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Road Rash Treatment

If you have to do it yourself, I can't imagine anybody scrub too much. In my case HTFU certainly applies.
Man, I hate road rash and cleaning it.

You forget, perhaps, that we have more than our fair share of masochists here! Some TCC'ers seem to love the pain! HTFU indeed! OUCH! :mad:


One advice is be prepared, because if necessary you want to make it as smooth as possible. I have a stack of tegaderm and a bunch of other wound dressings. You don't want to start buying it when you need it. So, thanks Pete for starting this. Thanks everybody for the newest intel. Probably will stay with tegaderm as it worked really well for me, except if the area is too large. Knocking on wood...

Cheers Gunnar, that's exactly why I started this. I want to be sure to be prepared before hand! Regarding the Tegaderm, good to hear that you've had good results with it. As for the wound size, what size dressing have used? I think getting a 15cm x 10m roll like I linked to above will allow the most options for optimal wound coverage. Does that sounds right to you? Any other recommendations for the best usage and practices with Tegaderm?
 
My last big road rash crash was in Oct 2009.

My first case of road rash was around 1968 and it was so unpleasant, I have managed not to repeat it yet. I was in second grade, riding a kick scooter downhill and took a turn onto a newly resurfaced road that had some kind of coarse sand or grit on it for drying it. Slid sideways and stripped the skin off my arm and cheek. Half the face was covered in scabs which kept cracking.

I will never be a competitive descender.
 
After reading this thread, I think I'm gonna start wearing a full set of leathers.
 
Ok got speaking to the wife about this last night,
For the record -My wife is a fully qualified medical practioner with over 20 years of experience including brain surgery, abdomenal surgery, A&E and now specailising in cancer treatments (currently head of leukemia dpt. and terminal care.)

Duoderm - The Ultimate treatment

The ultimate way to treat road rash after cleaning the wound (manly scrubing optional) is to treat with Duoderm. Once this is on it should not be removed and should be kept dry. Normally you would cover with a waterproof dressing and basically leave it on until fully healed.

If you have deep wounds that are problematic healing areas, such as knuckles and other joints this stuff is great - just pack the area with the product.

Job Done.

Saran Wrap - Not as good but does the job

The cream used was vaseline - it's antibacterial but doesn't dry out or get absorbed by the skin or tissue.

In regards to the fluid build up using Saran wrap (Cling Film) this is healthy and very similar to the fluids that build up under the skin when you burn yourself - most road rash is not just an abrasion but also friction burns and the body pushes fluid to the area, to cool and protect the injury. However drainage is healthy and will reduce the pungent smell that you get with road rash.

Tegaderm

Very good product and basically a more expensive version of saran wrap :D
 
That's all really good. Thanks.

I am painfully reminded of my Golden Week 2009 gravel bath in Kyushu. (Photo possibly NSFW.) This was in the middle of nowhere, in holiday week. But I did manage to find a shop that had a roll of clingfilm (Saran Wrap) and was able to use it to good effect over the next few days.

My enduring memory was how painful it was to have the sun shining on my wounds through the clingfilm. Like boil-in-the-bag Mike. I had to wear a long-sleeved shirt.
 
Yes - as you can see from the photos I posted a mesh bandage was then applied over the top of the injury to protect it mainly from UV exposure. The new skin that forms is is very sensative and unprotected - one of the purposes of scabbing is to protect the new skin.
 
Yes - as you can see from the photos I posted a mesh bandage was then applied over the top of the injury to protect it mainly from UV exposure. The new skin that forms is is very sensative and unprotected - one of the purposes of scabbing is to protect the new skin.

^This!
 
One thing you dont want to do is pour alcohol all over it. I did that last year on a big patch of road rash and then broke out in chills after the pain subsided. Sucked as I need to catch a 7 hour flight the same day as the crash....

Anyhow, fareast is right, lightly clean and then use tegaderm or similiar and change the dressings daily or every two days.

Here....this is a bit dated but this site covers it all. The author speaks from 25+ years experience as an ER doc, bike racer, and founder of one of the best bike associations in the world:

(edit: he mentions duoderm which many Japanese clinics will initially use. I think the technology has gotten better since the above was written, but duoderm type dressings are still expensive, at around Y2000 per large patch even with insurance)

http://www.obra.org/wound_care.html
 
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