Motorcyclists end up facing numerous risks on the road, including the possibility of traumatic tattoos.
What are these so-called tattoos? How are they formed, and what do victims suffering from them do to treat them?
Traumatic tattoos and road rash
The National Library of Medicine discusses traumatic tattoos and the situations that may cause them. These are patterns of abrasion or the embedding of material into a person’s skin after they skid across the road. Road rashes are a type of traumatic tattoo and serve as a colloquial term that more people know about.
In the case of items or material embedded into a wound, it is important to take meticulous care of the injury. Leaving the material in the wound will potentially cause an infection or other complications if the flesh is allowed to heal over the top.
The treatment for traumatic tattoos
The easiest way to thoroughly clean these injuries of their debris is through the use of sterilized toothbrushes, which are kept on hand in emergency rooms specifically for handling these instances.
As for the injury itself, after cleaning it of any foreign objects, the victim must still go through the healing process for the rest of the wound.
In some cases, enough flesh is missing that it can cause an enormous scar. Some people even need skin grafts in order to prevent the possibility of an infection taking root in a huge span of exposed skin.
Whatever the case, immediate medical attention is necessary in order for the injured motorcyclist to have the best chance at a smoother recovery.