Rajflyboy

Put vitamin E with aloe Vera on it

SalsaShark

I cannot see any of the pictures for some reason, but i had a wound on my hand from a dog bite that was not healing. It was essentially trenching its way deeper and deeper into my skin, despite being kept in extremely clean, moist conditions. I went to see a surgeon, who confirmed no permanent damage was done, but was told how to treat the damaged tissue. Mechanical debridement was the answer. Essentially, a coarse gauze is applied saturated with a sterile saline, and taped to the wound. As the gauze dries throughout the day, it embeds itself into the top layer of damaged tissue, and once completely dried (usually done twice a day for me) removed, taking a layer of damaged, infected tissue with it. Sounds painful, but each application and removal was strangely satisfying. I did this for about a week on my hand, and the wound was back down to a healthy looking bright pink color, and already beginning to scar over. It was completely healed in less than a week with no further complications.
Hoping maybe this will help with your situation.
-Jim

REDMASTA

bummer about your injury. had similar injury and it can take a LONG time for the skin margins to close. the granulation tissue in the wound bed is a good sign that reepithelialization is in progress.

i used medical manuka honey on mine that was taking a long time to heal and it seemed to help, but i think keeping it moist with whatever you choose and covering with the big 3M Tegaderm sheets is key.

it will eventually heal over, at that point it's important to continue covering it with Aquaphor (or similar) and the Tegaderm sheets to minimize scarring.

Marci

ER is a good idea just to make sure that nothing else was injured, or that its not thru the skin into other tissue. Our urgent care would have bounced you back to the ER anyways. Its not impossible that you also injured the bones, or muscles? That has to be ruled out, sometimes pain from one injury can cover pain from another. I say good idea to get it checked out.
I think its time to go back to the Dr, you may want to see a dermatologist if it continues to not heal. Their specialty is skin after all. The longer it takes to heal the more chance a secondary infection can start.

'02 nrs

why play a game of chance when there are so many staph virus's out there.flesh eating just one of those you don't want to risk having.ER mate.

Unca_Sam

I'll stay subscribed to see if the OP ever reports back.

stephr1

I wear a prophylactic because I never know who else has been intimate with my seat

All kidding aside, tho, someone mentioned Vitamin E and Aloe, which is a great suggestion. I would add Neosporin, which is anti-bacterial, and remains moist under a bandage.

I once took a spill on my MTB going over a wood bridge that was wet, and scraped my chin pretty good. That took a while to heal because of the hair growth. I had no facial hair at the time (still don't), but rather than ride with a bandage on my chin, I decided to grow a goatee until my chin healed. Once the healing was done, I shaved off the goatee.

Turner2

Urgent care facilities are great where available. That's where I went after my armadillo crash. This is the first time I've sought medical care after a minor fall. I wore dime size hole through the skin on my forearm which they stitched together and I wanted to get a Tetanus shot and a course of antibiotics. I find is astonishing that an emergency room would not treat road rash. They should have referred him to another facility if they were too busy.

leylou107

Hey guys! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR REPLIES. Atleast I'm not alone in this! .


So I did go back and talk to the doctor again. At this point, they say that it doesn't look infected, but that I have to go to a wound specialist. Apparently there are bandages and such that deal with these type of wounds and debridement of slough, but a regular doctor apparently doesn't have access to those, which is why they are sending me to a plastic surgeon. We are at 3 weeks in and I guess it should be farther along in the healing process.


I have had so many contradicting suggestions from friends, strangers, doctors, nurses, etc... on to let it dry, or keep it wet. I've been keeping it wet so that it has a little give to it, and maybe that's why it's not fully healed, but more people have said to keep it moist than not. I have an appt. on Wednesday... so we'll see what is said. Hope I don't have to get it grafted.... I think I have put every ointment on it possible... silver stuff, aquaphor, Neosporin... I tried Tegaderm and it almost took the skin off AROUND it that is healing so I guess its not ready for that yet, but excited for when I can because otherwise that stuff is awesome.


Also, I wanna try Duoderm, the spongy one, but don't know if I put it right on the wound, or if I still need gauze underneath. Seems like it might be good for something like that.


Trying to keep it bandaged at night, and keep moisture on it during the day but unwrapped. I feel like I'm just winging it. We'll see what happens.


I'll let you know if I hear anything MIND BLOWING Wednesday. Ha! I'm going to try to go the natural healing route as long as possible!


Otherwise, thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. Super comforting.

Turner2

Not a doctor but this might be part of the problem. I was prescribed an antibiotic ointment and told to keep a dressing on it and change it a couple times a day. Have done pretty much the same in the past using neosporin. I keep a dressing on it until it is obvious it is no longer needed.

I always use betadine to wash and disinfect scrapes like this.

leylou107

True Story.

leylou107

Thanks for your thoughts! Just to clarify, I went to the ER because I needed stitches in the other knee and didn't know how far down these other wounds went. They also thought that my leg and foot might be broken because I couldn't stand on them because of swelling, bruising, and a large hematoma that had formed, so they had to do X-rays. It was either ER or walk in clinic, and the clinic told me I needed to go to the ER.... I waited 5 hours in the ER and they said it had been too long and they couldn't give me stitches, though they would have but I was in the waiting room so long. Later, the clinic didn't understand why they didn't clean it, or sanitize it. Ultimately, it got infected, which made me go back to the clinic, who did all the other stuff that they said ultimately the ER should have done. I'm not a doc, and I'm GRATEFUL for them, but I paid a lot for a visit that could have avoided me a lot of pain and money a few days later, and that was where I was told I should have gone by the clinic. If you don't have an urgent care near you, that's your only option. But I appreciate your passion!

Unca_Sam

So you're saying you had a scroatee?
🤔

Unca_Sam

@leylou107
We're glad your didn't die. Welcome to Bike Forums!

JanMM

Good that you saw a physician and will be seeing a plastic surgeon. A wound care RN would also be able to help you move towards healing. Hang in there.

Jicafold

This is the type of thinking that increases heath care costs for you, me, and everyone. If they were up and walking, and all extremities move through full range of motion with full strength why would you want to expend my health care dollars for an xray and apparently, an MRI where they are not indicated. The OP needed visit urgent care.

stephr1

Nah...it was more of a "goatum"

OldTryGuy

Worked for me ----- MANUKA HONEY ( https://www.healthline.com/nutrition...-uses-benefits ) or any honey will aid healing when cleaned wound is kept covered.


25.2mph to ZERO in a Round-About at mile 15 of a 70.3 triathlon resulted in left leg, arm, shoulder, hip sanded down with wedding band embedded into ring finger to bone and pencil sized hole thru skin in left elbow. Got up, continued riding to mile 25 where I stopped at a medical station for a quick clean and wrap then finished the 56 mile ride and 13.1 mile half marathon. Was escorted to Medical Tent after finish and worked on, they wanted me to go to ER to cut off ring, get x-rays and complete medical care but I told them to keep on lubing and add cold to work off ring, then more cleaning and dressed. I went to my PCP where she cleaned things WAY better, applied honey, bandaged and said keep changing and apply fresh honey. Healed faster than other road-rash crashes with NO DRY SCAB and tight skin. ALSO put cinnamon on bleeding cuts/wounds to stop the bleeding. YMMV but has worked great for me ever since.

BTW, had to peel the dried blood off of bike and even spokes before washing down.

Unca_Sam

Truly metal, dude.

livedarklions

OP just posted there wasn't an urgent care available where she is. Sorry, but if someone really banged up, "your" health care dollars should probably be their least concern. BTW, I've known a few people who found out a few years later that they have had an undiagnosed broken neck and just got lucky it healed properly.

Jicafold

Yes. Urgent care was available. She had stated in message #63 :

"It was either ER or walk in clinic, and the clinic told me I needed to go to the ER.... I waited 5 hours in the ER and they said it had been too long and they couldn't give me stitches, though they would have but I was in the waiting room so long. Later, the clinic didn't understand why they didn't clean it, or sanitize it. Ultimately, it got infected, which made me go back to the clinic, who did all the other stuff that they said ultimately the ER should have done."

So she went to the clinic first. Then the ER...which was too busy because this wasn't an emergency...then back to the clinic where they finally did the job they should have in the first place. Sorry to hear about your friend, who apparently didn't go anywhere, but you need to know what level of care is appropriate to seek.

SalsaShark

See my post #53 about mechanical wet to dry non-selective debridement. Nice thing is that no special bandages or pricy supplies are required. The gauze you want is the loose, stringy stuff that almost falls apart if you stretch it. This worked wonders for me, and yielded a nice, healthy (not obvious) scar.

Wilfred Laurier

Too many responses to read, so likely this suggestion has already been made...

Road rash should be left uncovered as much as possible, at least for the first few days. It needs to dry out and scab over. It will heal if you cover it but so slowly that you likely won't see a difference from day to day as you change the dressing.

Turner2

Thank you Doctor. It may work for you but has greater risks and goes against common medical practice.

Witterings

Having had a similar'ish wound recently I asked why they cover rather it than leave it uncovered to dry out / scab over .... simple answer ... leaving a wound like that uncovered could be the quickest way of it getting infected if it wasn't already .... although this does depend how soon after the accident it is and how much it's healed.

There is though some controversy between medical professionals as well, some saying wet and some saying dry
Last week I was riding with the paramedic that was following me and suffered similar injuries as he braked to avoid hitting me when I came off and ended up in hospital having stitches and asked him which he considered best and he confirmed exactly that saying there was no right or wrong.

Personally I think I'd rather opt for the wet approach ..... at least for a while if it reduces the risk of getting an unnecessary infection.