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1. 

   Scareman
   Member

   Does anyone use Friar's Balsam Solution to create a sticky sterile area on skin, such as for keeping blistered skin together? I discovered this tip when researching the Marathon des Sables.

   Any recommendation on HemCon products to stop severe bleeding in a wet environment?

   Thanks for noting the wound irrigation RidgeRunner. As I noted with my spider bite, I treated that open wound for 8 months by rinsing with soap and water twice daily. After washing and rinsing, I would pack the crater with Vaseline.

   Posted 7 years ago #
2. 

   PainenDias
   Blocked

   I agree with Ridgerunner.  Scareman, you needed to dump the greasy vaseline which coats the wound rather than helping it heal.  The hydrocolloidal jelly bandages absorb any crap that is generated in the wound while allowing new tissue healing to proceed.  Of course your spider bite may have taken 2 months instead of 8 months to heal.  If all you have is vaseline, or antibacterial ointments I say use them and slap on the Saran Wrap! But the advantage of Spenco 2nd Skin is you allow a stable waterlike media to cover the wound and the provide an occlusive layer to keep the Spenco 2nd Skin in place with the Saran Wrap.  But don't stop there! Wrap it in an Ace Bandage so when you inevitably bump it you have a thick cushion to provide shock protection so you don't rip up the healing going on underneath.  A further advantage is you may not have to change it for up to 5 days.  Now this is not an absolute and follow Ridgerunner's advice that if it really, really hurts, and the areas is hot with streaks you better do like he says.  Spenco 2nd skin does not stick to the wound as it heals as it is just thickened water.  Pour on some clean irrigating solution and wash off the old bandage, then take a look!  You can then rinse like crazy (but gently and thoroughly)  then reapply the fresh Spenco 2nd Skin (or generic), the Saran Wrap, and then the Ace Bandage (the one with the metal clips if you can find them).  After reading Iron Bob's account of his trials with excess chafing I can't help but think that he would have loved this method of dressing and protecting his skin.  I will be honest and recount my own personal brand of torture on my G-Cat when I got the crotch rot from hell due to marine organisms, dry-suit chafing (Score a big one for MisterMoon in the underwear department once again!) and who knows what else was inside my suit!  For this the Spenco 2nd Skin was pretty much inapplicable since there was no flat area to cover.  I went with the greasy triple-antibiotic ointments mixed with greasy Hydrocortisone ointment neatly wrapped in seperate partitions with Saran Wrap and prayer.  Then tight underwear to keep said packages in greasy place.  Go ahead and laugh!  I do!  But it ain't gonna happen again in the NCC 2014. I will also admit to heading for the ibuprofen and narcotics for pain relief, but if you look at the pictures on my Facebook page of me sitting in the lawn chair during presentation of the paddles I have my legs spread wide open!  As your designated WaterTribe pharmacist (free of charge) I would urge you to go to your physician and tell him just what it is that we do on a regular basis.  He will have no qualms about dishing up a prescription for 30 tablets of Percocet,  or it's equivalent. I am not going to turn you all into drug fiends, and I can tell you that you should all be looking to carry some potent pain medication just in case!  One tablet every 6 to 8 hours is a great dose for most people (and I am 210 pounds)  and if you are in your tent and a big person go for 2, but do not plan on getting up early.  Narcotics are compatible with  aspirin, naproxyn, and ibuprofen when taken together. Percocet  has tylenol in it along with oxycodone 5 mg.  It also helps coughing.  Take it with a shot of Killer green Nyquil and you will absolutely sleep! Take Nyquil by itself, you will still really sleep!  At least in most cases.  Big guys can take more and do try this at home in the safety of your own bed before you try it on any Challenge.  Any more questions, drop them in this thread as it is of immense benefit to all of us.  See you on the beach.

   Posted 7 years ago #
3. 

   CocoaPuffs
   Member

   Great stuff advised so far. Valium is the best muscle relaxant should you run into any muscle spasm, but really, don't go into the wild without knowing how these things effect you (pharmaceuticals that is). We test equipment and get to know how to safely operate it (well maybe some of us do, sometime even I follow this one). I have seen some people have awful reactions to narcotics. I am not talking allergic reactions. Nightmares and bizarre mental status stuff. Some one with great judgement then completely loose good rational judgement. Narcotic (and benzodiazepine for that matter) naive be ware. Might be best to suck it up or bail out to live and to participate in another event.

   How many snake bites have tribe members actually reported?

   RR- thx for the snake bite advice, I second that motion, proceed directly to....

   CP

   Posted 7 years ago #
4. 

   JoeVanGeaux
   Member

   I'm soaking up this thread!

   A note about snake bites:  always get a good identification of the species of snake that did the biting.  Unless there's been some remarkable advances with a "universal serum" then it don't exist and its my understanding (old info?) that the medical personnel won't give you any anti-venom unless they know the kind of snake invovled.  

   There might be some observational or serum diagnostics to specify (or narrow down) likely candidates, too. 

   Stay calm and hold on to your presence of mind the best you can and take a series of good pictures of it or bring its carcass or its disembodied head with you (handled carefully, of course, since some head only specimens have been know to inflict injury). 

   Other than getting bitten in the first place the next worst thing would be not getting to medical care in some reasonable time, then that is closely followed by not knowing what kind of snake it was which is not a rare occurrence, I'm sure.

   Please keep the thoughts and ideas coming, I've got a ntoebook nearby.  Oh, I almost forgot, I will also be looking into the archives and noting past routes for PainenDias and Ridgerunner to get an idea were I might find them ; )

   JVG

   Posted 7 years ago #

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