road rash help

I spilled on a turn Sunday and tore up my left arm, hip, and leg.

In the past I've always used antibiotic cream + bandages. This time I'm
trying out the fancy plastic self-adhesive wound coverings.

There's no foul odor or anything that I've detected, but there's an
amazing amount of goo oozing from the edge of one of the coverings.
It's a pinkish clear ooze that dries into a crust like you get on the
bottle cap of Elmer's glue. I'm sure it looks absolutely disgusting to
people around me, like I have leprosy or something.

Is the goo normal? Should I abandon this treatment and go back
non-stick bandage + antibiotic? The wound is your standard road
abrasion with some gravel gouges.

I have not seen my physician about this. I've had road rash that's a
*lot* worse than my current episode.

The bike is fine, and this was on a left turn so drive-side components
weren't even scratched. The only damage is that my left brake hood got
bent in a little.

RFM

"Fritz M" wrote in message
oups.com...
I spilled on a turn Sunday and tore up my left arm, hip, and leg.

In the past I've always used antibiotic cream + bandages. This time I'm
trying out the fancy plastic self-adhesive wound coverings.

There's no foul odor or anything that I've detected, but there's an
amazing amount of goo oozing from the edge of one of the coverings.
It's a pinkish clear ooze that dries into a crust like you get on the
bottle cap of Elmer's glue. I'm sure it looks absolutely disgusting to
people around me, like I have leprosy or something.

Is the goo normal? Should I abandon this treatment and go back
non-stick bandage + antibiotic? The wound is your standard road
abrasion with some gravel gouges.

I have not seen my physician about this. I've had road rash that's a
*lot* worse than my current episode.

Last week I got tennis court rash from getting so excited about a flying
poach put away that I forgot to put my feet down on the landing.
(Apparently, the decades old Chris Evert quote in this month's tennis
magazine "No point is worth falling down over." was meant for me.) So, I
took a gander at the first aid section at the local drug store and came home
with a bag full of ideas, and here's my experiences with them.

The multi day sealing bandages do seal, but then both my bandages on my
elbow and knee filled up with greenish puss which eventually seeped out.
Yuk!, I'm thinking not good. The larger one, to cover the court rash on my
calf did not have a pad in the center, and through the clear covering you
could see white stuff building up. And it started itching terribly. Taking
that off also took off most the scab. The spray on bandage does keep dirt
and dust out. Doesn't make anything heal fast. Does not stop the pain of
riding too close to the weeds on the side of the road. (I'm a stoker, my
captain was having spatial troubles when it came to the edge of the road...)
Does seem to keep it from getting infected. Still didn't allow me to wear
long pant over the rash. There are new non-stick bandages with the
antibiotic already applied, and that's what I was using on my elbow from day
two. And my elbow is almost healed. So I went for mondo bandaid and
antibiotic on my rash and knee, and they finally (after a week and a day)
are looking like they are making progess on healing. So my experience is
stick to the antibiotic cream and non-stick bandage.

(Note, they have new antiseptic wash you can spray right into the road rash
to clean out the wound. Doesn't hurt at all, does a good job.)

Good luck.

Cathy Kearns wrote:
"Fritz M" wrote in message
oups.com...
I spilled on a turn Sunday and tore up my left arm, hip, and leg.

In the past I've always used antibiotic cream + bandages. This time
I'm
trying out the fancy plastic self-adhesive wound coverings.

There's no foul odor or anything that I've detected, but there's an
amazing amount of goo oozing from the edge of one of the coverings.
It's a pinkish clear ooze that dries into a crust like you get on
the
bottle cap of Elmer's glue. I'm sure it looks absolutely disgusting
to
people around me, like I have leprosy or something.

Is the goo normal? Should I abandon this treatment and go back
non-stick bandage + antibiotic? The wound is your standard road
abrasion with some gravel gouges.

I have not seen my physician about this. I've had road rash that's
a
*lot* worse than my current episode.

Last week I got tennis court rash from getting so excited about a
flying
poach put away that I forgot to put my feet down on the landing.
(Apparently, the decades old Chris Evert quote in this month's tennis
magazine "No point is worth falling down over." was meant for me.)
So, I
took a gander at the first aid section at the local drug store and
came home
with a bag full of ideas, and here's my experiences with them.

The multi day sealing bandages do seal, but then both my bandages on
my
elbow and knee filled up with greenish puss which eventually seeped
out.
Yuk!, I'm thinking not good. The larger one, to cover the court rash
on my
calf did not have a pad in the center, and through the clear covering
you
could see white stuff building up. And it started itching terribly.
Taking
that off also took off most the scab. The spray on bandage does keep
dirt
and dust out. Doesn't make anything heal fast. Does not stop the
pain of
riding too close to the weeds on the side of the road. (I'm a
stoker, my
captain was having spatial troubles when it came to the edge of the
road...)
Does seem to keep it from getting infected. Still didn't allow me to
wear
long pant over the rash. There are new non-stick bandages with the
antibiotic already applied, and that's what I was using on my elbow
from day
two. And my elbow is almost healed. So I went for mondo bandaid and
antibiotic on my rash and knee, and they finally (after a week and a
day)
are looking like they are making progess on healing. So my
experience is
stick to the antibiotic cream and non-stick bandage.

(Note, they have new antiseptic wash you can spray right into the
road rash
to clean out the wound. Doesn't hurt at all, does a good job.)

Good luck.


I wish I had not been eating my lunch as I read this.
Maggie

Maggie wrote:
I wish I had not been eating my lunch as I read this.

WARNING: Gross content follows.

In the shower this morning I decided to press on the wound covering. It
was exactly like popping a big whitehead pimple, except instead of a
little squirt of pimple juice it was a huge amount of pimple pus oozing
out and flowing down my arm with the consistency of pancake syrup.

Unlike Cathy's experience, there's no green gunk or itch or other
unusual discomfort. I just didn't know if fluid production is normal or
not.

RFM

Fritz M wrote:
Maggie wrote:
I wish I had not been eating my lunch as I read this.

WARNING: Gross content follows.

In the shower this morning I decided to press on the wound covering.
It
was exactly like popping a big whitehead pimple, except instead of a
little squirt of pimple juice it was a huge amount of pimple pus
oozing
out and flowing down my arm with the consistency of pancake syrup.

Unlike Cathy's experience, there's no green gunk or itch or other
unusual discomfort. I just didn't know if fluid production is normal
or
not.

RFM

I'm lovin this thread. Your oozing gunk is normal but it also
indicates some infection. You should be fine though. Might
be a good idea to soak it for a while in hot water and wash it
gently with some anti-bacterial soap that is made for such wounds.
Watch out for increasing tenderness and redness around the
affected area and most ominously, red streaks. There is some
crazy bacteria out there these days. You could actually die
from road rash if the wrong kind of bacteria enters the wound.
Of course everybody including myself recommends anti-
bacterial this-and-that but the widespread use of these
pesticides is likely creating more vicious bugs.

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

RobertI

On 19 Apr 2005 09:45:05 -0700, in rec.bicycles.misc you wrote:


I wish I had not been eating my lunch as I read this.
Maggie

Maggie: If you've got nothing substantive to add, at least learn to
"snip".

Having had a great deal of experience with the road rash--I will state,
LEAVE IT ALONE! Covering it up simply turns it into a Petri dish full of
bugs. You will heal much faster if you leave it open to the air or lightly
cover it with Carasyn deep wound ointment.

Additionally, when the pain diminishes you should shower and let the water
course over the wounds. Evaporation is a very effective disinfectant. I have
used a blow dryer to speed up the process. You need to form a scab so you
can slowly pick it off on the edges. You will find that this can be
entertaining for hours. (LOL)!

Vic wrote:

Maggie: If you've got nothing substantive to add, at least learn to
"snip".

SNIP..and you don't impress me with your very big word. I've seen
bigger. ;-)

It's all good
Maggie

Fritz M wrote:
I spilled on a turn Sunday and tore up my left arm, hip, and leg.

In the past I've always used antibiotic cream + bandages. This time I'm
trying out the fancy plastic self-adhesive wound coverings.

There's no foul odor or anything that I've detected, but there's an
amazing amount of goo oozing from the edge of one of the coverings.
It's a pinkish clear ooze that dries into a crust like you get on the
bottle cap of Elmer's glue. I'm sure it looks absolutely disgusting to
people around me, like I have leprosy or something.

Is the goo normal? Should I abandon this treatment and go back
non-stick bandage + antibiotic? The wound is your standard road
abrasion with some gravel gouges.

I've had best luck with these when there's some antibiotic cream under
the plastic. As long as it's "pinkish clear" I wouldn't worry about it,
at least until the bandage comes off. Since it's most likely to happen
in the shower, then wash the wound carefully, dry, and re-apply the
antibiotic cream and another fancy plastic bandage.

If it turns green, or starts to smell foul, remove the bandage
immediately, clean, and apply antibiotic cream. Then you have to decide
what to put on top to protect the wound. If the flesh underneath is not
too red or swollen, I'd put some more plastic on it. Tegaderm, IME,
helps heal road rash faster than anything else I've tried, and sometimes
it even stays on for a week!

Pat