[Calsun]

I had an incident with a neighbors dog getting loose and out into the road and my crashing down hard on one knee and tearing it up. All my reading about wound treatment on the internet applied to burn wounds and not to a deep laceration as with my own knee hitting the pavement and having flesh torn away.

My own doctor as it turned out was the expert in his medical group on wound treatment and he made me away of eschar. Eschar is a term that was absent on the various wound treatment postings I have read but it is a term for when a wound develops a collection of dry, dead tissue within it. Eschar can lead to cellulitis, bacteremia, and sepsis. The treatment is to mechanically remove the dead tissue from the wound.

My wounds were healing more slowly as I had been using petroleum jelly and a bandage as recommended and needed to have no covering of the wound but have the skin exposed to the air for 4 hours each day. Once I started doing this my wound started to heal properly.

I am now of the opinion that with a mountain bike one should have a bike helmet and also a pair of good knee guards and be sure to wear them.

 

[Jayem]

I had an incident with a neighbors dog getting loose and out into the road and my crashing down hard on one knee and tearing it up. All my reading about wound treatment on the internet applied to burn wounds and not to a deep laceration as with my own knee hitting the pavement and having flesh torn away.

My own doctor as it turned out was the expert in his medical group on wound treatment and he made me away of eschar. Eschar is a term that was absent on the various wound treatment postings I have read but it is a term for when a wound develops a collection of dry, dead tissue within it. Eschar can lead to cellulitis, bacteremia, and sepsis. The treatment is to mechanically remove the dead tissue from the wound.

My wounds were healing more slowly as I had been using petroleum jelly and a bandage as recommended and needed to have no covering of the wound but have the skin exposed to the air for 4 hours each day. Once I started doing this my wound started to heal properly.

I am now of the opinion that with a mountain bike one should have a bike helmet and also a pair of good knee guards and be sure to wear them.

It really depends on the wound, some wounds won't clot well and dry out without being exposed to air, but some need a bandage as well. Most important is cleaning it out well, which is just vigorous irrigation with saline solution, not bactine, not bedadine, not iodine, especially not hydrogen peroxide. Vigorous irrigation.

 

[Calsun]

You missed my point which was treating the wound as it heals to prevent problems including eschar. I used a bandage and the petroleum jelly 20 hours of the day but exposed the wound to the air for 4 hours each evening to promote healing. My wound was not healing after many weeks and it only started to heal after I started exposing it to the air. Exposure to the air was an essential part of the healing process.

 

[Jayem]

You missed my point which was treating the wound as it heals to prevent problems including eschar. I used a bandage and the petroleum jelly 20 hours of the day but exposed the wound to the air for 4 hours each evening to promote healing. My wound was not healing after many weeks and it only started to heal after I started exposing it to the air. Exposure to the air was an essential part of the healing process.

It depends on the wound. Some wounds need to "dry out". Drainage is important too. Not sure where petroleum jelly came from.

 

[Bikeworks]

Only time I ever see eschar is from a burn, on a homeless person, or a nursing home patient. Proper wound care, especially early on in the process, should only result in granulation tissue and/or scabbing in a healthy adult. I'm a ER RN, not a WOCN RN, but that's been my experience FWIW.

Personally, I've used hydrogen peroxide on a wound, but only when it's brand-frigging new and only because I wasn't able to initially scrub the hell out of it with water or saline. Anything later will only impair the healing process.

 

[noapathy]

I think the real point of the OP should be to figure out your information sources before applying treatment. There's plenty of good info out there if you know where to look, but also plenty more that can be misleading/misconstrued or worse. If you cannot discern the two, go see a doctor.

 

[Nat]

I liked the plot twist: wear knee pads!

 

[noapathy]

It depends on the wound. Some wounds need to "dry out". Drainage is important too. Not sure where petroleum jelly came from.

Some people recommend it. See #4 from the Mayo Clinic for example. I've only ever used the topical antibiotic, but like you said - it may depend on the wound and I'm no doctor so not qualified to answer the "why" of it (maybe allergic reaction to the antibiotic?).