Injured myself on my ride today. Has anyone seen this/knows how to treat it?
 

So...I was taking a curve at a fairly high speed, bike slipped onto the grass and I went tumbling. No major injuries (lightly scraped knee), but I did get this weird rash/burn on my arm. There's hardly any pain and no bleeding.

Has anyone seen/experienced this before, and if so, how do you treat it? Thanks!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=265401

You generally just HTFU. Maybe show it off to the fellas at work on Monday.

Hard to tell from photo. Looks like some bruising, or blood from broken capillaries. I would just HTFU, but you could probably also do the ice thing.

http://firstaid.webmd.com/bruises-treatment

Cleanse the area well. Disinfect it with alcohol followed by a hydrogen peroxide rinse, then water. Massage with Aloe Vera lotion. Let it breathe....

No, no, no! No alcohol to broken skin. It does more harm than good. Alcohol is ok for disinfecting intact skin prior to an injection, etc. Hydrogen peroxide may also do more harm than good when used for wound care/first aid.

IF the skin is not broken, occasional ice is a good plan, especially if there is swelling associated with the injury.

Seriously? Never heard of such a thing, and I've been in the medical field for 25 years. FWIW, I have no idea what I'm looking at w/ OP, so I won't weigh in on that except to reiterate the "if" statements by Janmm. To me, because I can't really tell from the photo it could be a rash, an abrasion or bruising. None would warrant alcohol. Cleaning: gentle scrubbing with soap and water. Bruising: ice or leave it alone. Rash? Figure out what's causing it. If you're worried at all about infection, have it looked at right away, there's a lot of nasty bugs out there these days.

+1 Even iodine should be avoided.

Use pressurized water like from water bottle or a syringe. Sterile water is probably best but outside a hospital you probably won't find that stuff. Even water straight from the tap can suffice. Much less painful than picking debris out with tweezers.

Then cover with a bit of Bacitracin or Polysporin and a dressing. Neosporin contains neomycin which can cause allergic reaction in some people. Moist dressing promotes healing. Scabbing can delay it and cause scarring.

+1

If it grow bigger in the next couple days towards the direction of gravity, then it's most likely bruising.

Not antiseptic nor useful in healing but I use hydrogen peroxide to initially clean a scrape, and I think it's helpful for that. Rinsing out quickly with water, then bacitracin. Or iodine if I don't have any. I'd probably just clean that and apply some "triple antibiotic ointment" and keep an eye on it but I'm not a medical practitioner - see a doctor or nurse if you're concerned about it.

I'm guessing you got tangled up with the handlebar, or stomped by the wheel perhaps so it's mainly scraped and bruised, will be pretty painful I imagine.

Looks like typical road rash to me!

That's how I've always treated it and it always goes away within a week!

So therefore...Yes! Yes! Yes!

I'm not a Dr. I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I am an "outdoor professional" and a firefighter. I have taken more 1st responder/first aid classes than you can shake a stick at. Alcohol and peroxide are no longer recommended ever. Clean water to clean a wound. In other news rescue breaths are also going the way of the dodo bird. Also, HTFU.

Maybe we're just old-school Slim, but if it works stick to your guns!

Apply the alcohol in bottle form, and the pain will subside eventually... You will probably live.

If it works? Well almost all scrapes eventually get better. But just because alcohol doesn't stop you from eventually healing doesn't mean it improves healing. Peer reviewed research, controlled studies, these are the things that make science. Not a bunch of silly gooses, spewing bad advice on message boards...

Good point, but medical studies are sometimes little better these past few decades. Take it all with a grain of salt, and the fall-back is what works.

Not so much the alcohol or the hydrogen peroxide ( eventhough, I'm certain that they play a major role in disinfecting the affected area), but it's the Aloe Vera that I think is the key operating active ingredient here...

You silly goose! :p

That's the only way to do it, WP! :thumb:

If you want my limited understanding of the science, the alcohol dries the area, which damages the tissue, which inhibits healing. Clean water does all the cleaning necessary, The aloe vera sounds reasonable. All of us arguing on the interwebs are silly gooses. Or even silly geese. Silly, silly geese.

This. Ask the pharmacist for "Maker's Mark" brand disinfectant.

And for chrissake, what are you doing asking medical questions of a bunch of weirdos like us on the internet? If it seems like something out of the ordinary, more than common road rash, ask your doctor.

It just looks like bruising to me. Weird pattern, though. Did you have a frame tube or the handlebars at the crook of your elbow during the crash? If it's a bruise, just treat with ice and be nice to it for a while.

Well unless he's taking NSAID like ibuprofen because that combined with alcohol increase the risk of ulcer. Conversely, taking ibuprofen with caffeine can increase the effectiveness of ibuprofen. Note I said ibuprofen; acetaminophen combined with caffeine can be toxic.

If the OP is not smart enough to tell that the 'alcohol in bottle form' comment was a joke or snarky comment, then that only reinforces the fact that he should not be asking for medical advice from bicyclists on the internet.

disinfecting unbroken skin? put a bag of frozen peas on it and then eat the peas. you should have a rainbow of colors coming in a few days.

Took this route, but I used edamame. It's a form of peas, right?

It's fading, slightly. There was no broken skin, just a weird, rash-like scrape. No pain. Just kind of weird, you know?

Anyways, thanks for the responses. Also, fwiw, I got the sarcasm with the alcohol comment. Yay.