Road rash

emotionless_softcore

↑ any tips on how to mitigate this? (after the fact)
Today, due to the heat, I chose to eschew the cycling jersey/gloves.
Cycling home: a gentle downhill, a traffic free country lane; I hit 40mph for the first time ever. (I ride a hybrid)

At the foot of the hilll I brake a little, then as the road widens and a long straight emerges I put the hammer down.

I am f*cking flying.
It's as though I consist of little more than a pair of legs, a pair of hands, a pair of lungs.
It's as though I transcend spacetime.

My chain comes off.

In a way I'm glad I wasn't wearing any expensive jersey or gloves as they'd likely have been ripped to shreds.
Skinned palms/most of drive side upper arm/back, have an amusing apparent second thigh-bone emerging. Rear mech probably f*cked... Worse things happen at sea.

Slightly concerned about some deeper fleshwound on my elbow; the main point of contact and effective primary braking surface in this instance (heavily sunburnt skin vs. gravelly tarmac).

Ripped to shreds would be one way to describe it, however the shreds are relatively painless in comparison to the palm/shoulder related road rash. Looks pretty nasty, but relatively little claret (gently weeping).

Just away from trying to clean up in the shower, my post here prompted by the white sh*t I could see inside the split elbow; thought it was soap at first, then realised it's the subcutaneous layer of fat exposed.

Will TCP help? (at this time I have only vodka/shower gel)


#bedsheetscoveredinblood
#whilemyelbowgentlyweeps
#alwayswearacyclingtopandgloves

keith1200rs

Try A&E. If there is some crap in the wounds it might be best to get it out. I crashed a few years ago on gravel and the holes in my knee and elbow were twice the size after they finished digging the muck out. I still ended up with a 2 day stay on an anti-biotic drip as well. It then took 10 weeks for the skin to grow back. Best to play safe after an injury and get it looked at. Oh - and my hands were fine - I was wearing track mitts. Even lycra minimized the injuries. Bike was only scratched!

Keith

bornagainroadie

Probably a Stooopid question but:

What is it about the chain coming off that means you end up on the road? Does it get stuck in the wheel(s) or just unbalance you as you pedal furiously?

I've managed to stay off the road so far and would like to keep it that way if I can.

Nick

Cafewanda

Wow :shock: :shock:

Definitely get to A&E (you might already be there) and get checked over.

Wish you better.

itsbruce

as the road widens and a long straight emerges I put the hammer down.

So he was really stomping on those pedals when the chain came off, causing a massive drop in resistance by the crank. Even if he wasn't standing out of the saddle at the time, that'd be likely to cause an upset. Imagine running as fast as you can down a long corridor with a wooden floor and a carpet. Suddenly, the carpet slips...

emotionless, I hope you've gotten yourself to a doctor by now. Exposed subcutaneous fat sounds as if it needs more than some disinfectant.

PBo

Double post

PBo

Seriously, a&e. And bad luck mate.

Friviously, the bit about transcending space-time sounds like something DDD would write!

And that bit at the end...try to rewrite it as a haiku, it'd be awesome!

jedster

ouch. I mean OUCH

Do get a nurse to look you over. In my experience it makes sense to get the wounds cleaned up properly then covered up with colloidal dressing or something similar (ones that allow the skin to regrow below a sealed membrane. A&E or your local minor injury clinic should sort you out

J

spasypaddy

ouch, wish you well mate. but can we get some photos?

spen666

Ouch mate- had road rash injuries but not as bad as those.

Get yourself to A&E to get em cleaned

lost_in_thought

Get thee to a doctor at the very least - a good GP should be able to pick the stuff out of the wounds and give them a good old clean.

If you cover them up without getting them really properly clean, you're setting yourself up for infections and all manner of unpleasantness.

spen666

L-I-T will come and tend to your wounds if you ask nicely



Cue - several hundred male cyclists claiming to have road rash

spasypaddy

funnily enough spen i have road rash, on my inside thigh. dont know how it got there...

wgwarburton

lost_in_thought wrote:

Get thee to a doctor at the very least - a good GP should be able to pick the stuff out of the wounds and give them a good old clean.

If you cover them up without getting them really properly clean, you're setting yourself up for infections and all manner of unpleasantness.

+1

I had (relatively) minor RR a few years ago after a broken mudguard jammed my back wheel solid and stopped the bike faster than it stopped me... I took it home, cleaned it all out, laced it with antiseptic and dressed it well... a few days later I was on antibiotics to address the infection... took a good long while to heal properly.
Forcing bits of road grit deep into your flesh isn't something to take too lightly.

Cheers,
W.

Clever Pun

Always wear mitts... getting dirty road grit embedded in your hands can result very badly indeed if you like using them.

Rooner

Bad luck, that sounds bad. I suppose it could have been worse, and 40mph+ on your hybrid is pretty cool! Motoring!!!!!! Seriously though, and not being over serious, you can get blood poisoning (can't spell septicameia..) so quickly from open dirty wounds, its not worth it. And there's a nasty called cellulitis I think, that likes to get in the lower layers of the skin. Plus you might get a nice nurse who you can relate your story to in great detail, and they'll be super impressed with your biking prowess!

Must be a thing with chains at the mo, mine decided to jump off the front big cog the other night, only semi-skinned my leg. Maybe they don't like hot weather?

dancook

Have you had your jabs?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetanus

My girlfriend came off her bike recently, they cleaned up the wounds properly in A&E. She'd had her Tetanus jab recently enough not to need one.

Although I probably wouldn't worry about it, the doctor didn't seem that interested in my girlfriend's dread of getting Tetanus, like the chances were so slight.

lost_in_thought

spen666 wrote:

L-I-T will come and tend to your wounds if you ask nicely



Cue - several hundred male cyclists claiming to have road rash

You'd have to pay me in red wine for that.

spen666

lost_in_thought wrote:

spen666 wrote:

L-I-T will come and tend to your wounds if you ask nicely



Cue - several hundred male cyclists claiming to have road rash

You'd have to pay me in red wine for that.

That sounds like a contract to me

Ouch my road rash hurts...... :P

Kieran_Burns

lost_in_thought wrote:

spen666 wrote:

L-I-T will come and tend to your wounds if you ask nicely



Cue - several hundred male cyclists claiming to have road rash

You'd have to pay me in red wine for that.

Well.... I have a rash... :?



Have I said too much again?

emotionless_softcore

Thanks a lot for the well wishing/concern, people. Had to get driven to work this morning (light clerical work), first time in ages I haven't cycled in
Ransacked the first aid kit for some dressing (slim pickings), now only bleeding when I move sharply. On my lunch break now. Thought I might get away with letting nature take it course, but better safe than sorry I guess. Might head down to A&E when I finish.

itsbruce wrote:

So he was really stomping on those pedals when the chain came off, causing a massive drop in resistance by the crank. Even if he wasn't standing out of the saddle at the time, that'd be likely to cause an upset. Imagine running as fast as you can down a long corridor with a wooden floor and a carpet. Suddenly, the carpet slips...

Yep, exactly. Stood on the pedals, weight over bar ends, pushing hard. A passer-by said I "took a crazy wobble". Nice guy, took one look at me scraping myself+bike off the road and went "ah, you're all right", then carried on his way...
To be fair though I was all right, relatively speaking, e.g. no head impact/broken bones etc...

I suppose I should ask about tetanus at the hospital, thanks for the heads up there

re:wearing mitts - Good point. I usually do, but at a barbeque on Saturday someone pointed out that my arms were dark brown and my hands whiter than white!... after that I couldn't get over how noticeable this was... in hindsight, I should have just applied some fake tan...

UndercoverElephant

emotionless_softcore wrote:

at a barbeque on Saturday someone pointed out that my arms were dark brown and my hands whiter than white!... after that I couldn't get over how noticeable this was... in hindsight, I should have just applied some fake tan...

Meh, that's nothing, just wait to see how white the new skin where the road rash heals is.

Get well soon.

Nigel Bennett

Hope you heal soon - it's taken nearly three weeks for mine to heal and I had it lucky because the road was wet and didn't do as much damage as you seem to have -erm - enjoyed.

Regarding the white hands bit, though, I'm rather proud of mine because it shows other poeple I've done a lot of cycling, so i just enjoy the smug factor...

I found it best not to cover my wounds and to let the thing scab over and dry out. Bit tricky with the hip, and so I did my Homer Simpson impression at home in the evenings, i.e. sitting about in my underpants, but I had no probs with my under-forearm after the first day.

Get back on that bike soon - and with a decent chain on it!

biondino

If it doesn't really really hurt yet, it will. You do need to dress those wounds properly and make sure there's no infection. I did my knee badly in a similar incident (my cassette perished while out of the saddle picking up speed - immediately loss of resistance led to catastrophic weight distribution and won I went, no wobble, nothing) and after a week or so weeks it was healing nicely. One evening I go out in long trousers, plaster over the scab, and by the time I get home the wound is full of pus. Took three weeks to heal, ouch.

woodford2barbican

got any pictures?

amnezia

They clean out the grit in the cuts using a sterile toothbrush :shock: It hurts but at least you're not left with gravel permenatly embedded in your palms.

My hands wouldn't stop bleeding so i had to have these rediculous looking bandages put on, could write or type for days.

After that experience i never leave without gloves.

desweller

Lol, I've just had a much smaller bout of Murphy's Law. Why is it that deciding to break the routine and go out without gloves (for the first time for 18 months) prompts one to have an accident (first one for 18 months)? An accident that will involve landing on one's palms first?

I am thinking of doing judo lessons to learn how to fall.

NGale

Not long after I first met Jake, he came off his bike and has a severe case of road rash which even after two hours at the roadside with me administering first aid he still spent another three in a&e in Torbay having it all irrigated and every last stone taken out.

in short it really is worth getting A&E to sort it, literally for the benefit of your health

rolf_f

Nigel Bennett wrote:

I found it best not to cover my wounds and to let the thing scab over and dry out. Bit tricky with the hip, and so I did my Homer Simpson impression at home in the evenings, i.e. sitting about in my underpants, but I had no probs with my under-forearm after the first day

Nooooo, no no no no no!!! Do not listen to this man!!!!!!

As a habitual scab grower, I have learned my lesson. Just finished repairing a scuff on my thigh. Hydrocolloid dressing (£5.00 a pack from Boots) for 3 days. Second dressing for another 3 days. Five days under a normal plaster. The skin is red where the damage was but otherwise completely smooth and healed. The chainring stab marks above my knee from a couple of days later, left untreated, remain as lumpy scabs.

Honestly, hydrocolloid dressings are brilliant!

-liam-

In the short term, get the grazes sorted.

In the long term...Pain killers, and then some more pain killers. In all likely hood, you will ache like a very achey thing from achesville in the morning.

Gussio

Clever Pun wrote:

Always wear mitts... getting dirty road grit embedded in your hands can result very badly indeed if you like using them.

+1