1.The painful bit

Take a deep breath and prepare to clean the area thoroughly. It's best to do this in the shower with a clean, disinfected brush to remove any fine debris (gravel, road grime etc.) which may cause an infection. It's recommended to do this within 1-2 hours of the accident.

Take a deep breath and prepare to clean the area thoroughly, t's best to do this in the shower with a clean, disinfected brush to remove any fine debris (gravel, road grime etc)  which may cause an infection.

It's recommended to do this within 1-2 hours of the accident.

2.Treatment of the abrasion

Apply Betadine® antiseptic, or a similar disinfectant, liberally to the area and wipe off any excess with a tissue. Next apply the Tegaderm™ or any other similar type of ‘second skin’ which is generally a medical grade translucent contact paper.  It is non-breathable and waterproof but will allow the natural healing process to take place without forming a scab or being susceptible to contamination.

3.The healing process - stopping the scarring

After the second day, the wound may start to ooze a substance that is the by product of the body’s natural healing process. This is perfectly normal and is usually encapsulated with the scab or scar tissue. As we are artificially sealing the abrasion, you may have ‘leakage’ of this smelly, oozing substance so apply a padded square of medical type tissue to absorb the ooze. Use medical tape to hold this pad in place and to avoid residue from making contact with your clothes.

After 2 -3 days you will need to remove the second skin and reapply a new dressing.

After 7 -10 days your skin will have healed sufficiently to the point where a fine layer of skin has formed over the abrasion.  Remove the second skin and absorption pad, apply an ointment such as Lucas’ Papaw Ointment and apply a new second skin bandage.

In all it usually takes 10 -14 days for the wound to heal sufficiently before you should stop this procedure.

Why not use conventional bandage?

Once the abrasion is exposed to the air a scab will form over the wound. While the healing process may be shorter invariably you are left with scar tissue and the temptation to pick off the scab that re-ignites the whole healing process from the start.

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