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Suppose you've crashed ...... there's nothing broken, but you are covered from head to toe with bruising and road rash, you've pulled a lot of muscles, and you're experiencing the effects of whiplash.
Aside from rest, are there any other tips you might have to speed up the healing process?
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Ouch, Machka, sorry to hear about the crash.
I swore there was a thread here the other day talking about a med for bruising recovery, check the commuter forum. Or let me check and amend this...
How have you treated the road rash?
See a doctor re the whiplash.
Zone 1 on the rollers, 1/2 hr. to an hour/day.
How have you treated the road rash?
See a doctor re the whiplash.
Zone 1 on the rollers, 1/2 hr. to an hour/day.
I've treated the light road rash with zinc oxide, and it is pretty well healed now. The deeper road rash, I've been treating with Ozonol and a bandage over it.
Yeah, keep the road-rash covered with antibiotic ointment and bandages. Then when there's new pink skin, use hi-IU vitamin-E creme and keep it covered for another week. When the pigment comes back, you can then leave it exposed. Shouldn't take any more than 1-2 weeks to heal the most severe road-rash this way.
For my recent bout with multiple patches of road rash, I experimented with different techniques on each instance. The second most effective remedy was Tegaderm. But the best, by far (hardly a controlled study, to be sure), was this product from Johnson and Johnson:
http://www.bandaid.com/images/covers/advanced.jpg
This is a thicker, gel-like pad using CompeedŽ technology, which I used on the worst instance of road rash (and the only one with a deep gouge in the middle) -- and this one healed the fastest. Again, not a controlled study, and different parts of the body, but I was duly impressed by the anecdotal results.
An experienced road-rasher taught me this for the bad rash: wash, of course, and painfully but surely scrub to remove every speck of foreign matter. Paint on Povidone-Iodine. It won't burn and it dries to a nice film. When it's dry, cover with Tegederm. That's like a breathable second skin. The Tegederm should be enough larger than the wound that tape will not touch the damaged area. Put whatever gauze you need to prevent leakage onto your clothes on top of the Tegederm and secure with tape. Leave the Tegederm on until skin regrows underneath it. You can shower with the Tegederm, as long as it's taped down. This treatment will usually result in a scarless recovery. And there's no pain or further damage from changing bandages. And you can show it to friends as the Tegederm is translucent! Very cool. In a sick sort of way, I guess. Only a randonneur would be interested. :rolleyes:
I took a look at those Johnson & Johnson Advanced Healing pads. They look very cool, but only 3" X 2.25". I wonder if you can just butt them together for big ones.
So sorry to hear about your crash! Probably wasn't your first, but sure sounds like a bad one. PNW in April. Nasty riding. Around here, the shoulders are still covered with the fine stuff they put on roads when they're icy. They'll sweep next month.
An experienced road-rasher taught me this for the bad rash: wash, of course, and painfully but surely scrub to remove every speck of foreign matter. Paint on Povidone-Iodine. It won't burn and it dries to a nice film. When it's dry, cover with Tegederm. That's like a breathable second skin. The Tegederm should be enough larger than the wound that tape will not touch the damaged area. Put whatever gauze you need to prevent leakage onto your clothes on top of the Tegederm and secure with tape. Leave the Tegederm on until skin regrows underneath it. You can shower with the Tegederm, as long as it's taped down. This treatment will usually result in a scarless recovery. And there's no pain or further damage from changing bandages. And you can show it to friends as the Tegederm is translucent! Very cool. In a sick sort of way, I guess. Only a randonneur would be interested. :rolleyes:
I took a look at those Johnson & Johnson Advanced Healing pads. They look very cool, but only 3" X 2.25". I wonder if you can just butt them together for big ones.
So sorry to hear about your crash! Probably wasn't your first, but sure sounds like a bad one. PNW in April. Nasty riding. Around here, the shoulders are still covered with the fine stuff they put on roads when they're icy. They'll sweep next month.
I'll have to take a look at the stuff you've mentioned. Some of it might not be available in Canada. I've noticed that the US stores have more/different medical stuff than Canada.
I don't mind if I scar ... I look at scars as "character marks". :D In fact, the road rash on my left knee is right on top of a nasty scar from a crash in December 2004. That scar was just beginning to fade away. It's just that I crashed almost a week ago, and I still haven't started to grow any new skin yet, the area is still bleeding a bit, and is very painful and sensitive.
Also bruises ... I'd be interested to hear if there is a way to make them less painful as quickly as possible. My bruises are really sore.
And ........ I've actually taken pictures of my wounds. Maybe that's a Randonneuring thing?? :D
The crash was at the bottom of a 15% grade hill, a paved road which was covered in slippery wet mud. I made it all the way down the hill, but there was a 4-way stop at the bottom.
I don't mind if I scar ... I look at scars as "character marks". :D And ........ I've actually taken pictures of my wounds. Maybe that's a Randonneuring thing?? :DUh . . . scars is usually a guy thing, supposed to turn on certain chicks. No reason it can't work the other way, I guess. Be sure to post the photos. :)
I don't know of any treatment for bruising other than gentle exercise. No ibuprofen! That makes the bruising worse. Take aspirin or more fun drugs.
Allow me to also suggest higher doses of vitamin E and up your ptoein intake considerably. Research an acquaintance of mine, Dr. Lonnie Lowery has done on burn patients proved that higher intakes of protein sped their recovery by nearly 30% Interesting stuff.
sorry about your crash Machka and thanks all for the useful info. I'm filing it for future reference because our weather is so cold and rainy (still) I was dressed like the Michelin Man for my 3 hour ride today and even tho I didn't go down (despite the nice very old man who took a left turn in front of me - right under the watchful gaze of Mercer Island's finest police officer) I got quite a scare but realized if I had dumped the bike instead of my evasive right turn I probably wouldn't have had any road rash due to the 4 layers I had on. Cold and wet has it's benefit as road rash preventativ I guess.
happy healing!
"Vitamin A & D Ointment" is a very good product. A friend had a bad burn from some hot metal he was welding. It was watering and would not heal. We put some Vitamin A & D Ointment on it and it was much improved in a couple of days. Sunlight produces vitamin D, which is good for skin. After I had surgery on my abdomen I exposed the incision to sunlight about ten minutes a day. The surgeon was impressed with the way it healed.
I found a sports clinic here, where I live, so I'll be in touch with them next week. There are a few areas of my anatomy I'm concerned about (neck, shoulders, triceps, and hip, in particular) which I'd like looked at by a professional. Somehow I don't think my regular GP would understand ... hopefully the people at the sports clinic will.
BTW - I have burned myself very badly ... I burnt my left foot to the bone in 2001. The scrapes/road rash are similar to that burn, although not as nearly bad. I guess I do have to be patient. After all, it took 3 months for the burn to heal.
Well, for cleaning wounds, I have found that hydrogen peroxide is great. It is oxygen based and is a mild disinfectant. The stuff fizzes foreign matter out of the wounds. Also it does not sting or irritate.
As for aches and pains. Warm showers or warm baths are good. Also baths are good for cleaning wounds.
Another thing I do is light work outs to stretch the muscles and stuff. I think the work outs gets blood to the affected tissues and accelerates healing.
I would definitely recommend a workup by a PT at the sports clinic. Think of this as an opportunity to get your body and back/neck in balance. When my wife separated her shoulder I started doing her shoulder stability exercises with her and they really work.
When my wife separated her shoulder I started doing her shoulder stability exercises with her and they really work.
Do you have any example of these? They sound interesting and I've never heard of them.
Get well soon, Machka. Road rash sucks.
Az
Well, for cleaning wounds, I have found that hydrogen peroxide is great. It is oxygen based and is a mild disinfectant. The stuff fizzes foreign matter out of the wounds. Also it does not sting or irritate.
H2O2 cleans wounds really well but it also destroys any new epithelization that is happening and it can dry out the wound. It is very cytotoxic to skin cells and delays wound healing.
Machka, Yikes!!!!! That suck. I'm glad that your ok. I crashed going down at 30mph. I had a mild concussion but thankfully no road rash. It was winter and I was covered. I did have some ache and pains for a while. Be patient. Your body will do most of the work. I had to rest for my head. For the bruising I increase my vitamin c. It will help them heal faster and stretching will help the aches. The streching probably helped the most. Definitly go see your PT if you feel a little off. Advil for the swelling in my head too. Feel good soon.
Wow 19 posts and ice was not mentioned for injury. After you have your surface wounds treated, use ice on the bumps and bruises, strains and sprains.
Wow 19 posts and ice was not mentioned for injury. After you have your surface wounds treated, use ice on the bumps and bruises, strains and sprains.
Even a week later? I always thought ice was an "immediately after" thing.
BTW - here are a few shots of some of the injuries ... and my helmet.
Ouch
Ice is best immediately but it is still very useful if the area is warm to the touch, inflamed or very sore. Heck ice is always useful, older refractory injuries can respond to hot/cold therapy as it increases circulation.
As for treating the skin discolouration, I got nothing.
Allow me to also suggest higher doses of vitamin E and up your protein intake considerably. Research an acquaintance of mine, Dr. Lonnie Lowery has done on burn patients proved that higher intakes of protein sped their recovery by nearly 30% Interesting stuff.
Extra C also. Vitamins E and C are essential components of cell membranes. Give yourself extra building blocks for making new cells.
Do you have any example of these? They sound interesting and I've never heard of them.
Get well soon, Machka. Road rash sucks.
Az
For example, one of them http://www.orthop.washington.edu/UserFiles/Image/exercise09.gif
Then do the opposite.
There's what I call the bridge shrug too, on your knees, bridge, and do shoulder shrugs.
All these are super light weight high rep exercises. They started her off with a tuna can. Now she's up to 1lb. I use 2lb weights.
OK this is going to sound gross,
I mean realy gross but I would heal cuts and abrasions like that by covering the cut/abrasion with my own saliva via my finger and leave the wound open to heal.
Its what animals do and it works fine for them and funny thing is that it works fine for us too. Maybe that wound is a little big for you to want to try but next time you get a small cut simply lick it and let it air dry. You will be suprised as to how well it heals without any secondary infection.
Regards, Anthony
Plain old bee honey is nature's perfect bandage. Just apply honey to road rash and gauze over.
Breathes
Keeps dirt out
Antibacterial
Keeps wounds moisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey#Medicinal_uses_and_health_effects_of_honey
(Honey is the only food that never goes bad. In Egypt, they've found 5000 year-old honey that was still edible.)
H2O2 cleans wounds really well but it also destroys any new epithelization that is happening and it can dry out the wound. It is very cytotoxic to skin cells and delays wound healing.
+1
more time spent cleaning via irrigating the wound and light wiping where neccessary has worked better for me, over the years, than the scrubbing action. I've always healed faster / better taking my time in initial cleaning. I'd rather spend 3 hours just constantly flushing the wound than 15 min. scrubbin. Most Emergency rooms will still do the quick scrub; mainly because you're an annoyance, and they got more important 'emergencies' to deal with. So unless I'm completely immobile or not within riding distance of my home or 'room', I'm now a DIY guy when it comes to road rash. Sometimes the wound is deep and there's not much choice, so scrub we must. But I'm usually the "Big Area" kinda slider, mostly shallow but large patches.
I've used Second SKin for over 15 years (used to be a Spenco Product) but some locals also swear by Tegaderm, which I have no perosnal experience with. Prolly any of the saline gel type burn coverings will do the job better than any other cover. Not cheap, but well worth the cost. Really cuts healing (and scab crackin) time in half. I use as little antibiotic ointment as needed to stop infection, since its a bit toxic to your cells as well.
Lick yourself if you really feel that urge; but I prefer the more 'tech' approach to dealin with this, all too frequent, issue for me.
Here's to a quick recovery for you.
I’ll pass on the honey thanks.
I can’t get over putting sugar, which might feed microbes, into a wound. If you want to increase osmotic pressure, use salt instead. :)
Anthony Gs spit idea sure sounds stupid. But coming to think about it, if I cut my hand I almost instinctively suck on it. However, evolutionary theory might suggest that it just prevents you from leaving a blood trail for predators to follow, rather than improving healing.
I've opted to use Ozonol and Zinc Oxide.
If you're not familiar with Ozonol, it's an antibiotic ointment with a pain reliever.
And zinc oxide clears up saddle rashes overnight so I have used it on other small scrapes and things, and it seems to clear them up in a day or two. In this case, it took care of all the light scraping in no time, and it seems to be working on the bigger stuff slowly but surely.
The worst right now seems to be the muscle and bruise pain.
The worst right now seems to be the muscle and bruise pain.
Ice for sure then, 8-10min on 8-10min off repeat once; listen to sensations after the initial shock. If you are going to have a hot bath, ~15 min before and ~20min after, ice.
I've been to the Dr. and my left hip is very badly bruised and will probably be another couple weeks to heal. My scraped knees are healing slowly. My head is fine (the helmet took the brunt of that) ....... and I've likely torn 1-3 of the 4 rotator cuff muscles.
The Subscapularis is the front rotator cuff muscle and it's OK (I tore it several years ago, I guess it had it's turn then!), but the Infraspinatus, Teres minor, and Supraspinatus are not in good shape. Apparently I've got 3 months of physio ahead of me! Oh well, at least I don't pedal with my rotator cuff.
tegaderm for the road rash. works great.
The road rash is healing nicely now. :)
The shoulder is not. I've got a 1.5 hour physio session tomorrow after work. 1.5 hour on my shoulder???? I'm very curious what my physiotherapist will be doing to my shoulder for 1.5 hours!
bruised areas respond well to tobacco packs. I met this man, and have seen his remedies and research continued at BYU. It works:
One of the procedures Kimball used is tobacco -- that's right, tobacco -- at BYU. Kimball knew the scientific value of using tobacco patches on bruises and contusions to help the injury heal faster, a practice that has been continued through the decades to help ailing players and was an ancient remedy for cattle.
Even a week later? I always thought ice was an "immediately after" thing.
BTW - here are a few shots of some of the injuries ... and my helmet.
I'll see you, and raise you (from my 40 mph sideswipe crash (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=270492) back in February) :
Left Shoulder (http://www.cyclistats.com/images/bikecrash/leftshoulder.jpg) (graphic content - viewer discretion advised) :eek:
Left Elbow (http://www.cyclistats.com/images/bikecrash/leftelbow.jpg) (graphic content - viewer discretion advised) :eek: Before the sutures, there was about 1 cm of bone exposed.
Right Hand (http://www.cyclistats.com/images/bikecrash/righthand.jpg) (graphic content - viewer discretion advised) :eek: It took about 15 stitches to close the wounds, and I'm still working on re-stretching the skin in that region.
Ass Rash (http://www.cyclistats.com/images/bikecrash/assrash.jpg) (graphic content - viewer discretion highly advised) :eek: Not as bad as it looks, but it resulted in some major bruising.
Helmet (http://www.cyclistats.com/images/bikecrash/helmet.jpg) Destroyed, along with every piece of clothing I was wearing, except for socks and shoes.
Jersey (http://www.cyclistats.com/images/bikecrash/jersey.jpg)...it was one of my favorites :( .
I feel your pain, Machka. Listen to your docs, treat your injuries, and have patience. In 3-4 weeks, you should mostly be OK.
This may sound elementary but ...
Laughter. Rent the funniest movies you know. A lot of them. I use laughter a lot for recovery, healing, and just an all over great feeling. I'm big into old MST3K episodes.
I've read up on it too and found out how great it is for the mind and body.
Everyone here has great ideas and pointers so just take mine as a supplement to everything else you are doing to heal.
Get better.
This may sound elementary but ...
Laughter. Rent the funniest movies you know. A lot of them. I use laughter a lot for recovery, healing, and just an all over great feeling. I'm big into old MST3K episodes.
I've read up on it too and found out how great it is for the mind and body.
Everyone here has great ideas and pointers so just take mine as a supplement to everything else you are doing to heal.
Get better.
This is not as far fetched as many might think.
SSP, interestingly enough, aside from my helmet, the clothing I was wearing was absolutely fine ... not a scratch on them! I was impressed!
substructure, there might be something in what you say. I haven't really relaxed or laughed in ages. I've been too busy and too tired for anything to strike me funny. Since this accident, I've been thinking that it might be a good thing to take a bit of a break. Physio a couple days ago was probably one of the most relaxing things I've done in the last few months!
And ... the healing process isn't going nearly as fast as I would like. It's been 2 weeks!! <<sigh>>
Machka, how are your bruises coming along? If they're still causing you pain, you might try arnica gel. I bruise easily and have good luck with arnica relieving both pain and discoloration. This is a homeopathic type of treatment, so I make no claims to universal efficacy, but it works for me and might be worth a try.
Hope you're healing up nicely!
Hi, its the honey guy again.
May I also suggest soaking in hot water to increase circulation. Hot tubs and jacuzzis are usually not hot enough. Not scalding, but the water should be hot.
A sauna will also work (But maybe too hot. I can't stand more than 5 minutes).
Machka, how are your bruises coming along? If they're still causing you pain, you might try arnica gel. I bruise easily and have good luck with arnica relieving both pain and discoloration. This is a homeopathic type of treatment, so I make no claims to universal efficacy, but it works for me and might be worth a try.
Hope you're healing up nicely!
It's been three weeks today .....
My hip/thigh is pretty much back to its normal color, but it is all lumpy now - fairly large, hard lumps ... and those lumps are still extremely painful to the touch. I'm guessing that's a form of deep bruising which hasn't healed yet. I've been using heat and a bit of massage on it.
My road rash has all grown new skin now. :) It's still a little sensitive, but I've quit using bandages so I'm pleased about that. However, most of the road rash was on my knees, and now that the skin has almost healed (and I don't have them all covered with bandages), I can see that there is still quite a bit of bruising and swelling in various areas of my knees. In fact, I'm a little puzzled about some of that bruising. I would have thought they would have healed by now.
My shoulder is giving me a lot of trouble. It appears that my pec muscles were nearly torn off my collarbone, and I've damaged my rotator cuff. In addition to that, there's a good chance I've torn some cartilage. I need to see a Dr about an MRI. My shoulder aches all the time ... there is no comfortable position. I've got good range of motion and limited pain when I move my arm in front of me, or across my body ... but I've got limited range of motion and a lot of pain when I move my arm anywhere else. I'm going to physio, but I've been told it could be 2-3 months.
I guess I need patience.
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