I crashed (road rash question)
 

My second race didn't go well. I'm pretty sure I clipped my pedal on the pavement and then slid out. I'm fine, but my good pair of bibs are shredded and my 2 week old toupe is all chewed up. My bike is fine though and I guess that is most important.

So I fought with the pavement and it won, and now my leg/hip/butt is roughed up good.

Regarding the road rash: I cleaned it all and put a big bandages with tape over the worst parts. However, the wounds are weeping a lot so I have to change them fairly often. The changing of the bandage is very traumatic for me. the bandages I am using (Johnson and Johnson Gauze pads) are sticking to the skin/rash so I have to peal them off. Is this just part of the process or should I be using some other kind of material to cover the rash? Does sticking delay the healing or does it not really matter?

Thanks.

keep it wet. if you have access to a shower, then shower several times a day, making sure to remove dead cells.

tegaderm/second skin/etc is what you should keep on top, not gauze.

ok, but where do you get this stuff? I don't remember seeing anything like that when I raided my local Walmart first aid aisle

PM me with an email where I can send an attachment. I wrote a piece for our local paper about road rash, I'll send it to you.

I just went through this (probably the wrong way), wish I would have researched proper care.

Errr you should read this:
http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...rash-care.html

Huge improvement over the "bandage and change" routine.

I'm not a doctor so keep that in mind.

cdr

I found a bunch of tagaderm pads at CVS. Walmart didn't have anything worthwhile. Thanks for the help.

This is the kind of info I hate reading, even though I know it will come in handy some day soon.

I'm a pro at this, unfortunately. Here's what you should do after cleaning it up:

Buy these (or the generic version) at Target, Walgreens, Walmart, etc:
http://www.walgreens.com/store/produ...&id=prod727947

Buy a tub of vasoline (it's cheaper than Neosporin)

Smear the vasoline over the whole bandage, then stick the bandage to your wound. Tape it up afterward. Even non-stick bandages will stick, so the vasoline prevents this. Also, keeping it moist means it heals faster and with less scarring.

It should only need to be changed 1-2x/day. Do this for about 10-14 days and it should be good enough to remove.

I used the following advise http://aboc.com.au/tips-and-hints/ho...reat-roadrash/ for my hip and knee earlier in the year and found it worked well.

X1,000 to the Tegaderm patches on the really bad spots that stay wet and ooze. The superficial stuff will heal and flake off relatively quickly. Removing bandages that stick is easier (but no less painful) in the shower based on my experience... sometimes it helps loosen them up.

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

I buy packages of Tegaderm. You can order larger pieces online (highly recommended)\

PS. Mike Murray is an ER doc.

I'm going through this now, I tried a bunch of products and here's what I did/am doing now. I have two really bad patches, one on my hip and the other on the side of my shin, I am covering with neosporin and the J&J product JPradun linked to, also some CVS brand pads that are the same thing. I kept the non stick pads on with medical tape or the curad netting. The patch on my hop was too high for the netting so I wrapped with an ace bandage. These two patches have finally stopped oozing, took almost a week.

For the rest of the patches on my arm, shoulder, knee and ankle, I used tegaderm. It's finally starting to heal nicely, going to start riding again tomorrow.

Good luck and feel free to pm me with any questions.

If you're going to use a johnson and johnson product, make it these: http://www.drugstore.com/qxp68768_33...esive_pads.htm

The box looks like either of these two:

http://hocks.com/Merchant5/graphics/...01/4394268.jpg http://a1468.g.akamai.net/f/1468/580.../68768/200.jpg

You can leave them on for over a week and your rash will not scab and will heal quick and not scar (not much anyway). I crashed going downhill on a skateboard at 35-40mph and got some road rash on my arm and hip and treated it with those gel filled bandages and it healed nicely.


But the directions from http://sprinterdellacasa.blogspot.co...rash-care.html are an excellent way to take care of big spots of road rash.

Had a bunch of requests, here's the piece.

A million thanks for posting this. It came in handy yesterday. :D

Question. In my delerious state I didn't follow directions as well as I could have. I got everything all cleaned up nice and fresh and pink and rather than put the non-stick gauze pads on I went right to the Tegaderm. There is fluid building up under some of the Tegaderm (and seeping out the ends on some too). Think I should peel off Tegaderm application #1 clean it all up again and reapply? Or should I just leave it be?

you can create a channel under the tegaderm, so the fluid can drain. i've used a safety pin (carefully).

alternatively, you can take off the tegaderm, give the wound a light scrub, then apply medicated gauze and leave that on for a day or two so the wound can seep. make sure not to let it dry.

after +/-48 hours, put on the tegaderm.

Thanks!

I think for now I'll channel it and put some gauze over the top. On the way to Mammoth Cave with the family. When I get home tonight I'll reevaluate.

Appreciate it!

Yeah, though be careful using Tegaderm when it's weeping that badly. I'd use a bunch of neosporin and nonstick pads with tape or large bandages until it stops seeping. When it's not too oozy, you can get the Nexcare large pads that have Tegaderm strips around them. That will keep it waterproof but allow some fluid to be absorbed. Last step is straight tegaderm, which can stay on for days. When you use Tegaderm on the wound, you won't want to use Neosporin (it won't stick). You can disinfect with Betadine or Bactine, then pat try and apply Tegaderm. You might want to be washing with Betadine scrub or something similar anyway.

I've had this happen. As long as its yellow/brown and not white then the liquid is fine. However you do run the risk of it rupturing and staining all of your clothing and stuff. I'd take the tegaderm off, clean it up, stick some gauze on it for a day, then go back to tegaderm.

Since Tegaderm is kinda expensive, instead of replacing it when I get fluid build up, I just puncture it with a safety pin, and soak it up with a paper towel. You can tape a piece of paper towel over the hole, so that when it builds up again, it just drains itself. Or you could put a piece of tape over the hole, so it doesn't get on your clothes.

Lots of details here. I'm a simple "neosporin lots and lots" guy. I avoid bandages at all costs cause I don't like the sticking. Guess it depends on your job, but I can get away with keeping it pretty open from the clothing and slabbing more stuff on it every 2-3 hours to keep it moist.

+1'ing this.

My wife went on a minor crashing spree, in addition to a broken pelvis she got road rash on her face, both arms hip and a big patch on her shin.

Followed Mike's instructions and it all healed up nicely (some still in the process).

But yeah, keep it wet and don't use gauze.

Good advice here. Keep it moist with something and non stick bandages and your healed in a much shorter time than if it scabs. I used Neosuporian (sic) and non stick pads. Read the label as there are bandages made for abrasions. I even agreed with botto (first time) Keep the wound flexible by keeping it moist.

Attached is RacerEx's document converted to PDF for the Wordless.