Any secrets for treating road rash.....for faster healing???

[cyclemanpat]

any tricks to help my road rash heal so I can get riding again???

[cyclemanpat]

OUCH!!!!

[cyclemanpat]

pic

[Scapin/Dean]

Neosporin and the net bandages that you see on the pro's. Not sure where you get the bandages. Try your local medical supply house. Neosporin is at most any drug/grocery store.

[nicrump]

clean it, clean it well. get all that dirt out of it for much faster healing. sounds crazy but get in a warm clean bath and scrub it with a soft brush and hibiclense surgical soap. but you gotta do that within hours of the crash.

my worst crashes have been far more painful in the tub with a scrub brush that the crash itself.

[RIDE]

Been there man...it is sure painful. The stuff I used was called "Brave Soldier". You may have seen them at your local LBS. The stuff works amazingly well and I highly recommend it.

Be sure to keep the wound MOIST at ALL times! I learned the hard way and let mine dry out.....OUCH!

Here is a link: http://www.bravesoldier.com

Good luck,

RIDE

[cyclemanpat]

very nice....thanks for the advice!!

[cirroc]

Try out the Tegaderm Transparent Dressing (3M Nexcare) or similar bandages from Johnson & Johnson and others. My favorites are the 4 inch x 6 inch bandages that cover lots of skin and heal 3 TIMES FASTER
(1 week vs. 3 weeks from injury) than dry wound healing based on personal experience. I use a thin film of Bacitracin before applying the bandage. DON'T use other moist wound healing creams with Transparent
Dressings - that's a BAD combination (also from personal experience).

You can shower with the Transparent Dressings on and check the wound progress whenever you want, if that doesn't gross you out. Change the Transparent Dressing in 3-4 days if it gets dirty; that's only 1 change since the wound heals in a week!

[weiwentg]

they are available in various sizes. the large ones are pretty large. the local pharmacy or large grocery chain store should have them. and they are worth it.

[mises]

It's a little late but nicrump is dead on with the cleaning. Makes a world of difference. It is definitely worse than the crash though. I was glad I broke my hip one time because they gave me nitrous oxide and cleaned everything for me rather than me having to torture myself.

If you don't clean it thoroughly it will take much longer to heal and you are far more likely to get infected. Plus you can have little bits of road working their way to the surface years later.

The fancy tegaderm,etc bandages work great after you are cleaned up.

[cirroc]

A trip to the ER or Ugent Care center is helpful after major road rash. There they will apply Lidocaine to the affected skin to deaden the pain. They can then brush the wound hard to clean out all of the dirt without you screaming your lungs out. This will give you the cleanest wound for proper healing.

This is not exactly a cheap solution ($100, probably $200 if you need stitches), but hey, aren't you worth more than a pair of tires?!! I think Tetracaine and other similar local anesthetics will work and may be available over the counter. Lidocaine is available only by prescription, but waiting a day to see the Doc is a little too long.

[Bruiser]

As said before keep it moist.
How is it coming along?

Brian

[cyclemanpat]

I am back oln the bike......did 50 miles yesterday and felt great!!!

thanks for all the advice

[Tippster]

great news. Good to hear