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Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions
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 2008-08-29 9:44 AM |
Pro  4339    Husker Nation |  Subject: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions<---------- I crashed last Saturday during a tri. Was able to finish but not without some battle scars. My hip, knee, and arm still have decent-sized scabs on them and we're going to a lake tomorrow to spend the day with some friends. I figured it would be a good chance to do an OWS, but wanted to ask the collective BT brain two questions: 1) What's the WORST that could happen? 2) What's most likely to happen? Lakes around here are pretty green with visibility typically less than one foot. As far as what's in the lakes [algae, etc], I couldn't tell you that. |
| 2008-08-29 10:29 AM in reply to: #1637312 |
Champion 19812  MA | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions If you opt to swim clean everything well with hydrogen peroxide. Only you know how healed up your wounds are. If they are gooey I'd skip the swim but if they are scabbed over well I'd probably do it. Worst..infection... I am a skin infection that I'm trying to get rid of and after swimming in a lake for 2 weeks and it didn't get better I'm staying out of the water until it is healed up..it has been almost a month now...it is a weird strange thing..infected belly button from doing an IM. |
| 2008-08-29 10:46 AM in reply to: #1637312 |
Champion 7821 Brooklyn, NY | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions I swam in Long Island sound--not even a lake-- a few days after having a mole removed, and it got a little infected. Make sure you cover it up aw well as you can and clean it well afterwards. If you can't keep it covered, I'd consider skipping the swim. |
| 2008-08-29 11:06 AM in reply to: #1637312 |
Member 103 | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Others may say I should HTFU, but I'm very skittish about open wounds. Thoughts of staph infections scare the living bajeebus out of me. (No joke, actually makes me shudder when I think about it.) A staph infection pretty much ended the career of one of the Pittsburgh Steeler's best linebackers in the 90's, Greg Lloyd. He was never the same afterwards. To each his/her own--but for me... I wouldn't risk it. |
| 2008-08-29 11:59 AM in reply to: #1637312 |
Pro 6582 Melbourne FL Gold member | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Depending on the size & location of the wounds you may be able to use the large clear waterproof bandages available at most stores (Walgreens, CVS, etc). I had to do this when I crashed during an oly on 06. BTW, I didn't let my wounds scab. In the 80's I had a motorcycle laydown and was told to keep bandaged with the ontiment and let the wounds heal from the inside out. I did the same thing in 06. I'd be worried about infection... |
| 2008-08-29 12:00 PM in reply to: #1637312 |
| Extreme Veteran 1030 West Windsor, NJ | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Skip it. Covered or not...very good chance of getting some bacterial/staph infection in three and to me, it just wouldnt be worth the risk. You CAN die from a bacterial/staph infection. Your upside is limited, your downside isnt. |
| 2008-08-29 12:01 PM in reply to: #1637826 |
Extreme Veteran 405 Shakopee, MN | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Donto - 2008-08-29 9:59 AM Depending on the size & location of the wounds you may be able to use the large clear waterproof bandages available at most stores (Walgreens, CVS, etc). I had to do this when I crashed during an oly on 06. BTW, I didn't let my wounds scab. In the 80's I had a motorcycle laydown and was told to keep bandaged with the ontiment and let the wounds heal from the inside out. I did the same thing in 06. I'd be worried about infection... This would be tecaderm, but it may fall off if it isn't allowed time to stick or on a bendy area. |
| 2008-08-29 12:58 PM in reply to: #1637312 |
Master 2638 | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions I'd put some liquid bandage over your wounds prior to swimming in a lake or pool if you don't have good scabs on them yet or if you'll be in the water long enough for the scabs to get soggy. And then, clean as KathyG recommended when you get out. |
| 2008-08-29 1:16 PM in reply to: #1637312 |
Master 3127 Sunny Southern Cal | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Worst thing that could happen? Brain-eating amoeba. You die a few days later. |
| 2008-08-29 1:25 PM in reply to: #1637312 |
| Expert 1233 | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Recently a 24 year old woman in our area went swimming in a lake a couple of weeks after a minor surgery. She ended up with an infection, it attacked her liver (or some other organ) and she died shortly thereafter. Not worth the risk. |
| 2008-08-29 1:38 PM in reply to: #1637312 |
Pro 4339 Husker Nation | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Okay, you guys have convinced me that I might as well skip it. I'm done with tris for the season so it's not really important to me but I figured I'd take advantage if I could. Thanks for all the responses - that's what I love about BT! |
| 2008-08-29 1:40 PM in reply to: #1637835 |
Extreme Veteran 552 Minnetonka, MN | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions hundoracer - 2008-08-29 12:01 PM Donto - 2008-08-29 9:59 AM Depending on the size & location of the wounds you may be able to use the large clear waterproof bandages available at most stores (Walgreens, CVS, etc). I had to do this when I crashed during an oly on 06. BTW, I didn't let my wounds scab. In the 80's I had a motorcycle laydown and was told to keep bandaged with the ontiment and let the wounds heal from the inside out. I did the same thing in 06. I'd be worried about infection... This would be tecaderm, but it may fall off if it isn't allowed time to stick or on a bendy area. Tegaderm. We use it all the time at the hospital. That said, the risk is pretty high, even with an occlussive dressing, that you will get an infection. The severity depends on what is in the water, and immersion time. |
| 2008-08-29 1:43 PM in reply to: #1637312 |
Extreme Veteran 552 Minnetonka, MN | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions Oh, and, for the record, after we do an angiogram on someone, we tell them not to even take a bath (total immersion in water) for at least a week.....and that is a clean needle stick that was made under sterile conditions in the first place. |
| 2008-08-29 3:22 PM in reply to: #1638120 |
Expert 828 | Subject: RE: Wounds + Lake OWS = 2 questions SevenZulu - 2008-08-29 1:16 PM Worst thing that could happen? Brain-eating amoeba. You die a few days later. I thought that entered through the nasal passages and worked throught the ethmoids and frontal sinuses, not an open wound.... |
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