Turf burn is a very common injury amongst people who play sports, particularly football and soccer. A turf burn is caused by friction, due to skidding across the lawn or the turf. It produces heat and gets rid of layers of your skin, giving rise to an excruciating and ugly red abrasion.
Adequate and timely treatment of a turf burn is very vital to expedite healing, avert infection and decrease the chances of scarring.
Home Remedies To Take Care Of Turf Burns
- Clean the wound properly. Turf burns are always dirty. Wash the abrasion well with soap and water and very gently rub with a gauze pad to eliminate all the fragments. Use plenty of water to wash the wound well.
- Then clean the wound with a saline solution. Gently rinse the abrasion, so that all the debris comes off. Add ½ teaspoon salt to a tumbler of water and use to clean the wound thoroughly. Chemicals such as peroxide, iodine and alcohol cause needless pain and more damage to the wounded skin.
- Apply pressure with sterile gauze to halt the bleeding. Bleeding from a turf burn stops within a few minutes of application of pressure; on the other hand, weeping of clear fluids continues even after the bleeding ceases.
- Apply a hydro-gel generously to your turf burn. Hydro gel keeps the abrasion moist when it is dressed, a very vital aspect of proper healing for turf burns. Experts state that moist wound dressings diminish healing time appreciably, forestall infection and decrease pain as well.
- Cover up the turf burn with an occlusive dressing. The dressing will help produce a humid environment in which the turf burn can heal rapidly. You can get an occlusive dressing at the pharmacy; and they range from adhesive films to waterproof bandages. A dressing which will seal the area and keep it humid will help encourage healing and stop scabbing and scarring.
- Most importantly, you need to watch your turf burn for any sign of infection. These signs may manifest as a raised red area around the abrasion, or there may be presence of pus or red streaks which indicates that the infection is spreading through the blood stream. In case you see red streaks, you need to see your health care provider immediately to put a stopper to the infection.
- Remove the dressing and clean the wound every day. Apply triple anti-biotic cream every time and apply new sterile gauze. It is essential to change daily to ensure that the wound is moist and shows no signs of infection, such as too much of redness or an offensive smell. Slather on more hydro-gel and use a fresh occlusive dressing when re-bandaging the turf burn.
- By and large, all turf burns heal in 7 to 10 days. When you notice that your abrasion has a new pink skin, you can remove the dressing.
In case your turf burn causes you severe pain and discomfort or covers a large area of the body, you must seek medical attention immediately; neglect and delay can result in a host of complications. Avoid re-injuring your turf burn; wear protective clothing over the bandaged area to circumvent trauma.