# Tegaderm for road rash - oh yeah!



## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

After a miserable 5 days with road rash on my hip I finally located (at Walmart) the correct size and type of my salvation - Tegaderm. I've been struggling with non-stick dressings (those plasticy ones) plus Polysporin and tape but the movement between my thigh and those pads was not pleasant at all. Getting in & out of a chair was not something to look forward to. Plus I was traumatizing my injury twice daily with cleanup and re-dressing.

Then today I got the Tegaderm transparent dressing (10x12cm) with the perimeter seal - 6 in a box for about $9 (in Canada). No cream is necessary and the dressing can stay on for up to 7 days. The wound's progress can be seen through the patch. What a great product.


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## aaric (Mar 10, 2011)

Look them up on amazon, IIRC they are sub $30 for a 50 pack. Pretty good deal if you can get somebody to go in on them for you.


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## aaric (Mar 10, 2011)

and yes, tegaderm is great. Though, best I've seen them last for me is about 2-3 days with riding. Sweat gets trapped under them and they get funky.


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## viciouscycle (Aug 22, 2009)

At the Vets office they carry the larger patches, works great for road rash on the butt cheeks.


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## Fireform (Dec 15, 2005)

Sorry about your road rash. But yes, tegaderm is wonderful stuff.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

OMG my Tegaderm patch was in place for 24hrs. The instructions said to leave it on for up to 7 days. I was freaking out as a brown soupy goo was building up behind it. A Facebook friend who used it recently said it's supposed to do this and "marinate" the wound.

I couldn't stand it any longer and pulled it off to clean up the mess. The wound looks much better and I think the brown goo was some dissolved slight scabbing that had taken place before I got the Tegaderm. Now it's cleaned up it looks better than before the Tegaderm. Now I'll leave it on for a few days.

Anyone else build up a brown gooey mess?


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

If the wound is still wet and exuding moisture (either blood or lymph (clear stuff) or both), that stuff will get trapped under the bandage. The fact that yours was brown indicates probably some blood in it, though possibly only the dried blood from the old scabbing.

The stuff does no harm, IF you cleaned well prior to bandaging, and have no bacterial growth happening. If there's too much wet glop coming out of the wound, eventually it won't be contained, and will have to escape from the side of the bandage. Sometimes you can get the Tegaderm to stick again after squeezing out some of the goop, sometimes not.

This is why I think there's something better than Tegaderm. Hydrolloid dressings (like Johnson & Johnson Advanced Healing, but there are others, including drugstore brands) are a thicker plastic, with an adhesive that absorbs the liquid from the wound and swells into a gel. This not only reduces the mess and helps keep the bandage stuck on better, the gel pad protects the wound and new-growing skin from impact and friction injury.

In my experience these bandages promote healing of road rash better than Tegaderm. Tegaderm is good stuff, and I like the way it's almost invisible, but for big oozy scrapes the hydrocolloids work much better, IME. It's much more conspicuous, because it's thicker and the gel turns a milky white. But it really works. I've never been able to keep Tegaderm on a wet wound for more than a day or two, because of the phenomenon you saw, but I've kept the other kind on for 5 days or more, after which I find new pink skin grown over the scrape.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Thanks for that info JC. I'll check into it. As I haven't had road rash since my road racy days in the '70s I'm just not up on the hi-tech stuff anymore.


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## Chainstay (Mar 13, 2004)

I have never seen these in sizes large enough to cover most road rash? Any suggestions?


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## outhere (Apr 11, 2011)

Good information. My extensive road rash from a bad fall has now almost completely healed. Wish I'd seen this thread three weeks ago.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

Chainstay said:


> I have never seen these in sizes large enough to cover most road rash? Any suggestions?


overlap them. they stick pretty well on top of the other ones (IME). They're not cheap, though.


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## taralon (Sep 1, 2011)

Kinda wish I had seen this thread before I'd put the bike down on wet concrete yesterday. Went to the old standby of tape and gauze, got a patch on my leg that's probably 3"x8" that's first degree, and a couple dime sized spots on my right hand (on knuckles darn it) that's 2nd-3rdish that I went to the hospital for last night. I've now got a bruise almost the size of a quarter on my arm from the danged tetanus booster that hurts worse than the rash. I'm going to have to pick up some tegaderm later tonight for the leg.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

I found mine at Wallymart in a 6-pack box for about $9. Three other places I tried didn't have the right size or they wanted to order me a box of 100. Measure the wound size and make sure you get the inside of the sticky part (it has like a 1/2" perimeter seal) to fit.


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## aaric (Mar 10, 2011)

That's a nice price at Walmart - I couldn't find em for less than $3/piece a year or so ago, and none of the non smallish sizes.


Normal (small) size: 2"x2"ish

Amazon.com: 3MTM TegadermTM Transparent Dressings 100 per box- Picture Frame Style 1624W 2-3/8 inch x 2-3/4 inch (6cm x 7cm): Health & Personal Care

Slightly bigger size 4"x4"
Amazon.com: 3M Tegaderm Transparent Dressing with Label 4" x 4 3/4" (10 x 12 cm)50 per Box #1626W: Health & Personal Care

mega size 4x10" 
Amazon.com: 3M Tegaderm Transparent Film Dressing - 4" x 10" - - Box of 20: Health & Personal Care


mega size 6x8" very expensive
Amazon.com: Tegaderm Dressing, 6" x 8" (881628) Category: Specialty Dressings Woundcare Products: Health & Personal Care

mega size 8x12" very expensive
Amazon.com: 3M Tegaderm Transparent Film Dressing - 8" x 12" - - Box of 10: Health & Personal Care


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Mike T. said:


> OMG my Tegaderm patch was in place for 24hrs. The instructions said to leave it on for up to 7 days. I was freaking out as a brown soupy goo was building up behind it. A Facebook friend who used it recently said it's supposed to do this and "marinate" the wound.
> 
> I couldn't stand it any longer and pulled it off to clean up the mess. The wound looks much better and I think the brown goo was some dissolved slight scabbing that had taken place before I got the Tegaderm. Now it's cleaned up it looks better than before the Tegaderm. Now I'll leave it on for a few days.
> 
> Anyone else build up a brown gooey mess?


This post is useless without pictures.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Mr. Versatile said:


> This post is useless without pictures.


Ok Vers, here ya go but I didn't get any pics of the brown gooey mess. Just imagine a gallon of oxtail soup in a plastic baggie. Don't blame me if ya upchuck at the carnage of my almost mortal wound. It looks small here but I tell ya, it was as big as my computer monitor.


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## taralon (Sep 1, 2011)

Well, I bought some last night at walgreens for quite a bit more than $8 a box. Still this stuff seems to be worth its weight in gold. There was some slight pulling on the wound after the initial washing/application but after sleeping with it on all night I only really notice it if I'm doing a really deep knee bend. The best part? No friction at all, which means no irritation, which IMHO is the worst part of road rash. Its not the pain from the wound itself, but that burning pain from constant irritation. 

Yeah, not to post 10 yet so no pictures, plus I don't have a digital camera worth speaking of.

One question for those that might be better in the know than I. I see that they sell this in rolls, and my cousin (who works in a medical supply store) tells me he can get me a single roll (4" by 12 yards) at his cost which is ~$80 US. Just having a bunch on hand seems to be a decent idea, especially since that cost works out to be extremely cheaper than the square sheets. Is there a shelf life on this, or should the rolls be used up relatively soon after cutting because of contamination from the cut edge?


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## snosaw (May 30, 2006)

I would not travel abroad with out Tegaderm. Great stuff!
I have used steri-strips to close a laceration and then cover with Tegaderm. Healed perfectly.


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## taralon (Sep 1, 2011)

Unfortunately it seems that I'm one of those rare people that has an allergic reaction to the stuff, which is a darned shame because the stuff is great, or was until the swelling and pain started. I had to pull it off about 9 o'clock last night as I had swollen rectangle on my leg and a smaller bit on my ankle that exactly matched the edges of the tegaderm. Itching, burning, red, hot and swollen, but there were no other signs of infection, such as smell, pus or what have you, just that slimy pre-scab junk that always oozes from these wounds. Additionally I was having some classic signs of of an allergic reaction, wheezy breathing and tightness of the chest. I washed, slathered neosporin on it, wrapped with guaze again for the rest of the night. I also popped a couple of benadryl and which cleared up the breathing problem and seemed to alleviate some of the burning/itchin as I was contemplating another hospital trip. This morning its looking fine again, except for a faint red flush to the skin where the tegaderm had been laid down. 

Once I'm all healed up I'm going to try a small square on unbroken skin just to confirm, and then mark that down as a medicine allergy if I get the same reaction.


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## Mike T. (Feb 3, 2004)

Oh wow that's a pity. I had a slight allergic reaction to the Teg adhesive - a slight redness that defined the edges of the adhesive and it itched like crazy for a couple of days after I finally removed the Tegaderm but nothing like yours.


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