Road Rash Treatment

After a lot of trial and error and spending around $80 on road rash treatment, I feel I have a bit of say on the latest road rash treatment available.

Before I continue, I need to give a little definition of road rash. Road rash is a rash that appears when you press your skin hard on the road and then drag it along the road. A more common term would be skin abrasions. This happened to me as I was trying to see how fast I could go on my inline skates. After much effort, the final conclusion was not very fast, slower than sprinting. However to get to this conclusion, I had to eat a little pavement. I had to eat the road as I got out of control on the skates and ended up sprawling on the ground. Fortunately, I had my guards and helmet on but I still had some abrasions on my knees, hands and face.

Anyway after reading up on the internet, the current wisdom in treating road rash is to keep the wound moist. This goes against things that I was taught when I was a kid - to keep the wound dry. Many friends, some medically trained are still giving me advice on keeping the wound dry. As there were multiple spots for me to try, I kept the lighter wounds dry and the more serious wounds moist just to see if latest wisdom held up. It has been about 5 days now and I think I agree with the current wisdom. For abrasions, keep the wound moist with a moist wound dressing like Duoderm extra thin or Tegaderm. Even if the healing doesn't accelerate, moist wound dressing are so much easier to manage. Since the wounds are moist, movement does not hurt it as much. Moreover, as most moist dressings are waterproof and can be left on for days, I can take quick showers without having to clean my wounds or redress the wounds. Supposedly, moist wounds heal faster but I cannot compare since I dressed all the heavier wounds in moist dressings.

Summary of treatment after road rash:-
1. Take shower. Clean wounds with mild soap or sodium chloride 0.9%. Avoid harsh cleaners like hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol (hurts like hell) as they might damage the tissue.
2. Let surrounding area dry and cover the wound with moist dressing. Over in Singapore, Tegaderm, Duoderm extra thin and Opsite is readily available at bigger pharmacies. Just stick the film/dressing on top of the wound. Dressing removal usually does not hurt except for the occasional skin hair.
3. Keep surrounding area clean. Dressings should be changed every 2-3 days or whenever they start to peel off.

Cons: The dressing can cost quite a bit. Duoderm is expensive at $2 per piece. Tegaderm is relatively cheaper at $.50 per piece.