Motorbike Exhaust Burn

[eek]

WouId Iike advice on the best way to treat this motorbike exhaust burn.

Thanks so much.

Edit: Burn is 2 days oId. Treatment so far has been cIeaning the area and using coIIoidaI siIver to disinfect, then aIoe vera geI.

Edited April 6, 2010 by eek

[goldfinger]

I think, that looks pretty "good", aloe vera is okay, dont cover with anything.

[sbk]

We call these Koh Phangan tattooes since so many tourists get them. Welcome to the club eek.

It does look alright, looks like its drying out nicely and healing fairly well considering the heat and humidity.

Keep it clean, keep it dry and uncovered. aloe is good.

[eek]

Thank you both. A good friend advised just as you did. I just wanted to get a detaiIed pic up and reassurance that the burn Iooks pretty "standard/normaI".

[noahvail]

There are bandages available that are made for wounds such as yours, by Nexcare and J&J. The pads do not stick. I've found them invaluable when clothing has to go over a wound - much better than having plain cloth debriding it.

[toptuan]

Treat the occurrence serious enough to remember to wear long pants when you motorcycle. (Unless that burn was on your face!?). Think how bad that injury would look if you had hit the pavement instead. Always go long-sleeved long pants, and it's saved my skin at least twice. Oh yeah, a helmets helps too.

[Tywais]

Sorry for your mishap eek. It's not just tourists, I've seen some pretty bad scars on Thais from this. Eek's looks like not a major problem and the main thing is to keep it moist and not let it dry up. BTW - Been there done that.

[BLUEEYEDTHAI]

Thank you both. A good friend advised just as you did. I just wanted to get a detaiIed pic up and reassurance that the burn Iooks pretty "standard/normaI".

Morning eek,Yes looks like it's healing nicely.Had one myself last year.It seems to ache forever and,you wake-up one morning and it's gone.We learn valuable lessons from things like this,such as always conduct all business from the left side of the motocy.LOL Chok dee

[Thanyaburi Mac]

I still have the one inch scar from such on my inside lower right leg from my Honda 150 cc bike at Korat, 1964.

Mac

[neverdie]

After dumping <deleted> on me eek when I had a hole in my leg......I can only mutter the words, 'Som Nom Na' .

You see, an elephant never forgets.

ps: I hope this doesnt mean you parked the fino on its side somewhere?

[PMNL]

Hi Eek,

Silver Sulfadiazine is very good for burn wound and can be found at any chemist.

It keep the lesion moist and has local antiseptic effect.

They use it to treat burn wound in medical practice.

Hope you heal quick.

Good Luck

[Pdaz]

We call these Koh Phangan tattooes since so many tourists get them. Welcome to the club eek.

I always used them as a way to assess the IQ of Thai girls... If they had one scar they were in the normal range.. two burn scars meant they hadn't learnt anything the first time and more than two meant zero learning curve...

[JimShortz]

I hear all of the good advice about leaving it open, but on my "Thai tattoo" (read exhaust burn) that I did a few months ago I found that it rubbed on my trousers, peeled back the scab and was very painful. I also found that it got a little infected and so oozed beautiful green mucus like goo. Lovely!

Anyway, our school nurse cleaned and dressed mine twice a day and it healed beautifully while covered up, without scabs drying up, cracking, peeling off etc. I have never kept a wound dressed before but I have to say it worked great and was pretty much healed up within two weeks or so. She just put on antiseptic cream, then a sterile gauze that really didn't stick, followed by an elasticated bandage that sticks to itself and so needs no pins. Great solution in my opinion. I'd always believed in keep it open to the air, but in Thailand I'm not so sure this is a good idea, especially if you need to wear trousers.

Once healed my missus bought my some Hiruscar ointment that you are supposed to keep applying to reduce scaring, but i only used it as couple of times so can't say whether it's effective or not. I don't really care about the scaring - a sign of manliness goddamit!

[bobbin]

I think Honda San and his competitors in Thailand have a lot to answer for!

I've lost count of the number of shapely female legs I've seen that have wicked motorcycle burn scars.

Got my first burn within a month of starting to ride here 8 years ago. I learned to always pay attention to where my leg was in relation to the exhaust pipe.

A moment's inattention and I got my second burn 2 months ago! Luckily, not a bad one and daily aloe vera treatment saw it gone in about 3 weeks with only a bit of pink skin to show. Probably tan-over in another couple of months.

I guess this means those exhaust protectors all the newer scoots have don't really work.

[cat5]

Advice given nowadays is keep a wound clean and MOIST to aid the healing process.

We call these Koh Phangan tattooes since so many tourists get them. Welcome to the club eek.

It does look alright, looks like its drying out nicely and healing fairly well considering the heat and humidity.

Keep it clean, keep it dry and uncovered. aloe is good.

[FBN]

Hi Eek,

Silver Sulfadiazine is very good for burn wound and can be found at any chemist.

It keep the lesion moist and has local antiseptic effect.

They use it to treat burn wound in medical practice.

Hope you heal quick.

Good Luck

Agree; this is a second degree burn and should be covered. The commercial name for the above cream is "Flamazine".

Use gauze and not cotton dressings.

[JSixpack]

There are bandages available that are made for wounds such as yours, by Nexcare and J&J. The pads do not stick. I've found them invaluable when clothing has to go over a wound - much better than having plain cloth debriding it.

+1. Use one of those breathable transparent "second skin" bandages, these are wonderful. Tesco Lotus sells them or used to. You can leave it on for weeks and the wound heals up nicely protected. No medication needed. I'm not sure, but I believe this type of bandage helps reduce scarring.

[eek]

Thanks again for all the great advice.

The scar is now just a nice shade of pink.

Any particular recommendations for helping the pink to fade fast?

[wolf5370]

Thanks again for all the great advice.

The scar is now just a nice shade of pink.

Any particular recommendations for helping the pink to fade fast?

Yeah ride in shorts

[FBN]

Thanks again for all the great advice.

The scar is now just a nice shade of pink.

Any particular recommendations for helping the pink to fade fast?

Pink will remain for some time (maybe up to 18 mths) and normal skin colour may not return completely at all depending on what the residual skin's ability is to regenerate melatonin. At the moment it is scar tissue and you should definitely keep that out of direct sunlight as it has no protective melatonin.