Standup Zone Forum
Stand Up Paddle => SUP General => Topic started by: obxDave on June 25, 2020, 12:42:36 AM
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Every few years I have the unfortunate luck of stepping on a piece of glass (or sharp object) playing in the water and then worrying about infection if I get back in the water too soon. I do the full clean out, H-peroxide and anti bacterial ointment routine, but getting the cut to seal up quickly on the sole of your feet always seems to go a bit slow. Curious if there are any recommendations on products (or tricks) to help things along? I’ve seen a few things on Amazon like 3M Vetbond and others that seem to get ok reviews. Any advice? Thanks!
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What you want is a Hydrocolloid type bandage. They are waterproof and promote faster healing.
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Ya, Dave.... It's spooky to cut your feet around us. (same petri dish conditions/couple hundred miles north) 'Poor bugger in Ocean City was cleaning his boat at the end of the season a few years ago on Thurs. prior to departure for wintering in AZ ...was dead by Tues. Vibrio.
My feet get nicked by clams and other debris that is certainly hosting some kind of 'nasty'. I find booties/water shoes hindering. My wife, the retired RN gave me the usual kit, but I also almost always spritz my feet with Vetericyn if I sense anything. It's an acid I head about having been used in Iraq relating to IED injuries. Here's some research...
Jim
https://www.woundsresearch.com/article/hypochlorous-acid-ideal-wound-care-agent-powerful-microbicidal-antibiofilm-and-wound-healing
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Oh, regarding the brand... When I first needed something like that, people were recommending the DuoDerm brand, since that’s what Doctors use. (It worked great) But since then I’ve also tried consumer brand ones, and didn’t notice a huge difference. Just make sure that the gel part is big enough to cover your entire cut.
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I like the hydrocolloid bandages, but cuts or cracks in thick callus can reopen from just walking around. I clean them well, scrub them (suck it up, it's just a little pain) and superglue them shut. That's nothing you want to do with any injury you haven't cleaned, but you also don't want to use hydrocolloid bandages on an imperfectly cleaned injury.
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I clean them well, scrub them (suck it up, it's just a little pain) and superglue them shut.
What! No aluminum tape? I'm really liking the clear Gorilla Glue tape these days. And when you take the tape off, you'll have a nice new fresh wound.
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Oh, regarding the brand... When I first needed something like that, people were recommending the DuoDerm brand, since that’s what Doctors use. (It worked great) But since then I’ve also tried consumer brand ones, and didn’t notice a huge difference. Just make sure that the gel part is big enough to cover your entire cut.
Seems 4”x4” is a fairly standard colloid bandage size. Sorta wonder how it will work being walked on all day or out in the water hopping around on a board? Maybe I’m just being too aggressive about getting back on the water quickly. Have a few more days till the winds are good for wing foiling anyway.
I’ve always heard of the Superglue option but can’t say I’d be excited to try it. Maybe just go with the colloid bandage if I think I still need it and put up with some wetsuit booties to make sure it stays on.
Thanks for the input!
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Yup. Too impatient :)
Cuts in the wrong place require the discipline to stay off it, till it heals!
Might be 4-5 days, but a bad infection in the foot is something you don’t want to mess with.
The Hydrocolloid bandages are perfect for skinned toes etc but bottom of feet are tough to bandage effectively.
Superglue sounds interesting
In Hawaii, all my friends were getting staph infections from foot injuries.
I never did, cuz I sat out till they healed.
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I had reservations about superglue until I talked to a gaggle of ER docs who were at a "conference" in Maui. I asked if there was a medical grade of superglue and they all laughed. Apparently there is, but the only difference is the name and what it costs. I buy the little five packs that have single-use squeeze tubes. it's the best thing ever for heel cracks from wearing slippahs too much and being a skanky beach bum.
My other tip for heel cracks is don't buy rubber-soled slippahs. They dry out your skin. Leather insoles don't. Worth the price difference.
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It’s probably a Caribbean thing, but all my life I have been squeezing fresh lime juice on my cuts and it has worked great. Stings a bit, but worth it. It’s especially good for Reef cuts which leave behind living organisms. Give it a try...
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Well tomorrow will be 4 days and already pretty well closed up today with nothing more than daily cleaning/redressing. I’ll take a few extra precautions per the recommendations here just to be sure. Probably due for an updated tetanus shot, unless they have become taboo. Don’t keep up much with all the latest medical minutia
Living on a sand bar, I’ve seen plenty of the local surfers and kiteboarders limping around with Staph infections over the years so I don’t take it lightly. Some of these kids don’t even own footwear :o so it’s easy to see how they end up infected
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Tetanus shots are only taboo with extremely nutty anti-vaxers. If they saw what someone who has tetanus goes through they'd be shoving their way to the front of the shot line.