Treating Road rash

Murph100

Have a lovely patch of road rash down my calf, knee and arse since Sunday. I cleaned it up and have kept it covered with a clean dressing, changed it daily but its not looking any better at all

Whats the proper way to speed this up, dressing or no dressing, antibiotic creams ( as suggested on all US sites ) etc or not, let it dry out or keep it moist ?

Planet X

I'd say, keep it moist. Antibiotic cream as you mention or good old Vaseline.
Got it bad the last three years. Nice to have the legs shaved when you go down. On the road that is
Nothing worse than a hairs embedded in a rash. Infection City.

I've got a few races left this season and managed to stay on so far. Yes I know.................shouldn't have said that!

bubble_wrap

try going over the handlebars, landing and rolling in the heather on howth head, fcuk!!!! had about a thousand mini thorns in me, healed pretty fast though,, using that nordic moisturiser stuff - give it a go.

blorg

I've only had it happen once but last year I had a patch that got infected. If it is still gloopy towards the end of the week I think you will need to see a doc and get antibiotics. I was fortunate enough to crash worse the following week so they noticed it in the hospital and I got the antibiotics prescribed with my stitches. Bargain.

Murph100

Jaysus, pure luck or what !

blorg wrote: »

I've only had it happen once but last year I had a patch that got infected. If it is still gloopy towards the end of the week I think you will need to see a doc and get antibiotics. I was fortunate enough to crash worse the following week so they noticed it in the hospital and I got the antibiotics prescribed with my stitches. Bargain.

RobFowl

I'd say let the air at it as much as possible. During the day savlon, germoline or sudocrem help stop infection.

The longer it stays wet/damp the more chance of infection.

Immediately after I tend to treat using iodine or savlon spray. The have a shower and clean as much as you can tolerate.

in the few hours after getting it dressed with a vaseline based gauze or adaptic or better still inadine gets the best results.

That said I've access to a better arsenal of dressings than most :rolleyes:

Murph100

Cheers Rob, was hoping you'd chime in. I was actually putting some Fucidin cream on ( from the tiny arsenal ) as I'd read about using an antibiotic cream, good, bad or just plain stupid ?

RobFowl

Murph100 wrote: »

Cheers Rob, was hoping you'd chime in. I was actually putting some Fucidin cream on ( from the tiny arsenal ) as I'd read about using an antibiotic cream, good, bad or just plain stupid ?

Good call, I carry a good few tubes of that when I need to.

SubLuminal

I'd say keep it wet and antisepticised (invented word, allow it..) based on my experience, I have a really raised scar on my elbow now where I crashed, lost a bunch of skin and flesh and let it dry and it became a keloid about as big as my little finger. Constantly sore and raw feeling, itchy, will be that way forever I'm told. Looking forward to the next time I fall over on that elbow, its going to hurt a lottt..

I let mine dry out and it was awful but was told by someone that that was better than keeping it wet. My girlfriend said keep it moist, she was right, now i'll never hear the end of it, not sure which is worse! ;p

lescol

I used duoderm extra thin on my hip http://www.convatec.com/en/cvtus-duodetdbus/cvt-portallev1/0/detail/0/1533/1850/duoderm-extra-thin-dressing.html



I applied the duoderm while the rash was in the state shown and was comfortable enough to do the Conor Pass Challenge. Leaving it to the open air makes for extreme soreness, a dressing kept folding and digging in to the wound, so I highly recommend the duoderm.

Murph100

I let mine dry out and it was awful but was told by someone that that was better than keeping it wet. My girlfriend said keep it moist, she was right, now i'll never hear the end of it, not sure which is worse! ;p


Heh, oh dude, thats waaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than any road rash !

Murph100

Where can you get that ? Don't say Killorglin ( Mulvihills ?)

lescol wrote: »

I used duoderm extra thin on my hip http://www.convatec.com/en/cvtus-duodetdbus/cvt-portallev1/0/detail/0/1533/1850/duoderm-extra-thin-dressing.html

lescol

It was Mulvihills:D but any pharmacy would stock it.

Murph100

Hah, I'll nip out to Mulvihills so then, Milltown doesn't have it.

Might do half covered up and half left open to the air and see which heals best or faster, might come in handy for Boardsies future reference

Beasty

I was prescribed Polyfax ointment for my very bad road rash injuries, and it did wonders. I was having my legged dressed daily and the local practice nurse remarked that she had seen similar injuries take 4 weeks to get to the stage mine had within a week or so

Murph100

Cheers Beasty, I'll allocate another piece of road rash for Polyfax.

Now all I need is a f&@king replacement dropout for me Gallium Pro

Raam

Murph100 wrote: »

Cheers Beasty, I'll allocate another piece of road rash for Polyfax.

Now all I need is a f&@king replacement dropout for me Gallium Pro

Try here http://derailleurhanger.com/

Murph100

Fair play to ya Raam, might just get some from there as well as Jim Walker just in case, need it asap, feck the road rash :mad:

Raam wrote: »

Try here http://derailleurhanger.com/

RobFowl

Beasty wrote: »

I was prescribed Polyfax ointment for my very bad road rash injuries, and it did wonders. I was having my legged dressed daily and the local practice nurse remarked that she had seen similar injuries take 4 weeks to get to the stage mine had within a week or so

Polyfax is excellent stuff allright.

ROK ON

Murph what happened? Trip to Tipp?

Murph100

I wish, nope finally got my yearly training plan together according to Joe Friel ( should have known this monumental task was a bad omen :rolleyes:) Decided to go out for a spin despite the p!ssing rain, flaking along the main Tralee - Farranfore road, decided to use the hard shoulder ( never use it normally 'cos its full of crap), and next thing I see through the deluge is a huge bloody J bolt right in front of my wheel, hit it and front end went AWOL, followed by sliding along on my side after my bike at 45 kmph, praying the driver behind can see me, really stupid and freaky given all the other sh!te I've cycled over.

But all I can say is thank feck for replaceable dropouts !!

ROK ON wrote: »

Murph what happened? Trip to Tipp?

cdaly_

In my case, it started to get infected. Doc wiped it down with antiseptic (the likes of TCP) and wrapped it in a proper bandage. I had to repeat that every two days for a month as it slowly healed...

jwshooter

the train "NOW" of thought is to keep the wound moist as possible ,with a gauss bandage .

RobFowl

jwshooter wrote: »

the train "NOW" of thought is to keep the wound moist as possible ,with a gauss bandage .

It varies depending on the site severity and time of presentation.
Ideally clean it early with a nail brush if possible.

Cover with a parafin based gauze during the day (+/- antiseptics, antbiotics) and at night let the air at it (Exposure to air allows scab formation which is pat of the healing process).

Alternate these until it gets better or worse in which case get to your GP.

Keloid scarring as was mentioned earlier is quite unpredictable but can be precipitated by residual dirt/foreign bodies in the initial wound.

Any budding nurses, microbiologists, doctors, paramedics theres the guts of a paper there ........

I've some data from the RAS and 70% of the injuries there would be classified as Road rash

TinyExplosions

Or alternately, keep picking at it till it leaves a lasting mark and wear it with pride... after all, chicks dig scars

Dr. No

Murph100 wrote: »

Have a lovely patch of road rash down my calf, knee and arse since Sunday. I cleaned it up and have kept it covered with a clean dressing, changed it daily but its not looking any better at all

Whats the proper way to speed this up, dressing or no dressing, antibiotic creams ( as suggested on all US sites ) etc or not, let it dry out or keep it moist ?

A moist environment is essential for wound healing so it is better to cover wounds with a dressing. Don't let it dry out as it will take longer to heal.
The reason that it may not look any better is the fact that you are changing the dressing everyday which means you are pulling off healthy skin cells and the healing has to start all over again. You only need to change a dressing daily if the wound is 'weeping' or oozing a lot. Most dressings can be left in place for up to 5 days. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

alfalad

RobFowl wrote: »

Ideally clean it early with a nail brush if possible.

Dear sweet Jesus the thought of it is nearly making me cry!

RobFowl

Dr. No wrote: »

A moist environment is essential for wound healing so it is better to cover wounds with a dressing. .

Not always in some situation a moist environment can promote infection and delay healing. Depends on the site, size, depth of the wounds as well as the persons general health and skin types..

If in doubt see your GP or practice nurse.

blorg

alfalad wrote: »

Dear sweet Jesus the thought of it is nearly making me cry!

To be honest though it's either do it immediately or have the nurse do it a week later in hospital when the wound is festering. Doesn't hurt any less then. I still have a scar from it over a year later.

Lumen

Dr. No wrote: »

A moist environment is essential for wound healing

RobFowl wrote: »

Not always in some situation a moist environment can promote infection and delay healing

Excellent, an argument between an ER nurse named after an villainous doctor who wasn't a doctor and a cycling doctor named after a footballer.

Isn't boards great?

RobFowl

Lumen wrote: »

Excellent, an argument between an ER nurse named after an villainous doctor who wasn't a doctor and a cycling doctor named after a footballer.

Isn't boards great?

Great all right.

I'll clarify my comment. If the wound hasn't been properly cleaned at the start then covering it can lead to more problems such as infection.

In a cycling situation such as a stage race it's very difficult to keep dressings on and in the right place.
Some air exposure at night can be useful but if its deeper then keeping it covered is better.

I suppose it boils down to the fact that all road rashes are different and it's hard to make a broad statement as some times they need to be looked at and seen to decide the best way to treat them.

This is a nice link aimed at non-medics

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/injuries/a/abrasions.htm

RobFowl

Lumen wrote: »

Excellent, an argument between an ER nurse named after an villainous doctor who wasn't a doctor and a cycling doctor named after a footballer.

Isn't boards great?

And any way Robbie Fowler isn't just "a" footballer.

http://vodpod.com/watch/2967956-robbie-fowler-god

Dr. No

RobFowl wrote: »

Not always in some situation a moist environment can promote infection and delay healing. Depends on the site, size, depth of the wounds as well as the persons general health and skin types..

If in doubt see your GP or practice nurse.

I agree that the cause, site, size and depth of a wound will guide it's treatment. However general wound management principles include the provision of an optimum wound bed environment to maximise healing and reduce scarring. Epithelialization occurs at a faster rate if dehydration of the wound and scab formation are prevented.
Btw I love arguing with doctors

Beasty

Dr. No wrote: »

Btw I love arguing with doctors

Race required to sort this one out

Dr. No

I apologise for my above use of jargon:)

Dr. No

Beasty wrote: »

Race required to sort this one out

In the interest of scientific advancement I propose that the good doc and I should each crash off our bikes. One of us should cover the resulting road rash with dressing and the other leave it exposed to the air and see which heals faster:D

RobFowl

Dr. No wrote: »

In the interest of scientific advancement I propose that the good doc and I should each crash off our bikes. One of us should cover the resulting road rash with dressing and the other leave it exposed to the air and see which heals faster:D

I've no un-crashed area left

PS if you love arguing with doctors are you my wife ???

Dr. No

RobFowl wrote: »

I've no un-crashed area left

PS if you love arguing with doctors are you my wife ???

I am not your wife because last time I checked I was a man:)