The medical community rates the severity of road rash injuries by degree. Hardness, type, texture, and condition of the road surface.
#Leg road rash skin#
The speed at which the skin hits the road surface.Initial speed before the collision (or accident).The degree of road rash injury depends on the: Open wound injuriesĪs the name suggests, these injuries result in open wounds that are most commonly treated with stitches – or skin grafts in severe cases. They primarily affect the torso and extremities like legs and arms. These injuries can result in bruising, muscle damage, or even broken bones. Compression injuriesĬompression injuries occur when parts of the body are caught between two objects. Some cases are superficial lacerations, while others are more serious, potentially exposing fat layers, muscles, or even bone. Here, the skin is scraped away due to friction. Road rash injuries classify in terms of depth into three categories: Avulsion injuriesĪvulsions are the most common types. At times, the skin is peeled back to the muscle and can take months (even years) to recover. It is more severe than a bruise, rash, or scrape. Overall, a road rash describes a mild or severe disfigurement of the skin due to sustained contact with the road. Often, Physicians treat it like a burn, seeing that the friction scrapes off skin layers in similar ways as thermal heat sources. It incorporates both heat burn and abrasion elements. National Institute of Health defines it as a “friction burn,” but not a burn in the traditional sense.Ī road rash is a result of heat build-up due to friction. The term is diagnostic, descriptive, and distinct but refers to more than a skin allergic reaction to asphalt (bitumen). Road rash is an American slang frequently heard on summer and spring trauma rounds. It’s, thus, logical to want to understand the motorcycle road rash in more depth – which forms the basis of this guide. The number has steadily increased with time. In 2013, the National Trauma Data Bank reported 20,400 road rash cases, with over 2000 cases needing acute rehabilitation or care. The most common motorcycle accident injury is road rash. With all of those dressings, you have to resist the temptation to change them too often – you’ll just lift the healing tissue right off the wound – a one-way ticket to scar city.Given that motorcyclists lack the protection provided by four-wheeled motor vehicles (think airbags, seatbelts, and outer enclosure), they are at higher risk of suffering severe injuries. It’s also gets expensive if you’ve got a large area involved. The adhesive just isn’t as resilient though, so not so good for patches of skin which move a lot, say around joints. The hydrocolloid dressings are great for deeper wounds or ulcers with lots of ooze. You might occasionally need an adhesive remover to get the stuff off when everything is healed. Just don’t try to lift the dressing before the wound is healed. After that, you can give your abrasions a scrub under the shower every day. After applying it, don’t shower with it on for 24hrs. It’s great for superficial grazes only.įor deeper abrasions, I’d use either Fixomull or Hypafix. Also it doesn’t tend to survive showering very well. It just isn’t breatheable enough to allow actual secretions through. Like the hydrocolloid dressings, this allows fresh skin to grow in quickly without scabbing.įor deeper grazes and abrasions, I find that Tegaderm just doesn’t cut it. It’s simply a thin, clear membrane that allows the wound to breathe while keeping it moist. It differs from some of the hydrocolloid dressings in that it doesn’t absorb moisture and gel up. Tegaderm is made by 3M and marketed in pharmacies under 3M’s Nexcare brand. Tegaderm is by far my favorite way of covering up shallow abrasions or burn wounds, not that you’d get burn wounds on a bicycle, I’d hope. I kept it covered until I could get some 4″ Tegaderm. After about 15 minutes, the entire area was weeping.
#Leg road rash Patch#
A few scrapes surrounded by a 3″ x 3″ patch where the upper layer of skin had been worn away. I’ve had a few incidents of road rash over the past 15 years, and I’ve tried different methods. Mere blocks from work, I went down on a slick spot that I hadn’t seen and got a little bit of road rash.Īnyone who rides a lot of miles will eventually eat it and end up with a bear-claw chainring wound to the shin, road rash, or other cuts and scrapes. Particularly, metal surfaces (manhole covers, steel plates and railroad crossings) and painted road stripes are quite slick when it’s been raining. I’m usually careful of slick spots when it’s raining. Temperatures were pleasantly in the high 50’s. It was the light rain that’s heavier than mist but not quite a shower. I had a rainy commute a few mornings ago.