Hurting from road rash

Hurting from road rash

 

Road rash is what happens when your body is sliding down the road and your skin meets the pavement. Skin is removed from your body by the pavement as quickly as a cheese grater removes cheese from the block. In worst cases the skin and muscle can be ground off right down to the bone. Not only is the injury itself very painful but the treatment is often at least as painful as the original injury. First the wound needs to be completely cleaned and often new skin will need to be grafted from other parts of the body. Both procedures are painful.

Road rash can usually be prevented by the wearing of proper apparel when riding. While none of us intend to crash our bikes the unexpected does occur. Good boots designed for motorcycle riding offer much more protection to your feet or ankles than “flipflops” or “sneakers”. Chaps or , better yet, padded riding pants offer more protection than blue jeans or (gasp!) shorts. An armoured riding jacket is much more protection that t-shirts or halter tops. And a quality pair of gloves will protect your hands much better than nothing at all. Last, a full face helmet can prevent your nose and chin from being ground off should you be unlucky enough to slide face first on the pavement.

Modern riding gear offers much more comfort than it used to. Modern mesh gear can help to keep you cool in the summer along with saving your skin in the event of a fall. Modern helmets have better venting systems and the field of view is mandated to be larger than your peripheral vision. Good venting systems help to keep the helmet cool in the summer and drop down sunshades improve your vision when riding into the rising or setting sun.

You may decide that you’re willing to take the “risk” of injury during a fall but keep in mind that it’s not only you who is taking that risk; your family will be injured as well. They’ll be injured by having to see you in pain as you suffer through medical treatment and, perhaps, more months of rehabilitation. They’ll suffer from the loss of your income as you recuperate from your injuries and they’ll suffer the loss of you as a companion as they go home at night after visiting with you in the hospital.

It’s your choice to make but think about wearing your personal protective gear ATGATT – All The Gear All The Time…