TexasGuy

I am looking for some opinions on using Johnson and Johnson First Aid Advanced Healing pads on some road rash. Have a splotch of road rash on my elbow and a decent patch on my thigh.

I Was wondering if these pads were the right ones to use.
If so, how long should one leave a patch on it on. They say to follow instructions on package but there are few actual instructions on the package, just propaganda.

Has anybody used these before? Any opinions based on experience?

Thanks in advance

P.S. this was typed while standing and without glasses, and after waking up

Chongo

I use them every time I get road rash. They're good because they form a big blister of body fluid over the wound. After the wound heals over, there's nice pink skin underneath and you never have to go through a scabbing process. It's takes 2-3 weeks depending on how bad the wound is. You don't remove them until the wound is healed. another good features are you can shower with them.

terrymorse 

I use Tegaderm for the same purpose. It looks like the Johnson & Johnson product is similar.

You can get Tegaderm is pretty large sheets, able to cover the biggest road rashes.

TexasGuy

Thanks, I'd like to say Ill give them a shot, but hopefully I won't have to. By the way, long time no see.

TexasGuy

Okay, I was unsure for how long they could be left on. Personally I don't like leaving something over a wound for that long so I wanted to make sure

jschen

Dude, how can you talk about road rash without posting pics or at least telling us what happened? The audience has a right to be entertained.

TexasGuy

Well, no pics are being posted because its on my thigh, and I aint going to be like slvoid and bare my dimpled ass

The story, on the other hand.
So I'm heading down San Pedro which is fine because in the afternoon on slow days nobody ever uses the right most lane. Well anyways, as I'm approaching the onramp towards Nakoma and 281 these 2 ladies approach the curb at an alarming rate. They do not look to the side to check out. Just staring in front of themselves and walking extremely fast. As they are about to reachthe curb, with no sign of stopping I decide to move to the left in case they're going to do something pretty ****ing stupid.

BIG mistake on my part, I should have just yelled at them. As I move right a Ford pickup had come up behind me to pass me and I collided into his cab door . I attempted to pull away however to no avail. The next thing I knew i was thrown to the ground. I some how managed to catapult the brunt of the blow over the right shifter and onto my left elbow. After I hit the ground I quikcly rolled/pulled me and the bike towards the curb in case of oncoming traffic.


Probably the most ironic part is, the 2 ladies asked me if I was okay, and after I nodded, taking advantage of all the people who had slowed or stopped to see if i was okay, crossed the road
After collecting myself for a bit, the person with whom I collided, came out. He had pulled into the lot. He offered me a ride which I accepted.

I nailed my left elbow pretty badly and had a nice patch on my left thigh. Bent the right shifter/brake badly and ripped the computer in half.

I just got the bike back today all fixed up. They even manged to super glue the computer back together, and I got new bar tape too. Right now I am nursing the 2 wounds, and I guess being thankful that it wasn't worse, much worse.

jschen

Yikes! Glad you're okay.

DieselDan

I hate to say this, but all the OTC wound care is nothing compared to silvadine ointment. You need an Rx to get it.

terrymorse 

The Tegaderm docs say not to leave it on for more than 7 days.

TexasGuy

That sounds a bit better. I'll try to stick to that regiment of cleaning. Couldn't find Tegaderm at wallie's world. Would I need to go to someplace like Tegaderm?

TexasGuy

Put silvadine ointment over it then use the pads to cover/protect it ? Rx == doctor's prescription?

sleepystarz

Plain old neosporin works really well too. Sometimes I get lazy and don't even put anything on roadrash, just let it airdry. Not too good if you mind scars. I can say from previous testing that Neosporin heals the roadrash much faster than nothing at all

Get well soon bud.

terrymorse 

I get mine at Longs or Walgreens. Lots of online sources, too.

rule

Once the patch comes off, remember to protect that new skin from sun exposure. Otherwise, it will turn into a nice dark red scar. If you are actually going for that look, there's your how-to.

Great doctor's recommendation article from VeloNews: https://www.velonews.com/train/articles/3909.0.html

DieselDan

So that is how I got this result:

Bontrager

OMG that is crazy. You're just asking for an infection. There's a reason for the clotting cascade.

mwbirren

2 questions for you folks regarding these Tegaderm thingies:
1) I fell Saturday, today is Wednesday; is it too late to use something like tegaderm?
2) do I have to shave the area surrounding the roadrash to ensure adhesion?

Thanks,
MikeB

Vinokurtov

The Johnson Advanced are the same basic hydrocollodial bandage as Tega. Same regimine, don't leave on for more than 7 days.

I know, I've got three on right now.

I've talked to one person who developed an infection under this type of bandage, probably because the wound wasn't clean and there was exsisting bacteria in play.

it probably isn't a bad idea to do a couple of days of non stick gauze packed with antibiotic cream before you switch over.

As far as infections under the bandage, they were originally developed for burn care, where infection is a major concern. As long as the wound is clean, infection shouldn't be a concern, the bandage provides an impermeable layer for bacteria and water.

And you don't have to shave the area, but it'll feel better when you're pulling them off.

popdelusions

This week I'm wearing a stylish mix of the Johnson + Johnson (Compeed) pads and Tegaderm (see the Lehigh Valley Velodrome pix thread in the Track Cycling forum for the reason why). I'd never used Tegaderm before, the EMT on site recommended and applied after a thorough and painful debriding.

The Compeed seems better for well-defined wounds on flexible areas like knees and elbows, since it supplies a bit more padding and seems to have somewhat more staying power, while the large Tegaderm sheets are much better for large patches of road rash. You can shower/wash with either, and they're low profile enough to wear more-or-less comfortably under clothes.

Since Tegaderm is transparent (and Compeed just slightly opaque), it seems easy to manage any possible infection with either, since it would become immediately obvious.

In both cases, they seem to stick better to shaved skin than unshaved, so it might not be a bad idea to zip off hair around the affected areas before applying if it isn't shaved already.

Jose R

Here is a link to a post on FixedGearFever regarding road rash and tegaderm: Road Rash/Tegaderm with before and after pics.

That stuff works pretty good.

It seems the key is to scrub clean the wound area.

San Rensho 

Best stuff around. Its used to treat 3rd degree burns.

I was from the old school, scrub it hard with betadine within 1/2 hour of crash (skin is still numb so it doesn't hurt) then leave it uncovered to let it scab over.

I crashed on my motorcycle and had extensive road rash from the back of my hand up to my elbow. I'd say about a third of my lower arm was road rash. Didn't go to the doctor, just scrubbed it. Fine, no infection, but as it scabbed, it started to hurt like hell and I had very little mobility in my wrist where the scabbing was.

After about a week, I couldn't stand the pain anymore, so I went to the hospital. Nurse Cratchett wanted to scrub me again and I said I was outa there! MD came in and prescribed saline water soaks and a physical therapist pulled off the scabs after the soak (not painful) to get down to bare skin, followed by silver sulfadine cream. What a relief, the cream is so soothing.

After a few treatments, I was fine and you can barely see the scars today.

bigskymacadam

Tegaderm works good, but I found that the oozing was making them slippery and wouldn't stay on very long. I tried BandAid Active Flex. What I like about these is that they stay on and absorbe the moisture while still keeping the wound from drying out. so far so good.

Here's a good article from OBRA on wound care.

toshi

I'm using the J&J First Aid Ad. Care pads for rash from a recent crash. The first 24 hours, I'd used gauze and neosporin after a judicious hydrogen peroxide scrub. Since then (last Friday) I've had the J&J stuff on.

Initially, I didn't allow for enough space at the edge of the 2"x3" pads to account for oozing. I shored that up with some gauze sponge. Sunday I changed out the pads and left more space at the edges. You can overlap these pads with no ill effect.

They're a bit pricey ($6.99/4 pads) but they seem to be doing their job, as things were vastly improved after 72 hours.

slvoid

Just from experience, get a larger size than what you think you need otherwise it WILL expand and burst with this sick brown fluid...

I would also not use it until you're at a stage where it's not completely liquid and oozy. Otherwise stick with antibiotic cream and regular bandages for the first week or so.