Road Rash is Rampant

If you have been watching the Tour, you have certainly seen that crashes have become epidemic.  Injuries are now wide spread among the tour riders.  The most common injuries are abrasions (Road Rash), lacerations and bruises followed by fractures.   Most of us cyclist have experienced “Road Rash”, and it really burns initially.  Then we hop back on our bike only to find out how badly it really burns as the wind hits it.

The best way to treat an abrasion is by immediately cleaning off the road debris with some type of sterile saline solution then placing a Hydrocolloid Dressing over it; these are also known as Tegaderm or  Duoderm by trade names.  They are moist occlusive dressings that have a gel matrix that absorbs excess moisture from the wound.  As the matrix gets saturated, the dressing becomes permeable and will release excess moisture almost acting like skin.  They have been found to maintain warmth, reduce pain (especially the burn), and lower infection rates.  But the best thing about these dressings is they promote healing.   An abrasion will heal on average 4-5 days faster with hydrocolloid than if a sterile gauze or non-occlusive dressing were used.  The hydrocolloid dressing promotes migration of normal healing proteins and cells that fill in the skin defect and also fight infection.  They can also be left on the wound for as long as 10 days without needing to be changed.  That way our riders can get back on their bikes with less burn pain and a protected open wound.

As for the tattered biking shorts, I really don’t think technology has much to offer there.

Ride safely,

By Rebecca Jackson, MD, staff writer