road rash treatment

alibee
alibee Posts: 9
edited September 2007 in Road beginners
Came off my bike last week on a wet bend and ended up with probably "the usual" injuries. Before I go on..... yes the bike was alright! Ive got grazing up one side, could have been worse and most bits are healing well. However, my right hip (protected by a sturdy shield of lycra) took the brunt of the tarmac buffering and ended up with large graze (and more excruciating) burn type combo! This must be a "classic" injury so how do I treat it? It is still a "wet" and raw wound a week later. I tend to use " natural" type treatments if possible but would consider any approach that works. I have been using a "melolin" dressing (to stop it sticking) and washing it with various herbal type solutions and witch hazel morning and night but it doesn't show much sign of clearing up and is still a tad sore! Any help appreciated

Comments

  • tommywmb
    tommywmb Posts: 148
    Vinegar! :twisted:

    Sorry mate, sounds nasty!
  • jibi
    jibi Posts: 857
    I hit a patch of diesel last Sunday. and have similar grazes

    I tend to leave them to their own devices.

    the thigh is sore, but it will get better.

    empathy

    george

    https://picasaweb.google.com/georgeidf50
  • alibee
    alibee Posts: 9
    Tommy .....vinegar? applied with sandpaper is that? another suggestion I've had is honey which also seems silly but slightly more apealling than vinegar! George, the leave it alone technique is winning so far! cheers
  • Nuggs
    Nuggs Posts: 1,804
    Best thing is to let it dry - it will heal much faster.

    Try to expose it to the air as much as possible (without getting arrested if at all possible).
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    I'd be tempted to put some sudocrem on it. Depends on the injury and whether or not you think that's sensible. I had some burns on my face after the lid popped off the top of a liquidiser I was using and I got a face full of boiling soup. I used sudocrem on these and they really did heal up very quickly, with only one of them leaving a very faint scar.
  • McBain_v1
    McBain_v1 Posts: 5,237
    Alibee, get yourself some Hydrocolloid plasters from Boots. These things are fantastic and are perfect for "wet" wounds. When I took a spill about 5 weeks ago I slapped one of these on my elbow which had suffered some ablation of skin and was constantly weeping.

    They are a bit weird in that when you put the plaster on, after about 15 minutes you notice that a greenish goop has formed all over the wound. However, this means that it is working! This goop promotes really rapid skin formation and reduces scarring very effectively. Whats more, the plaster itself is water tight and flexible - much better than a traditional blessing.

    Worked for me :wink:
    What do I ride? Now that's an Enigma!
  • rjeffroy
    rjeffroy Posts: 638
    Another vote for Hydrocolloid, my last road rash healed up very cleanly compared to previous patches.
    My Bikes
  • shmo
    shmo Posts: 321
    I had a large 'wet' graze on my lower leg after a crash and left it undressed and let it form a thick scab. In retrospect I wish I had tried keeping it dressed and covered as it has left a large scar that is fading very slowly and it certainly wasn't helped by me occasionally brushing my leg against furniture and the bike by accident reopening the wound.

    Probably worth getting a professional to look at it, big ugly scars are no fun :(
  • McBain_v1
    McBain_v1 Posts: 5,237
    Scab picking is only fun if it's a small scab and not really all that painful :)
    What do I ride? Now that's an Enigma!
  • julk
    julk Posts: 55
    My sons have in the past had various accidents on their bikes which have resulted in extensive grazes to limbs. In one accident a son remembered seeing the bike above him as he somersaulted through the air before landing - ouch.

    My wife has treated the grazes by applying Calendula cream gently to the raw area and covering with a sterile dressing. Reapplying the cream and dressing at start and end of each day until enough healing has taken place. The cream is soothing and allows healthy new skin to form.

    The results have been quite remarkable, clean scab free pink skin has resulted. The calendula cream is a natural product produced from Marigold flowers and is available at most chemists.

    If you want pain relief as well, try HyperCal cream which is a mixture produced from Marigolds and Hypericum.

    I hope this helps.
  • alibee
    alibee Posts: 9
    Quite a few things I didn't know about so thanks for that, might have to injure myself again to try them all out......... or maybe not, ta
  • Squeak191
    Squeak191 Posts: 24
    Abilee,
    Don't put anything on the wound at all! Not for the first while anyway. Once it starts looking a little better you can put Germonline or Savlon or such skin-healing creams like this on it. Also, keep it out of the sun, not unless you want a really nice scar! I went on holiday with my a road wound (on my shoulder) when it was only just getting better and now I've got the most lovely pink scar which is probably going to take months if not years to fade!
    Hope it gets better soon for you.
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    Modern thinking it to keep burn type injuries wet - i.e. cover it up, change the dressings and cover up again ! Does help stop scaring !
  • hamish_hebridean
    hamish_hebridean Posts: 71
    Whatever you do, don't put that spray on skin you can get. Had a really bad one last year and put it on my arm and thigh. It felt like someone had sprayed kerosene over it and set it alight. Ended up a week in hospital in a bad way with blood poisoning as I had sealed in a bad infection.

    Hospital used the stuff the put on burns which still stuck. Was in the plastic surgery ward as the road rash was so deep. However the stuff was quite good, it healed well enough and the scarring isn't too bad. Ask at the doctors if they will give the dressing they put on burns.

    Good luck.
  • emaichael
    emaichael Posts: 109
    just let it dry... and plenty of air get to it when u can. then the blood will scab over and within a few days it will be noticeably better..
    i used to have a red raw cut of a rash on my ankle, and every day i couldnt resist scratching it (bad habit... i rly couldn't help scratching it) and within a night it would scab over again.. only to be scratched off by me again, i did this almost every day for half a yr.... so the body does heal well if exposed to air.
  • lloyd_bower
    lloyd_bower Posts: 664
    rjeffroy wrote:
    Another vote for Hydrocolloid, my last road rash healed up very cleanly compared to previous patches.

    Another vote here for the hydrocolloid plasters too. They're not cheap, but I find they speed up the healing process and leave less of a scar too.
  • ut_och_cykla
    ut_och_cykla Posts: 1,594
    WHatever you choose to do keep it clean and protected. Its infection and reopening that causes unecessary scarring as others have said!. If its edges are red/puffy and its not shrinking see a nurse/doctor as there might be an infection.
    Personally I'd be careful putting anything on it other than clean perhaps saline water. Germoline/savlon are cosnidered rather strong for baby skin - which is what you are trying to grow.
    If there is little flesh under the wound gentle massage with clean fingertips around the edge of the wound can help to improve blood supply and regrowth
    But if you're concerned - see someone who has medical training
  • jedster
    jedster Posts: 1,717
    An alternative to Hydrocolloid bandages is Compeed liquid bandage.

    This is a little bottle with some earbud like things that are impregnated with a chemical. You use the buds to paint a layer of liquid from the bottle onto the wound and it reacts to form a "skin" over the wound. Your own skin heals underneath it.

    I had a similar wound on my knee (smaller obviously) and it was really effective.

Categories