Thanks

For most of road rash areas I pretty much let them scab over and they are slowly healing, but for the knee there was too much skin removed IMO or for what I could endure when exposed to air. The knee has burned constantly and when I exposed it to air the burning sensation was really intense. I generally have a fairly high threshold for pain, but that was a bit much having it exposed.

I've been posting update pictures on the crash post and have some pictures (scroll to the bottom) from last night (14 days after the crash). Blog Post

This is not my first crash. I've had worse, but I hope to learn better techniques along the way and I appreciate all of the contributions to consider and apply in some cases.

Three cheers for wound nurses. As a family doc they are so helpful. Listen to the wound nurse. Everything she says is spot on.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

This ... and the two docs, and me. (I taught/certified stuff like ACLS, PALS, Basic and 12-lead EKG, blah blah blah ... lot of time in emergency medicine, so, plenty of wound care there, and I've crashed on three different continents ... )

Manukah honey is the bomb. I didn't know of its properties 'til I moved to Indonesia/Australia and lots of New Zealanders around. Every Blow on the street and certainly most of those in medicine are keyed in to manukah honey.

I've had road rash as well as chafing so bad that the hair didn't grow back in those areas. There were times when anything like even Aquaphor or petroleum jelly was too painful. But sticky as it was, manukah honey never did sting and seemed to slightly dull the baseline pain too.

Been five days since you posted and I hope you're healing up well.

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Yanti Ardie of Y Tri Multisport & Majick Juice for lasting critter defense & skin soothing
~ World Open Water Swimming Association Coach & Official
~ IRONMAN Certified Coach (Founding Member)
~ Triathlon Australia Professional Development Coach
~ 3 by the Sea: my Journey from death to ...

General questions to everyone.

I'm a triathlete and a wound care surgeon, been practicing for 14 years. I'd love to contribute to this forum and make a knowledge base that is sticky and semi- permanent (so, anyone can google and find the info on proper care of road rashes years later).

What's the best way to do this? I don't think this forum does traditional stickies. Does anyone know the administrator of slowtwitch, so perhaps I can write a feature article on the main page (outside the forum page)? Or is there a better way?

You can try contacting Slowman (he runs the site). I'm sure wound care would make for a great article for the news/front page of the site.

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Strava

This why I posted here because of combined professional and athlete experience. I visited general wound care websites and I found an article written a few years ago on a velo e-magazine from a doctor that treats pro cyclist for wounds, but I also appreciate the members of ST. When I made this post I was already several days into home treatment and had been to an orthopedic doctor to examine potential damage to my knee. I trust him on examining the knee, but did not feel like he gave me good advice on letting this particular wound "air out" so that prompted this thread and other research. I guess this particular wound would rate maybe a severe 2nd degree burn, but I am not in the profession so I am just guessing. But the general thought from most here have been to keep it covered and moist and the details begin to vary.

But the discussion has helped me learn more than I knew before, which was simple methods and using what is typically available at the locals stores.

I would be interested in an article from a specialist in wound care and also an athlete. Most of us will touch pavement at some point and have some better insight is very helpful. Especially when this crash will have me at $1K US out of pocket just for the orthopedic visits, x-rays and MRI. It helps to know how to do some of this properly at home if possible if it is a lower degree burn or to clean and treat it well enough that it doesn't turn into a nasty infection.

My wound is healing and it looks clean so I feel like I am on the right track for the road rash part thanks to the contributions.