Road rash - wet or dry healing?

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:Fffcc.187231$1p.2186705@attbi_s54...

Quoted message said:

Two years ago, when I had a case of road rash, members of
this group recommended tegaderm to me, which is a sort of
plastic wrap to put over

your

Quoted message said:

scraped flesh. The point of this stuff is to sort of seal
it up, keep it moist, and let the skin under it heal. The
tegaderm didn't end up working that well for me, as I had
a lot of problems with infection under the plastic.

This time, since I actually received expert medical
attention, I asked

about

Quoted message said:

using tegaderm. They recommend to me instead to clean the
scrapes at least daily with soap (ow!) and warm water and
a washcloth, and then I'm to

spread

Quoted message said:

the antibiotic cream over them like frosting. Then I'm use
a clean dry method of covering, with non-adhesive gauze
pads, held into place with stretchy gauze tape.

Further, I was warned to be cautious in the tub not to
soak the scabs off. Luckily, all injuries on are on my
right side, and the tub is oriented

such

Quoted message said:

that I can hang my limbs over the edge without having to
sit at the tap

end.

Quoted message said:

There probably aren't that many bathers here, just because
there aren't

that

Quoted message said:

many in the general population, but I personally love a
hot soak in the evening. Hot water is a vice, but a fairly
benign one. Anyway, does this advice also sound familiar?

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used

the

Quoted message said:

most successfully?

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky

Claire,

Sorry to see you have a road rash situation to deal with.
When I got hit by a car recently, road rash was the least of
my injuries, but it was there, nonetheless. I wish I could
tell you what it was they gave me. It was a yellow, gauzy
product that was heavily impregnated with something like
petroleum jelly. It was very gooy. Maybe it was because I
had major stitches in the same places I had the road rash,
but I wasn't allowed to get anything wet for a long time.
But I had to replace this gauze daily. It came in a foil
pouch. Well, it worked wonderfully. By the time I was able
to get things wet, the skin was pretty much intact and I had
no real problems with washing away scabs. I've told my wife
to save the leftover gauzy stuff and I have it around here
somewhere. If I can find it, I'll let you know what it is.
We were buying it at the local drugstore after the supply
from the hospital ran out.

Hope you feel better.

Bob C.

Claire Petersky said:

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used the most successfully?

This isn't the same exactly, but when I had a mole biopsied,
I was told to keep it covered with antibacterial ointment,
cover it with a dry bandage, and change it daily. One goal
was to keep scabs from forming in the first place, as this
increases the scarring. Sounds similar to what you have been
told this time around.

The best healing I ever got from road rash wasn't exactly
road rash. I was coming down off of the Pinnacles above
Calistoga in the Napa Valley. This is all volcanic area and
the road had originally been a mine feight trail with the
wheel ruts carved out of the stone by Chinese laborers.

I was with some young guys who were really fast and I was
going to show them the way to descend. In fact I was well
up the road from them and puling away rapidly with my
technique of fear freezing my fingers so that they couldn't
pull the brakes.

In one location I came around a corner at maybe 25 mph and
the front wheel washed out. I landed right in the lava and
it took maybe 10 feet for the skin abrading to slow me to a
stop. I managed to roll around a bit to spread the damage
out pretty evenly on my left side.

I was intent on beating everyone to the bottom so I
jumped up and continued before they got to me. At the
bottom someone had the bright idea of going into the hot
springs. Right.

Well the water was heavily chlorinated because of all the
people in it. VERY heavily chlorinated by the smell.

I soaked in that bath for perhaps 2 hours. The result was
that all of the bacteria that might have gotten into those
cuts and scrapes was eleminated completely. Within 2 weeks I
was completely healed without a scar.

I've been using chlorine bleach ever since instead of normal
antiseptics. It doesn't burn (diluted in a bath tub of
course), is cheap and works like gangbusters. When I cut my
toe off and was supposed to soak the stub in Clinidine
(damned expensive for fake iodine) I didn't like the surface
infections I was getting and started using Chlorox instead.

I would suppose that most scaring is caused by bacterial
infections post trauma. If the wound is clean enough the
scab will form over a clean wound and you won't have any
problems. But picking the scab off invites secondary
infection.

Tegaderm works by maintaining a nice moist wound but the
problem is that secondary infections are almost guaranteed
without access to cleaning. And Tegaderm is fantastically
expensive for nothing more than a piece of plastic. \

Tom Kunich said:

Within 2 weeks I was completely healed without a scar.

within reason). i sure do.

perhaps pick at 'em a bit ..
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

Claire Petersky said:

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used the most successfully?

Tegaderm has worked great for me. You have to clean the road
rash really well before applying the tegaderm, but then it
works fine. I've never had an infection. I've had road rash
almost disappear in 7 days with tegaderm. Since it's a clear
bandage, it's easy to watch for infection.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA bike.terrymorse.combike.terrymorse.comOpen ↗

Maybe you should stay away from bikes and powertools? At
least give us all a warning first!

"Tom Kunich" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:vf-
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The best healing I ever got from road rash wasn't exactly
road rash. I was coming down off of the Pinnacles above
Calistoga in the Napa Valley. This

is

Quoted message said:

all volcanic area and the road had originally been a mine
feight trail

with

Quoted message said:

the wheel ruts carved out of the stone by Chinese
laborers.

I was with some young guys who were really fast and I was
going to show

them

Quoted message said:

the way to descend. In fact I was well up the road from
them and puling

away

Quoted message said:

rapidly with my technique of fear freezing my fingers so
that they

couldn't

Quoted message said:

pull the brakes.

In one location I came around a corner at maybe 25 mph and
the front wheel washed out. I landed right in the lava and
it took maybe 10 feet for the skin abrading to slow me to
a stop. I managed to roll around a bit to

spread

Quoted message said:

the damage out pretty evenly on my left side.

I was intent on beating everyone to the bottom so I
jumped up and

continued

Quoted message said:

before they got to me. At the bottom someone had the
bright idea of going into the hot springs. Right.

Well the water was heavily chlorinated because of all the
people in it.

VERY

Quoted message said:

heavily chlorinated by the smell.

I soaked in that bath for perhaps 2 hours. The result was
that all of the bacteria that might have gotten into those
cuts and scrapes was eleminated completely. Within 2 weeks
I was completely healed without a scar.

I've been using chlorine bleach ever since instead of
normal antiseptics.

It

Quoted message said:

doesn't burn (diluted in a bath tub of course), is cheap
and works like gangbusters. When I cut my toe off and was
supposed to soak the stub in Clinidine (damned expensive
for fake iodine) I didn't like the surface infections I
was getting and started using Chlorox instead.

I would suppose that most scaring is caused by bacterial
infections post trauma. If the wound is clean enough the
scab will form over a clean wound and you won't have any
problems. But picking the scab off invites

secondary

Quoted message said:

infection.

Tegaderm works by maintaining a nice moist wound but the
problem is that secondary infections are almost guaranteed
without access to cleaning. And Tegaderm is fantastically
expensive for nothing more than a piece of plastic. \

Mon, 05 Apr 2004 15:51:01 GMT, <Fffcc.187231$1p.2186705@attbi_s54>,

Claire Petersky said:

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used the most successfully?

"Homeoplasmine" made by Boiron in Ste-Foy, France and
"Traumeel" made by Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH in Baden-
Baden, Germany.

I won't say I'm anxious to try it, but I heard that honey
works great.
--
zk

Claire Petersky said:

Two years ago, when I had a case of road rash, members of
this group recommended tegaderm to me, which is a sort of
plastic wrap to put over your scraped flesh. The point of
this stuff is to sort of seal it up, keep it moist, and let
the skin under it heal. The tegaderm didn't end up working
that well for me, as I had a lot of problems with infection
under the plastic.

[...]

Quoted message said:

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used the most successfully?

Claire,

Sorry to hear about your road rash. You shouldn't oughta do
things that give you that!

I was one of the ones recommending Tegaderm last time. I've
used it since, and I did have a minor infection start up.
However, since it was on my knee, the Tegaderm was peeling
off after a couple of days, and I washed the infection off
in the shower, applied another layer of ointment and another
$2.50 Tegaderm, and it cleared up.

I'd speculate you had an infection beginning by the time you
got the bandage on, or didn't have it as clean as it needed
to be, or didn't have enough antibiotic ointment on. Think
of putting it on like the Brits put butter on -- a nice, quarter-
inch thick slab! Well, maybe not quite that much, but more
than just a thin wipe.

Or maybe it just didn't work well for you for some
other reason.

But I still swear by it!

Pat

Quoted message said:

There probably aren't that many bathers here, just because
there aren't that many in the general population, but I
personally love a hot soak in the evening. Hot water is a
vice, but a fairly benign one. Anyway, does this advice
also sound familiar?

Well, I rarely bathe. However I DO love a good hot water
shower on a daily basis, twenty-five minutes under the chute
in the morning and a good shot in the evening in the summer,
that's a pretty good show.

I try to stay clean.

I have all sorts of road rash that is historical, hell I
have cuts and nicks that date back, I can DATE my road rash
scars back to the Seventies, for example.

But it isn't a big deal.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY
MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------ __________306.350.357.38-

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[email hidden]__________

Zoot Katz <[email hidden]> wrote in message
[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Mon, 05 Apr 2004 15:51:01 GMT,
<Fffcc.187231$1p.2186705@attbi_s54>, "Claire Petersky" <cpetersky@mouse-

potato.com said:

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used the most successfully?

"Homeoplasmine" made by Boiron in Ste-Foy, France and
"Traumeel" made by Biologische Heilmittel Heel GmbH in Baden-
Baden, Germany.

I won't say I'm anxious to try it, but I heard that honey
works great.

nature.com021118 1.htmlOpen ↗

--

A: Top-posters.
B: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

Wed, 7 Apr 2004 09:42:20 +1000, <[email hidden]>,

DRS said:

Quoted message said:

I won't say I'm anxious to try it, but I heard that honey
works great.

nature.com021118 1.htmlOpen ↗

Okay, unpasteurised honey works great. Thanks.

Bees figure it all by dancing. It's blessed stuff.
--
zk

Quoted message said:

"Claire Petersky" [email hidden]

wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

This time, since I actually received expert medical
attention, I asked about using tegaderm. They recommend to
me instead to clean the scrapes at least daily with soap
(ow!) and warm water and a washcloth, and then I'm to
spread the antibiotic cream over them like frosting. Then
I'm use a clean dry method of covering, with non-adhesive
gauze pads, held into place with stretchy gauze tape.

Further, I was warned to be cautious in the tub not to soak
the scabs off. Luckily, all injuries on are on my right
side, and the tub is oriented such that I can hang my limbs
over the edge without having to sit at the tap end. There
probably aren't that many bathers here, just because there
aren't that many in the general population, but I
personally love a hot soak in the evening. Hot water is a
vice, but a fairly benign one. Anyway, does this advice
also sound familiar?

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used the most successfully?

Warm Regards, Claire Petersky

I've used both methods you describe and both worked equally
well for me. I'd choose the tegaderm route over the "clean
it daily with soap and water" method though simply because
it's easier and relatively painless but you paid for the
doctor's advice so you should get your money's worth.

Regards, Bob Hunt

Tom Kunich said:

<painful story skipped> I would suppose that most scaring
is caused by bacterial infections post trauma. If the
wound is clean enough the scab will form over a clean
wound and you won't have any problems. But picking the
scab off invites secondary infection.

I fell off my motorcycle and ended up with road rash a foot
wide from just below my bra to my waist. Immediate pain
increased and then decreased by Americaine spray, but it
eventually scabbed over. I think the scab must have been
nearly 1/4" thick in places, and then it cracked and REALLY
hurt. I soaked in the tub for a couple of hours and picked
the entire thing off. The only scar was temporary, a line
right at the crack. Fortunately I love to pick scabs, but
this was a bit much even for me.

Quoted message said:

Tegaderm works by maintaining a nice moist wound but the
problem is that secondary infections are almost guaranteed
without access to cleaning. And Tegaderm is fantastically
expensive for nothing more than a piece of plastic.

Better is to not get it at all. Areas covered by cloth
(levis, bra and cotton shirt) were OK, but my shirt pulled
up as I slid along the asphalt. I guess I should feel good
-- about half an inch of metal got scraped off the rack on
the back of the bike. If I had to do it again I'd try to
keep a scab from forming, but I suspect that that might be a
full-time job.

--
Cheers, Bev
************************************************************
"Let them eat [censored]."

-- Marcel Antoinette, Marie's little-known brother

"Hunrobe" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've used both methods you describe and both worked
equally well for me.

I'd

Quoted message said:

choose the tegaderm route over the "clean it daily with
soap and water"

method

Quoted message said:

though simply because it's easier and relatively painless
but you paid for

the

Quoted message said:

doctor's advice so you should get your money's worth.

I've actually been very pleased with this semi-dry, clean it
daily method as I feel like the healing has been much
quicker than the last time I had road rash. However, the
last time I had real problems with infection, probably
because I didn't have it cleaned professionally with
antibiotic (internal as well as external) follow-up, so it's
not necessarily a fair comparison.

Some was kind enough to forward me privately a series of
articles from rbr, mostly regarding the wetter method. One
thing that was noted was that it is hassle for the "serious
athlete" to have to deal with dressing changes. Actually, I
think it was all the dressing changes I did the first day or
so that made a difference in ensuring it to remain nice and
clean. And I'm not a serious athlete, although after
cleaning and cooking for Pesach, I began to feel like one by
the end of the day :-).

Further, with tegaderm you have this gross-out wound
smooshed down with clear plastic, and I've come to the
conclusion that I prefer the aesthetics of white gauze.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato
and .net for .com Home of the meditative cyclist:
home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗ See the
books I've set free at:
bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

Being a man, and not particularly concerned about scarring,
I just let them heal nature's way. And, there is nothing
wrong with a good "hot soak" in the tub after a ride, of
any kind...

Cheers, Tp

Claire Petersky said:

Two years ago, when I had a case of road rash, members of
this group recommended tegaderm to me, which is a sort of
plastic wrap to put over your scraped flesh. The point of
this stuff is to sort of seal it up, keep it moist, and
let the skin under it heal. The tegaderm didn't end up
working that well for me, as I had a lot of problems with
infection under the plastic.

This time, since I actually received expert medical
attention, I asked about using tegaderm. They recommend to
me instead to clean the scrapes at least daily with soap
(ow!) and warm water and a washcloth, and then I'm to
spread the antibiotic cream over them like frosting. Then
I'm use a clean dry method of covering, with non-adhesive
gauze pads, held into place with stretchy gauze tape.

Further, I was warned to be cautious in the tub not to
soak the scabs off. Luckily, all injuries on are on my
right side, and the tub is oriented such that I can hang
my limbs over the edge without having to sit at the tap
end. There probably aren't that many bathers here, just
because there aren't that many in the general population,
but I personally love a hot soak in the evening. Hot water
is a vice, but a fairly benign one. Anyway, does this
advice also sound familiar?

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm. What
have you used the most successfully?

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato
and .net for .com Home of the meditative cyclist:
home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗ See the
books I've set free at:
bookcrossing.comCpeterskyOpen ↗

--
Tp,

-------- __o
----- -\<. -------- __o
--- ( )/ ( ) ---- -\<.
-------------------- ( )/ ( )
-----------------------------------------

No Lawsuit Ever Fixed A Moron...

Then I'm use a clean dry

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

method of covering, with non-adhesive gauze pads, held
into place with

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stretchy gauze tape.

This is definitely a drier method than the tegaderm.
What have you used the most successfully?

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky

Basically, that's also what I did to heal my knees last
year, when I took a dive. On my doctor's advice I used non
stick type gauze pads, taped to the skin with a stretchy
adhesive tape. Also used a small dose of Bacitracin ointment
daily (an over the counter antibiotic cream). The initial
damage looked severe, and I lost a few square inches of skin
off both knees. Pain and loss of flexiblity kept me off the
wheels for over 3 weeks. Using this 'dry' method, I had no
infection problems. Don't worry if you lose some big pieces
of scab. If you are giving it air and using antibiotic
cream, you should be fine. We cyclists heal well. I wish you
to get well and stay well! Best regards, Bernie

PS: After the surface was healed, I used a skin cream with
vitamin E.
It seems to help reduce scar tissue, and to promote
flexibility.