Picture courtesy of Le Tour de Langkawi
If any of you have been following this year's Le Tour de Langkawi, you have likely witnessed some spectacular crashes. Even if you are not a pro cyclist, many have you have probably fallen off of your bike at some point and the result is quite painful.
Road rash, road burn or gravel rash are all names for what is quite simply your skin moving along a rough surface (usually at high speeds), most commonly, the road. Road rash is probably the most common injury from cycling. Although it's usually not serious, if you don't know how to treat it correctly it can leave you in a lot of pain.
Road rash is classified very similarly to a regular burn in that there are varying degrees of severity.
- First Degree: No skin is removed, redness, and no bleeding
- Second Degree: Outer layers of skin are removed, light bleeding
- Third Degree: A lot of skin is removed, loose skin, may be heavy bleeding, it is recommended that this type of injury gets immediate medical attention
- Keep it clean. Once you have assessed the damage and ensured that you are not injured any where else, clean out all of the gravel, dirt, and grit with a mild antiseptic soap
- Reassess the damage, if there are any other deeper cuts, seek medical attention
- Treat with an antiseptic ointment and a breathable bandage
- It's worth noting that your injury will heal faster if kept moist, clean and covered
- Change dressings regularly, this means cleaning and disinfecting each time
- Depending on the severity of the injury, it could take any where from one to two weeks to heal
- Once bandage is removed and the healing is well on it's way, be sure to protect the sensitive new skin from the sun
Accidents do happen but if you wear gloves, a base layer and of course a helmet it will definitely help. It's likely that you will be unable to avoid road rash at some point but you can minimize the damage by planning ahead.
Related articles;
Road Rash.
Road Rash First Aid
Trauma injuries: Road rash, fractures, and concussionVideos;
