Skin surveillance
When skin abrasions do occur, no matter how minor, it is important that all staff and players look for them and take them seriously. They will need assessing on the day and everyday subsequently until healed, although experienced players can often be taught to self-manage with time and report only if concerned.
Only by taking all skin wounds seriously at day zero can we minimise their impact on a player’s symptoms and recovery and risk of complications such as late infection.
Methods to prevent skin injuries:
- Regular moisturising to maintain resilience to injury of the epidermis
- Appropriate nutrition to consider skin-specific factors
- Wearing of compression style undergarments when playing or training
- Application of Petroleum Jelly to knees and elbows
- Application of Fixation Tape to elbows, knees and forearms
Water for washing
The use of antiseptic solutions on wounds used to be commonplace but most evidence now suggests that washing with a large volume of water (e.g., normal showering) has the same effect on reducing primary infections, unless the abrasion is extremely contaminated with organic debris.
Therefore, it is appropriate to simply apply a wet healing dressing to the wound following washing and a pat dry.