# Gravel rash cures



## mjr (25 Mar 2019)

What are your preferred treatments for gravel rash? I'm surprised that there's not already a thread for this but I didn't find it.


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## Vantage (25 Mar 2019)

Time.


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## Bonefish Blues (25 Mar 2019)

Avoiding gravel - leave it for the hipsters.


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## Salar (25 Mar 2019)




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## Adam4868 (25 Mar 2019)

A soak in the bath with plenty of cursing,very loudly.Then a night laying on the couch watching tv,being waited on by siblings with alcoholic beverages
Failing that rub some savlon on and man up.


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## Ian H (25 Mar 2019)

Last time (my own fault: loose chain on the fixed and a 30mph slide on my hip), I arrived home quite late at night, with limited medical supplies at hand.
After a clean-up I used talc to absorb the 'juice', toilet-paper on that to make a pad, and micropore tape over the lot. Good enough to save the sheets. 
The dressing disintegrated in the shower, except what was incorporated in the scab. I replaced the dressing a couple of times before it was sufficiently healed.
I wish I knew what the the magic pink powder was that did a much better job after a road-race crash many years ago. I have never been able to find anyone who has even heard of it.


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## fossyant (25 Mar 2019)

Now't.


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## fossyant (25 Mar 2019)

Really bad rash like Ian H mentions, some form of dressing to collect the gloop as mine didn't half leak. Bloody stung in the shower. I had the shame of going to the pub that evening wearing trackie bottoms as my other trousers caused too much pain.


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## Ming the Merciless (25 Mar 2019)

Ian H said:


> Last time (my own fault: loose chain on the fixed and a 30mph slide on my hip), I arrived home quite late at night, with limited medical supplies at hand.
> After a clean-up I used talc to absorb the 'juice', toilet-paper on that to make a pad, and micropore tape over the lot. Good enough to save the sheets.
> The dressing disintegrated in the shower, except what was incorporated in the scab. I replaced the dressing a couple of times before it was sufficiently healed.
> I wish I knew what the the magic pink powder was that did a much better job after a road-race crash many years ago. I have never been able to find anyone who has even heard of it.



Not the powder you are after but honey does a good job for healing.


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## mjr (25 Mar 2019)

Ian H said:


> Last time (my own fault: loose chain on the fixed and a 30mph slide on my hip),


1. 
2. How was the bike?



Ian H said:


> I wish I knew what the the magic pink powder was that did a much better job after a road-race crash many years ago. I have never been able to find anyone who has even heard of it.


Potassium ferrate? Marketed in the USA as WoundSeal http://woundseal.com/ along with other ingredients but I've never seen it in England... although now I see that Amazon will ship it here. Hmm.


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## mjr (25 Mar 2019)

fossyant said:


> Really bad rash like Ian H mentions, some form of dressing to collect the gloop as mine didn't half leak. Bloody stung in the shower. I had the shame of going to the pub that evening wearing trackie bottoms as my other trousers caused too much pain.


Yeah, the bit beside my knee rubs on everything, dressings won't stay put and the movement keeps cracking it open. It's rather irritating, literally.


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## vickster (25 Mar 2019)

Hydrocolloid, esp if not a clean wound


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## fossyant (25 Mar 2019)

This stung a bit last week, but only after. Did wonder why I had a hole in my sock.


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## mjr (25 Mar 2019)

vickster said:


> Hydrocolloid, esp if not a clean wound


Doesn't stay put 

Anyone here tried turmeric? Some reports say it works similar to the pink powders, drying and encouraging clotting, although with the obvious drawback of turning the treated area that greeny yellow...


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## Ian H (25 Mar 2019)

mjr said:


> 1.
> 2. How was the bike?


The bike was fine. Slightly scuffed bar-tape and the RH pedal nicely scarred (Richard, following, said there were sparks – and that he thought I was dead, but that might just have been hyperbole).


> Potassium ferrate? Marketed in the USA as WoundSeal http://woundseal.com/ along with other ingredients but I've never seen it in England... although now I see that Amazon will ship it here. Hmm.


Ah yes. That looks as though it would do the job. Doesn't appear to be available through regular outlets, which makes me wonder.


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## DCBassman (25 Mar 2019)

My wife has re-purposed some Instillagel, used for inserting urinary catheters. She has some ready to go next time I come off.
Basically, you spread the gel on liberally and wait for the anaesthetic to take effect. Then use a new nail brush to scrub it all clean, and dress as required. Brutal sounding, but effective, straight out of old-time A&E.


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## Tenkaykev (26 Mar 2019)

Domestos and a wire brush to make sure you've got all the grit out, a strong magnet to pick out the bits of metal that broke off the wire brush, wrap the affected area in gaffer tape and head for the Pub. ;-)


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## fossyant (26 Mar 2019)

Tenkaykev said:


> Domestos and a wire brush to make sure you've got all the grit out, a strong magnet to pick out the bits of metal that broke off the wire brush, wrap the affected area in gaffer tape and head for the Pub. ;-)



Nah, industrial sander to smooth it all off.


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## Globalti (27 Mar 2019)

A girlfriend once thought it would be funny to rub my cheek with sandpaper and it did an amazing amount of very painful damage in just one or two rubs.


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## fossyant (27 Mar 2019)

Globalti said:


> A girlfriend once thought it would be funny to rub my cheek with sandpaper and it did an amazing amount of very painful damage in just one or two rubs.



Glad she's an ex. 

Bunny boiler ??


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## Threevok (27 Mar 2019)

I would like to draw the OP's attention to #Rule5


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## mjr (27 Mar 2019)

Threevok said:


> I would like to draw the OP's attention to #Rule5


I'm trying to make it harden!


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## Broadside (27 Mar 2019)

I had some bad road rash across my face after going over the handlebars on a steep downhill road. The hospital cleared it all out for me but I was told by a vet to use cow udder cream and it did seem to clear things up very quickly, though obviously I don’t know how long it would have taken without using it.

What I was happy about was that it all cleared up and I only have the very faintest scar from the deepest bit, the rest completely cleared without trace.


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## Threevok (27 Mar 2019)

I still have the scars on my elbow, from an off I had in 2003


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## fossyant (27 Mar 2019)

Threevok said:


> I still have the scars on my elbow, from an off I had in 2003



I have a bald patch on my booty where I skinned myself in the 90's falling off coming down the cat and fiddle - the road rash was impressive.


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## mjr (29 Mar 2019)

mjr said:


> Anyone here tried turmeric? Some reports say it works similar to the pink powders, drying and encouraging clotting, although with the obvious drawback of turning the treated area that greeny yellow...


OK, so seeing as no-one had, in the interests of testing, I tried turmeric a few days ago. Who am I trying to kid? It was 1am and the flipping thing wouldn't stop weeping/bleeding enough that it wouldn't make a dressing sopping wet in about an hour and I have a low tolerance for limbs sticking to bedsheets. Pharmacies around here are closed and I'm not going to flipping A+E with gravel rash, so what did I have to lose? Nothing suggested it would kill me quickly 

Just regular powdered kitchen spice, shaken out into a little pot (I'm not applying it in the kitchen or taking a container that's going to be used in cooking into the bathroom!) and then pinched and put onto the wound. A bonus over the old powders (which I've not used for years or even seen on sale lately, admittedly, so this is from memory) is that it doesn't sting. A drawback is it looks absolutely terrible. I'd read the warnings but they don't really convey how bad. The wound itself went thick and dark red in less than an hour and started crusting up - well enough to tape a large non-stick dressing over that survived fine while I slept. The area was the lurid turmeric yellow for a couple of days (which apparently is enough to alarm bystanders who don't know what you did  ) so if you had to see a medic (if it's infected, for example), it's going to be pretty obvious you've been messing with old wives' tales so you'll have to confess 

As well as that, I've been floating two drops each of tea tree (controversial/unproven skin healer), lavender oil (reduces itching, for me at least) and lemon oil (mainly to mask the granny-ish smell of lavender, to be honest) onto about 100ml of very warm water, dabbing that onto the area, then drying it with a clean pad, twice a day. I've used that on a patch that wasn't rough and scabbed but not weeping and it's reduced the itching there, which means I don't mindlessly scratch it, which allows it to heal. It works for me, at least. And I've been leaving it open to the air as much as I can, which means I've looked like a stupid hipster in the office in shorts and no socks despite freezing March north winds outside.

Hope that helps someone. Now if you want to tell me how/why I'm crazy, flame away


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## Globalti (30 Mar 2019)

That post is useless without photos.


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## fossyant (30 Mar 2019)

How bad was the road rash - if it was weeping like that, sounds as nasty as mine was - I had hydro colloid dressings from memory - you sort of treat it as a burn (which it is).

Glad it worked.


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## Vantage (1 Apr 2019)

I understand some gentle heating can cause scabs to form more quickly.


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## Broadside (9 Apr 2019)

7 days after this thread started and I recommended Udder Cream I then had my biggest ‘off’ to date which involved me smashing a car windscreen with my face during a head on collision. 

I had a lot of deep grazing and glass cuts which were cleaned up by the nice people in a&e. I followed my own advice up thread and bought some more Udder Cream and I am happy to report that 8 days later almost all of the scabs have cleared up. It really is very good stuff! The grades on elbows and knees will take a while longer but the udder cream is helping with those grazes and cuts too.


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## Smudge (9 Apr 2019)

Would have thought the best cure is dont come off in the first place..... and if you do, dont do it at speed wearing nothing more protective than a bit of lycra.


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## Heltor Chasca (10 Apr 2019)

Maclean’s toothpaste.

Happened when I was a kid. Riding on the back of a mate's bike and we crashed with my bare ankle going into the rear spokes. Where we crashed: A guy ran out of his house and smeared toothpaste into my wound.

Thanks guy.


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## booze and cake (11 Apr 2019)

@mjr the turmeric option sounds good for zombie fancy dress events

@Heltor Chasca I've never heard that one before but I imagine it being agony, like sprinkling a wound with salt and vinegar. Did it work then? Or did that bloke have some kind of vendetta against cyclists.

I'm nursing left side gravel rash on knee, elbow and worst of all hip, which has a beer coaster size rash. Yesterday I had a dog run into my front wheel while I was cycling around Battersea park, sending me slamming into the tarmac. Ripped hood on my left shifter that's going to need replacing, and have trashed my bibs that got 3 holes in. And at 46 I'm getting too old to be slamming into the tarmac...not that there's a 'good age' to be slamming into the deck, but its definitely worse the older you get. The dog let out an almighty yelp, I imagined stuffing a super sensitive snoz into the spokes of a spinning wheel would make a right mess, but surprisingly it was fine.

For the last 4 years I seem to be having an off once a year. I'm quite a high mileage cyclist having done 27,000 miles since 2016, and do nearly all my riding in London, so I guess my exposure to danger is more than most, but I went 7 years without any before that. I always seem to slam on my left side too, the left side of my skeleton on X-rays must look battered, and my left hip has taken the worst of it over the years. My mum (not a cyclist) is getting her hip replaced this year, and I fear I may not be far behind her.

Anyway I'm not one for ointments or lotions and potions, and have always just left it exposed to air as much as possible and let it sort itself out. Its the disturbed sleep that's probably the worst, and as I seem to predominantly sleep while lying on my left side, that just makes it worse. And knee scabs in summer just ruins the even leg tan. I'm just off to use some turmeric....in a curry


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## Heltor Chasca (11 Apr 2019)

booze and cake said:


> @Heltor Chasca I've never heard that one before but I imagine it being agony, like sprinkling a wound with salt and vinegar. Did it work then?



Can’t explain in words. Emojis help no end:


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## booze and cake (11 Apr 2019)

It sounded like a 'we are going to distract you from the pain you are suffering by introducing another pain for you to suffer' technique.


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## Colin S (12 Apr 2019)

Man up time

Surgical spirit

C


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## vickster (12 Apr 2019)

mjr said:


> Doesn't stay put
> 
> Anyone here tried turmeric? Some reports say it works similar to the pink powders, drying and encouraging clotting, although with the obvious drawback of turning the treated area that greeny yellow...


Yes it does with a bandage and tubigrip over the top when applied by a trained nurse


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## classic33 (12 Apr 2019)

Heltor Chasca said:


> Can’t explain in words. Emojis help no end:


_"Probably works because toothpastecontains an antiseptic to inhibit plaque."_

http://teakdoor.com/health-fitness-...nd/65916-motorcycle-burns-self-treatment.html


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## whippetUP (17 Apr 2019)

Make sure you clean & sterilise it properly. An iodine solution stings like hell for a few seconds (be a hero!) but seem to do the job getting the healing process going more quickly. Having a couple of wipes in a saddle bag etc. if you are likely to wipe out .


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