Greetings:
Feel obligated to reply as I skimmed the posts and there is some really not good advice and some is potentially dangerous. To give my comments some validity, I should say that I deal with this stuff big time. Below is my take on how to manage “road rash”. The basics.It is only my take; there are other ways that could be better.
#1)Get in the shower and scrub out all the particles.Some of the deeper ones may need to be removed under anaesthetic -one at a time. This will keep a guy like me occupied for hours. Deep particles will tattoo the skin - and not the cool kind of tattoo you want.
#2)Keep it clean.
a)Shower everyday and use mild soap. A late infection is caused by bugson the normal skin so wash it off. Antibacterial soaps probably don't do so much.
b)The idea of ointments is to prevent early infections which can really screw things up. An antibacterial ointment is used. One of the best is Flamazine ('cause it has been shown to actually work) or sometimes something like Polysporin“Original” ( the original formula has polymixin and bacitracin only) for the face 'cause Flamazine is kind of messy.
I suggest you stay away from ointments that have a “mycin”antibiotic in them. What do I mean by a “mycin” antibiotic? Whenever you see “mycin”, the antibiotic is an “aminoglycoside”- and there are lots of them. The aminoglycosides can make you deaf and can be toxic to the kidneys. With a large surface area of wound a lot can be absorbed – enough could be absorbed to make you deaf or knock your kidneys off. Nothing worse than being on dialysis AND having road rash AND you can't listen to tunes.
You can also get allergic to all of them by exposure to one. This, also,is not such a good thing if later in life the only antibiotic that will save your life is an aminoglycoside. So, READ THE LABEL!
ASIDE- polysporin contains polymixin which does not do the above (as far as I know) and will not kill you unless, of course, it is given intravenously, which isn't even possible. So it's perfect for an ointment 'cause it has no other use. Polysporin also contains Bacitracin which is used to wash out contaminated wounds. Any of the other versions with other stuff, skip 'em.
#3) Shower the dressings off.“No Stick” is code for “Always Stick”. Don't bother. Shower them off and slobber on more ointment. When they really are sticking a lot, leave the wounds open to air and let them scab. Scabs are good. Scabs are biological band-aids. After 2 million years of research and evolution, the human body came up with scabs to heal wounds. They work. Leave them alone.
#4) See your Doc. If things don't seem to going right or you're sick or something, check in with someone who can help.
Remember: “If you live long enough you'll heal” My dad used to say that to me whenever I massacred myself. Nice guy. Miss him.
r