Have You Experienced Asphalt Halt Resulting in Road Rash?

These recommendations are based on an article by Basler et. al.
(http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/2001/04_01/basler.htm)

Before you get Road Rash
1. Get yourself a first aid kit with the following supplies:

• A sling, some surgical tape, some bandaids and some gauze
• A bottle of water (a sealed bottle of drinking water is fine) for cleaning the wound
• few sheets of Hydrocolloid dressing (ex. Duoderm™ or Cutinova™). Hydrocolloid dressings are more costly than regular gauze, but they will speed healing time, and make road rash less painful during the healing process.
• Some cylindrical ‘fish-net’ dressing

 2.     Also, if you haven’t had a tetanus diphtheria booster in the last ten years, get one now before your next road rash.

 After your Road Rash

1. The rash needs to be CLEAN - if it's not you're going to have to grit your teeth and make it clean.
2. To clean the abrasion, use clean water (the water does not have to be sterile, as the wound is already contaminated). Do not use soaps or antiseptics (they’re harsh on fragile skin tissue, and lead to more tissue damage).
3. Apply a Hydrocolloid dressing (ex. Duoderm™ or Cutinova™)

• All of these dressings come in “sheets” of various sizes. For larger rashes, you may have to use more than one sheet, in which case “shingle” them on (i.e. apply them like shingles on a roof).
•  Once you applied this dressing, use athletic tape to hold down the edges.
• If the rash is on a limb, use a cylindrical ‘fish-net’ dressing to help keep the whole dressing in place.
• The dressing stays on until it falls off and/or it has soaked up so much fluid from the wound that it begins to leak and/ or not stick to the wound.

     4.   And don’t forget to get a Tetnus shot if it’s been more than ten years since  
your last booster!
 

Happy Riding!