# Road Rash Question: Keep it gooey, or dry it out?



## mdehner (Sep 1, 2002)

I know there are different schools of thought here. Happily, until now I never had to pay much attention. Suggestions?


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## Mike Prince (Jan 30, 2004)

*Tegaderm*

I think it's made by Johnson & Johnson. In any case, it should be available in the first aid section of any major drug store. It's a thin clear membrane impregnated with some sort of gel. Not sure of the medical principles of how they work, but when I got hit by a car last year I tried these (from a suggestion on this board) after nothing else could stop the seepage from my road rash. In a week everything was healed. You put these on and leave them there for several days - sort of like a 'second skin' bandage which is waterproof and breathable.


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## pitt83 (Apr 1, 2003)

*Tegaderm = Duoderm = great stuff!*

It's expensive, but it works great. You won't find it at Walgreens or a major drug. Maybe if you ask the pharmacist, but probably not. If your SOL there, try a drug store which sells hospital supplies. My local sold me individual bandages which saved me tons of money. A box of 50 was ~$75 and he sold me single sheets for $3. Yeah, double the box price, but I don't have 48 extras.

Get you road rash really clean, disinfected and antibiotic ointment covered, then later on the tegaderm. Mine would last ~3 days until flexing the area made the adhesive quit working.


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## OperaLover (Jan 20, 2002)

*More important is to keep it clean!*

Fortunately for me the ER nurses gave me a whole bunch of a special cleanser that you could not buy over the counter. It cleansed without too much scrubbing. Your enemey is infection; the skin products recommended will ensure that. IF not, then enough anti-biotic ointment to keep the tefla pad from sticking. If you live in an area where you can find fresh aloe vera (not botteld, but the plant itself) that works well, too.

Hope you heal up fast!


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Never let it dry out!*

Anyone who suggests that you let a scab form is 1) not up on current medical thinking and 2) has not done this themselves (or just loves pain and scars). Whether you use a tegaderm-type product or just antibiotic cream under a gauze bandage, you want to keep things moist 24x7. Gently wash it daily in the shower and then reapply whatever you're using. This will give the fastest healing, the least pain, the lowest chance for infection, and minimize scar formation.


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## Newf Nut (May 3, 2004)

*Keep it clean...*

If you can find it, use hibicleans or seacleans or some other surgical or wound type scrub. If you can't find anything like that, soap and water first, followed by hydrogen peroxide diluted to half strength with water. This will get your wounds pretty clean. For the first week or so, clean the wounds 2 or 3 times daily. After cleaning, use anti-biotic ointment and a telfa or gauze dressing. Although I love tagaderm, I wouldn't recommend it for road rash during the first week because that type of wound is too hard to get completely clean. Tagaderm will only hold bacteria under it. Also, like someone else said, they last for 2 or 3 days making you less likely to give the road rash a good scrubing.

Also, if it's been more than 10 years (or if you can't remember) since you had a Tetnis shot, you need to go get one.

Good luck healing
Jason


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## weiwentg (Feb 3, 2004)

pitt83 said:


> It's expensive, but it works great. You won't find it at Walgreens or a major drug. Maybe if you ask the pharmacist, but probably not. If your SOL there, try a drug store which sells hospital supplies. My local sold me individual bandages which saved me tons of money. A box of 50 was ~$75 and he sold me single sheets for $3. Yeah, double the box price, but I don't have 48 extras.
> 
> Get you road rash really clean, disinfected and antibiotic ointment covered, then later on the tegaderm. Mine would last ~3 days until flexing the area made the adhesive quit working.


I've seen it at Meijer's (a Midwestern supermarket chain). I wouldn't be surprised if Walgreens has it too.


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## Matt Britter (Aug 31, 2002)

*second the Tegaderm*

As people have already said keep it moist and tegaderm works wonders. If you want to speed the healing up, but causes a lot of pain. You can scrub off the white haze that build up on the wound, while in the shower. Then reapply you covering of choice.
-mb


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## shaq-d (Apr 19, 2004)

this is probably bad advice since i don't mind scabs forming (so based on what above user said i guess i'm behind the times). anyway, i just keep the hydrogen peroxide handy and make sure it's clean couple times a day.

sd


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