to...

Step two: grit teet harder and remove debris from wound, this may include using a small brush, I used a clean toothbrush and a clean dishwashing scourer. Take your time and get it all out.

Step three: When you awaken from having fainted in the shower, pick yourself up (well almost!) and check the wound is clean.

Step four: shave around the edges of the wound. If you already shave your legs / arms / whatever... then omit this step.

Step five: get out of the shower and dry yourself but just pat the wound dry.

Step six: apply dettol cream (or other antiseptic cream) to the wound. Dress it and use elastoplast tape to hold the dressing in place.

Daily... remove dressing and repeat step six until healed. You will now appreciate the merits of step four.

Why cover it?... not just because it reduces the risk of infection, not to decrease healing time (which it may very well do) but if you keep it covered it heals without hardening. If it hardens (ie scabs up) then as you bend your knee or whatever, it painfully splits the wound open again and again. If you want to keep riding, the joints have to move with little pain so keep the wound moist.

FoM

Informational and humourous to boot. Thanks FoM!

I've kept it dressed and covered since Saturday and it's healing quite well now. It's still bloody annoying though. And all the iodine cream comes off on my towels and sheets, looks like I've soiled the bed.

[orphic]

I came across this the other week and decided I'll give it a shot if/when I next have to treat road rash. It always takes much longer than 7 days for the pink skin to appear with methods I've used previously.

http://www.aboc.com.au/tips-and-hints/h ... t-roadrash

"If you're unable to find tubular net bandages fishnet stockings may suffice"

I want to see someone using fishnets...

[flammer]

A really useful link. Glad wrap is also useful for burns; its virtually sterile and non-stick. Cleaning out the goo is delightful, but at least you can see progress.

[fatherofmany]

No flammer I'm not. But have come off before and not cleaned all the small bits of gravel out of wounds and scarred.

The latest cleanup has left no scarring at all, well except for a tiny mark on my elbow and small pink circle of new skin on the side of my knee, but even that has shrinked now to less than 1cm across.

It helps if you have a high pain tolerance I suppose, shot a staple gun through my thumbnail once, removing the staple with a pair of pliers really did hurt. Cleaning dirt out of a wound as a walk in the park by comparison.

[hannos]

No flammer I'm not. But have come off before and not cleaned all the small bits of gravel out of wounds and scarred.

My last mishap I didn't clean the wound on my elbow properly.. It didn't heal well. My hip healed very well but that was cleaned properly.

[flammer]

Scar tissue - a badge of honour The only place the 'Wax For A Cure' hurt was on the knee scar tissue.
Rock climbing also tends to lessen skin cover. Granite is man eating rock.

There is a difference between pain tolerance and self abuse.

[fatherofmany]

There is a difference between pain tolerance and self abuse.

Self abuse is when you come off on purpose just so you get to clean the wounds.

[Jean]

Moist wound managment is the go according to the doctors, nurses and pharmacists I've dealt with in relation to cycling wounds

Some links of interest:

http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/23/1/6/9/
http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/19/1/11/3/

[sogood]

Some links of interest:
http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/23/1/6/9/

Why did you cite an article about chronic ulcer/wound management in a discussion on superficial acute wounds?

Irrespective, wound dressing can be as fancy as one wants. For the common superficial cyclist wounds, the difference really is minor while the cost difference b/n traditional and fancy dressings can be quite dramatic.

[Jean]

Simply because it it made mention of different types of wounds and the broad principles of wound management. Thought it would be useful within the standard disclaimers of this forum.

[toolonglegs]

Fall off...
Come home...
and let Mr Woofy lick you better...

Then tip some nice medication onto the wound...

...and you will be all fixed!...

[sogood]

Nay TLL. Maggot wound management is much more relevant. And they can be cheaply obtained or pay for "medical grade" strains.



PS. Anyone lost their appetite for dinner yet?