When you first get into cycling, you’ll often be told it’s a case of when not if you have your first off.
Hopefully, you’ll stay upright most of the time but if you do fall off and crashing to the tarmac, you’re likely to experience the dreaded road rash.
Types of Road Rash
There are generally three types of will rash injuries and are classified much like burn injuries are there’s the first-degree second degree and third degree.
The first-degree road rash looks like a carpet burn it doesn’t really break the skin.
The second-degree road rash will have breakage of the outer skin and can lead to permanent scarring.
The third-degree road rash creates serious damage to the outer and inner layers of the skin and it will need to be immediate medical treatment because it will likely become effective and biggest off.
Take Primary Treatment
One of the most common injuries seen in cycling unfortunately the most uncomfortable part can come after the crash itself sleepless night spent stuck to the bed sheets pain and a risk of injury while road rash isn’t pretty but the quicker you attend to it the better the healing process will be.
We all have our own ways of treating road rash and of course, every wound can vary but here are some top tips using items you can easily find in your local pharmacy.
First up have you kept up to date with your tetanus vaccinations whether it’s rare it’s called from bacteria as found which can contaminate your wound.
Symptoms include muscle stiffness spasms of the jaw and difficulty swallowing and it all requires medical treatment.
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If you’re not sure whether you’ve had a vaccination or not check with your GP and if you’ve hit the deck.
you’ll need to check for any deep lacerations that haven’t stopped bleeding after 10 minutes as they may require stitches and of course a trip to the hospital.
Now road rash can look a lot worse than it is on first appearances so don’t panic get it treated and it will heal in time.
When you get home wash the area using warm water and a sail liner iodine solution. If you see any dirt in the rash use a soft brush to clear out any remaining gravel.
It’s really unpleasant and it does hurt but it’s so important that you get your wound nice and clean.
Once you’ve dried off the wound as much as possible, you’ll need to apply a non-stick dressing such as one of these not only will it help to keep infection at bay but it will stop it from sticking to the injury.
When it comes to replacing it with a fresh one which you’ll need to do every day.
Now of course pads come in different sizes depending on the surface area of the road rash but it can be easier to secure them to the skin using surgical tape which is easy to apply and doesn’t hurt too much.
Getting Air
Getting air to a wounded area is a good thing as it allows your injury to dry. once your injury has formed a layering take off the dressing and allow it to breathe.
Hydrocolloid dressings becoming increasingly popular for cyclists treating road rash.
Now in theory they save a lot of time and effort because once in place on the injury they’re supposed to stay there for the entirety of the healing process.
They contain a gel-forming compound that is waterproof and it doesn’t actually, look very pretty when it’s healing but it’s supposed to reduce scarring and it’s proven to really work.
But what’s great about these dressings is that they can be worn for several days without needing to apply another one.
They won’t stick to an injured area either only the skin around it and once the wound is healed you can easily peel it off in most cases it should fall off.
Providing you wash or injury properly an infection shouldn’t be a problem. However, if you are worried applying some antiseptic cream before your dressing will make sure that no infection gets in.
Conclusion
If you follow our simple steps then road rash shouldn’t be a problem and want to know more information you can visit OutdoorXsports.
Then it’s probably got infected and you will need to seek medical help and remember these three key points clean it dry it and dress it.