# Road Rash Care Guide - How to Treat and Prevent Scars



## ivy (Aug 13, 2008)

Hi
I'm new to the sport of mountain biking and recently took a nasty spill in Tahoe. I broke my jaw and arm. In addition, I got quite a lot of road rash. My post is on the Passion forum. I'm currently recovering, slowly. Finally got my jaw unwired. In any case, in the first few days after the accident I consulted with lots of docs. among them a dermatologist and avid cyclist who helped me tremendously in understanding how best treat the rash and prevent scarring. I've put together what I hope is some useful information about how to treat it. If you have additional knowledge, let me know and I'll edit this guide. Maybe a mod can make it a sticky?

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*Road Rash Care Guide - minimize scars and be less ugly  *

Road rash is a fairly inevitable part of biking. Some day, some how, you will likely come off your bike. If you're reading this, you've had road rash, currently have it or you're going to have it. Road rash is something like going to the spa and getting a deep exfoliating treatment&#8230;for free! Actually it's not like that at all. It hurts, it bleeds, it weeps, and, depending on how you take care of it, it SCARS!

So, let's minimize that scarring with some knowledge:

*Degrees of Road Rash*

Like burns and murder, road rash has different degrees:

*First: * Probably looks like a really bad sunburn. The surface of the skin is red, but not bleeding. The skin is not broken. Treatment isn't really required here, though you'll want to clean it just to be safe.

*Second: * Skin is broken and bleeding. People flinch when they look at you. However, the deep layer of skin is intact. How do you know if the deep layer is there? See below. This guide is for second degree road rash.

*Third:* Skin is gone daddy gone. You can see fat layers and tissue. When I called my dermatologist friend about my road rash, this was the first thing he asked: "Can you see fat?" If you can, head straight to the ER; damage like this can mean grafting.

*A note about prevention: *

Let's pretend you don't already have road rash, and are blissfully unaware of how icky it is. To prevent joining the club, protective pads and covering up exposed skin with a decent layer of clothing are key. However, even if you're all covered up, it's unlikely unless you're in a face mask that your face is protected, which is one place you probably would like to minimize scars the most.

Now, let's say you really meant to wear protective clothing (I did! I really did!) but it was just so hot and you weren't planning on falling. The first step is any wound care is cleaning. There are a number of things you want to avoid, like infection and tattooing. Tattooing is when you rash your face and embed dirt or street grit in your face. You want that gone or it will heal with the stain of the dirt underneath. This means scrubbing. It's unpleasant, but necessary to avoid both tattooing and infection. For bad road rash, you'll want to see a physician first, perhaps in the ER. They can clean it properly and scrape (I've had this done, it's unpleasant, but a doctor can numb you first) out the dirt. A note about hydrogen peroxide before I go on: There seems to be some debate about using hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound as it can damage tissue, however the dermatologist I saw about this assured me it was a very small amount.

*What to use to clean:*

*Iodine Scrubber. * You'll usually get some of these in the doctor's office. You might try a pharmacy as well. I don't know if these are generally available at drugstores, Iodosorb is the brand name. 
*
Shur-Clens or 0.9 sodium chloride:* Ideally, you want to irrigate the area to properly cleanse the area. If you've got a syringe handy, this will help give the liquid pressure which will help get the grit out. The area must be completely cleaned out. If necessary, use clean gauze to gently scrub the area. Do not scrub vigorously, as this can cause more tissue damage. Can't find either. Try an antiseptic wash like Band-Aid Antiseptic Wash. Soap and water will also work fine.

Gauze: No scrubber? Gauze is not only useful for covering but also for scrubbing. Use mild soap and water and scrub with a bit of pressure behind it. (Don't go overboard, you don't want to cause more tissue to the area.) 
*
Once everything is clean&#8230;*

Old wisdom about wounds like road rash, was to let things "dry out" and scab over. I actually heard this exact sentiment from my physician. My dermatologist set me straight: This is just plain wrong. Why?

•	We all know scabs crack, and cracking scabs hurt and itch. Why add more hurt to the mix? Scabs are your enemy here.

•	Scabbed areas are essentially dead areas, so they're not getting oxygen so take longer to heal properly.

What you want to do with a wound like this is keep it moist. Once a wound has scabbed over, you diminish the skin's ability to heal. It's that simple. So&#8230;

*Moist and covered: *

Keep the wounds moist with ointment. Stay away from Neosporin. The rate of people who are allergic to Neosporin is significant enough (about 20%) that you'll want to avoid it. Apparently the allergy appears very similar to poison oak. If you're a mountain biker treating your road rash (and using Neosporin) you may think, _oh great, poison oak too!?_ And now you're on something for the poison oak as well, when in fact it's the allergy to the Neosporin. You can also apparently develop an allergy to Neosporin even if you've never been allergic in the past.

I'm a fan of Aquaphor which I've heard referred to as "the dermatologist's duct tape". This will keep it moist, is unlikely to irritate and is a cheap over the counter solution sold in most drugstores. Aquaphor comes in a tube or a tub, you want the tube to minimize the chance of spreading bacteria every time you dip your fingers in the tub. You can cover with gauze, but this isn't critical. You will however want to clean off wound as it weeps which will happen for a couple of days. Then reapply Aquaphor. Keep it moist. Always, always keep it moist.

Second degree road rash generally takes about three weeks to heal. At that point the skin will still look strange, discolored and the texture may feel rough in places. You may want to get some silicone sheeting to place over the discolored and areas with more texture. Neosporin makes a very cheap one, but I am currently using Cica-Care by Smith & Nephew and really like it. I can reuse it over and over again and it doesn't come off when I sleep. This is supposed to help flatten scars and minimize your chances of keloid scarring which you want to avoid on your face. It also is supposed to help with discoloration. I'm currently trying this as I'm 6 weeks from the accident, so I'll have to report back on its effectiveness. But I have seen studies that show it helps. Some people advocate using things like Mederma at this point to help minimize scarring. You may also hear people recommend Vitamin E. Some other products on the market I've read about (with varying reviews):

Bio Oil
Prefer On
Scar Zone
Sudden Change
Palmer's Cocoa Butter

I personally have been using Bio-Oil. Whether or not it's doing anything I'm not sure, but it seems to keep the skin soft and it's cheap, and people seem to love it.

What I will say is that Vitamin E (either the serum or fresh from the capsule) has been proven to do&#8230;absolutely nothing. This is if you are a believer in randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind studies. If you are, like me, a believer in placebos, witchcraft and wishful thinking, go ahead and try it. It can't hurt and it encourages you to massage the area, which may be a good thing.

*Other considerations:*

Duoderm and Tegaderm and other Dressings
It's likely that parts of your road rash are worse than others. I had a particularly bad spot on my chin, that was very very deep. For that, you'll want something like Duoderm. Duoderm is a dressing generally used for leg ulcers and other wounds that are slow to heal. It's commonly used for wounds on diabetics. It's opaque and skin colored (if you are Malibu Barbie) and non breathable. In this way it helps keep the wound from drying out. It's similar to wearing a fake layer of skin, which, when you're missing a layer, is a much more comfortable feeling while healing is going on. Duoderm is treated with some kind of gooey adhesive which apparently helps skin heal. With something like Duoderm and Tegaderm, you don't need any ointment, in fact this will keep it from sticking. Tegaderm works much the same way as Duoderm. I've heard conflicting things about which is better. My own experience was that Duoderm worked shockingly well. I will caution you that Duoderm is both expensive and hard to find. Your regular drugstores might stock it in the pharmacy, but I did a pretty extensive search and was only able to find it online. A pack of ten 4x4 is $50-$60. You might also try getting it from a hospital pharmacy which is generally better stocked. Both these types of dressings come in pieces that can be cut to size. For larger areas of road rash, you'll find Duoderm treatment can get pretty expensive. I will say, I was enormously happy that I chose to use it on my face. You can shower in the Duoderm, wear clothes, sleep in it, whatever. Generally you'll want to put a new one on every couple of days. Peel SLOWLY, clean the wound and reapply another patch. Johnson & Johnson and Curad both make adhesive dressings that are decidedly cheaper. They are reviewed well, though I personally haven't tried them and they don't seem to be as revered by the dermatologists I spoke with as say, Duoderm.

*Sunscreen:*

You don't want to radiate the skin while it's healing. Stay out of the sun as much as you can, especially during the first weeks and months. Wear a hat. If you refuse to wear a hat, slather up with sunscreen, with a minimum SPF of 30. Reapply every two hours. Cautionary tale: I am currently healing from a bad bout of road rash and went to a county fair wearing SPF 45. It was a bright sunny day and even with the sunscreen, I noticed I've got some tiny white blisters on one area of my road rash. Sorta wish I'd worn the hat.

**If anyone has additional knowledge or suggestions feel free to let me know and I'll edit this guide. Safe cycling everyone!


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## Bull_D (Apr 9, 2008)

scars are the sign of a life lived...............i've certainly been living!


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## jhitch (Mar 28, 2008)

I recently did some friction testing of the trail with my forearm so I just logged on to ask for advice on good road rash treatments and lo and behold, I see this post!

Thank you for compiling this knowledge base. And it just so happens we have a big tub of Aquaphor from when we were using it to help my daughters excema!


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## ivy (Aug 13, 2008)

jhitch said:


> I recently did some friction testing of the trail with my forearm so I just logged on to ask for advice on good road rash treatments and lo and behold, I see this post!
> 
> Thank you for compiling this knowledge base. And it just so happens we have a big tub of Aquaphor from when we were using it to help my daughters excema!


cool! glad to help!


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## Cayenne_Pepa (Dec 18, 2007)

Chicks dig scars...it makes for a great conversation piece.


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## snailsongs (Jul 4, 2008)

Thanks for this information! I just 2nd degree'd my right leg over about 7-9 square inches last night....concrete, indeed, makes a great exfoliator. I am going to the pharmacy to pick up some aquaphor and some more appropriate dressings as soon as I can leave work....all I had here was standard first aid kit gauze and tape, and bacytracin which was slathered liberally over the 'rash' to keep it moist and prevent the gauze from sticking to the area...good to know that my common sense was not too far off base from your recommendations. Injury: 12 hours old as of this post.


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## dueruote (Oct 18, 2007)

Scars, when accidental, should be the natural alternative to unnecessary stains of ink many people love.
No criticism to anyone.
Unless disfigured, I would not worry about it.
You play hard, this is the price we pay...


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## bonzi13 (Feb 26, 2008)

I wouldn't want scars on my face but...I got a nice chain ring one on the back of my right calf. It looks so cool!


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## RickC5 (Sep 23, 2004)

My doc must be "old school" re: road rash. She positively INSISTED that I put nothing on it and just let it dry out. After several days of weeping (needed to keep it covered at night), that's just what I did (following doctor's orders) and it didn't turn out too bad. Some of that purple scarring tissue in the worst spots, but hey, I think those areas were a bit worse than second degree.

I hope there's not a next time, but I'm ready to try something different...


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## jec1301 (Jul 6, 2012)

*Recent Road Rash*

Thanks for all of the tips! I'm relatively new to biking and this is my first (and hopefully last [yeah right]) road rash. I definitely am a little behind the 8 ball on this one as I didn't keep it moist for the first night (Monday). Tuesday evening I managed to get some Second skin to put on it and that's kept it moist since then. However, I've been reading that Tegaderm is better and got some of that today. Applied it earlier without anything under it. I'll definitely be changing the dressing at some point and was just wondering if I should put something like Aquaphor or Vaseline under the Tegaderm next time. Also a little concerned about my hand. The area around the scrape is rather white. I think this may just be excess water collection in the tissues but I'm not sure how to address it or how it will affect healing. Any comments, suggestions or ideas? Thanks!


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## dharel1705 (May 21, 2012)

jec1301 said:


> Also a little concerned about my hand. The area around the scrape is rather white. I think this may just be excess water collection in the tissues but I'm not sure how to address it or how it will affect healing. Any comments, suggestions or ideas? Thanks!


I had something similar form after about a week by the stitches I had for a cut in my hand. When I went to have them removed the doctor said it was just minor fluid build up (like a blister). He told me not to worry about it and it would dissipate on its own. Sure enough, a day or two later it was gone.


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## M-U-M (Dec 19, 2003)

Quick read - may have missed a tried & true item: Bag Balm.

I'm old and was raised on this. Mom had to get it from the "farm vet". It's now advertized in cycling magazines and available at most major outlets. Go figure...

Warning: May stain cloth.

(Edit: Yeah, chicks with scars dig OP's scars.)
(Edit: Snagged by a 2008'er!? I'll leave it.)


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## modelT (Jul 7, 2012)

Great thread. Wish I had it before, but it'll be useful for next time


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## shulman1144 (Jul 9, 2012)

*** how to get and maintain groovy all natural tattoos*

I've always felt that condoms are for sailors and I wasn't much into boats, ..








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But as I round 30 yrs old in november I am definitely considering getting core protection, and maybe some knee and elbow shtuff,, i don't think I wanna be knocked out of the game for 6 months,, or worse still forever,,,


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