Surfing cuts and infections are a big deal\u2026<\/p>\n
They require immediate attention to avoid countless health problems. Your surf trip will eventually become a nightmare if your reef cuts lead to infections that can adversely affect your overall health. The coral reefs throughout Indonesia contain unusual nasty bacteria and toxins. Foreign debris and coral spores embed themselves in the skin and tissue, acting as a source of infection, increasing pain, and inflammation, and preventing your wound from healing.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s a fact that reef cuts are one of the most difficult types of wounds to heal. Even the smallest, harmless-appearing reef cut or rash has a high chance of developing into a serious infection if not treated properly. We see it time and time again, surfers that are not properly prepared with reef cuts left ill-treated or in some instances untreated. Leading to an infection that not only puts a damper on your surf trip but can threaten your life. Considering your most common injury is going to be a reef cut or laceration, you have to be prepared for treating, cleaning, and bandaging basic wounds with the right kind of first aid kit when surfing reefs.<\/p>\n
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WHAT YOU\u2019RE GOING TO NEED\u2026<\/p>\n
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Irrigation Syringe<\/p>\n
An irrigation syringe is a lightweight and easy tool to carry for the first step in disinfecting any wound. You should use an irrigation syringe, and not your bare hands when irrigating any reef cut to prevent the spread of bacteria and infections.<\/p>\n
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Bottled Water<\/p>\n
Tap water in Indonesia is not clean and the ocean water at this temperature harbours a lot of bacteria so use bottled water to first irrigate your wound. Bottled water is conveniently available in stores all around Indonesia.<\/p>\n
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Soap Wipes<\/p>\n
Used to clean around the wound. Carefully cover your finger with soap wipes to ensure that you don\u2019t touch the surface of the wound.<\/p>\n
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Isopropyl Alcohol Wipes<\/p>\n
To sterilise tweezers, scissors, the area around the wound and assisting adhesive bandages to make better contact with the skin. You can also use bottled isopropyl alcohol if available.<\/p>\n
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High Precision Surgical Tweezers<\/p>\n
When you are treating wounds yourself you need all the help you can get and high precision tweezers with an elbow are the top of the line when it comes to easily and effectively removing foreign debris from your wounds. DON\u2019T get stuck with plastic tweezers or cheap tweezers that you can\u2019t get an accurate pinch from, you\u2019ll cause yourself more pain and become extremely frustrated. Moreover, plastic or cheap tweezers aren\u2019t always made from the best materials and using these in treating your reef cuts might only do more harm than good.<\/p>\n
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Scissors<\/p>\n
Quality pair of stainless steel scissors to cut and shape adhesive tapes and bandages. Don\u2019t forget to clean your scissors with alcohol before using them. A pair of high-quality scissors can be very useful when dressing cuts, which is why it\u2019s best if you always include them in your first aid kit.<\/p>\n
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Razor<\/p>\n
A razor enables you to shave the hair around the wound and keep the area clean assisting adhesive bandages to make better contact with the skin.<\/p>\n
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Wound Cleaning Sponge<\/p>\n
Used to clean the wound thoroughly one last time to ensure any coral dust\/spores are removed decreasing the likelihood of infection and delays in the healing process.<\/p>\n
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Saline Solution<\/p>\n
Mimics your body\u2019s internal pH and is used in the final step when irrigating the wound to provide the cleanest environment possible.<\/p>\n
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Triple Antibiotic Ointment<\/p>\n
An effective formula that contains three active antibiotic ingredients to stop the growth of bacteria, prevent infection and reduce pain and inflammation. WARNING; commonly used topical antiseptics (lime, hydrogen peroxide, iodine and alcohol) actually damage the tissue and irritates the wound delaying the healing process.<\/p>\n
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Haemostatic Gauze<\/p>\n
This revolutionary cellulose-based material accelerates the blood clotting process and is a must-have item in every surfing first aid kit. When the gauze comes in contact with blood it quickly transforms into a stiff gel, which fills wound voids, seals capillary ends and activates the clotting system saving you days or weeks of recovery time.<\/p>\n
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Adhesive Stretch Dressing<\/p>\n
Wide area adhesive dressing that is especially suitable for use on frequently mobile and highly contoured parts of the body where most reef cuts occur. It provides a bacterial barrier that is permeable to air and water vapour with an excellent long term skin\/wound friendly adhesion. It can be applied directly over the top of the wound with or without gauze and minimises any disturbances of blood circulation to speed up the healing process of reef cuts. Adhesive stretch dressings are some what the swains army knife of wound dressings when it comes to reef cuts.<\/p>\n
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HOW TO TREAT A REEF CUT\u2026<\/p>\n
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You\u2019re first step for any kind of cut, reef or otherwise, is to irrigate, loosening and removing any foriegn debris from the wound. Since the tap water in Indonesia is not clean use bottled water to first irrigate your wound flushing out as much foreign debris as you can. Save the saline solution for last unless you have a large supply of it.<\/p>\n
Using an irrigation syringe irrigate the wound further for an extended period of time washing out as much bacteria as you can. Then clean around the wound with soap wipes. Coral contains a range of very nasty and unusual bacteria and toxins. Tiny coral cysts enter the wound and get embedded in tissue to not only cause wound healing delay, but pain and recurrent swelling for a long time. So naturally the first major rule is thorough, extended cleaning. The longer the better! Don\u2019t do what we have seen a million times: \u201cOh, that\u2019ll do mate.\u201d No it probably won\u2019t. Do it again, thoroughly.<\/p>\n
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Use tweezers (first sterilise the tweezers with alcohol wipes) to remove any foreign debris from the wound that still appear after washing. It is important to get any remains of the reef or coral dust out of the wound as mentioned above. Take your time doing this as thoroughly as possible, removing any dead skin with sterile equipment along the way. It is a major step to speeding up the healing process. We can\u2019t stress this enough, do it right the first time, because once the swelling and infection sets in, it becomes increasingly difficult to remove foreign objects.<\/p>\n
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Use the razor to shave any hair around the wound in preparation for covering the wound. This greatly enhances how well any adhesive bandages stick to the skin, keeping the wound cleaner for longer and speeding up the healing process.<\/p>\n
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Fill the irrigation syringe with saline solution or simply use saline solution straight from the bottle and rinse the wound while lightly cleaning with a wound cleaning sponge.<\/p>\n
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Clean, dry and degrease the area around the wound with alcohol wipes. This not only rids of bacteria but dries the skin for applying an adhesive stretch dressing.<\/p>\n
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Treat the wound with a triple antibiotic ointment ensuring any remaining bacteria from the cleaning or debriding process doesn\u2019t take root in your injury, preventing infection and assisting in relieving pain and inflammation. While commonly used antiseptics such as lime, hydrogen peroxide, iodine or rubbing alcohol into the wound does work to kill bacteria it also damages the tissue, irritates the wound and delays the healing process.<\/p>\n
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Use Hemostatic Gauze to control any remaining bleeding and active the blood clotting system. With scissors cut and shape the hemostatic gauze to shape to match the wound and apply directly to the wound with pressure. Hemostatic gauze is commonly used by armed forces and hospitals to address gunshot wounds. When the Hemostatic Gauze contacts with the wound it quickly transforms into a stiff gel, filling the wound, sealing capillary ends and activating the blood clotting system saving you days or weeks of recovery time.<\/p>\n
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Prepare an adhesive stretch dressing by cutting it to the length you need, then cutting it to the desired shape and apply it directly over the top of the wound and\/or hemostatic gauze when the area around your wound is completely dry. Hot tip: round the corners of the dressing with scissors so there are no corners that may start to peel back off the skin.<\/p>\n
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Raise the limb. Swelling, even if you can\u2019t see it, can delay healing, especially in areas of poor circulation. Keep your arm or leg up to the level of your heart or higher in the first few hours.<\/p>\n
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This is indicated by red spreading edges around the wound which can lead to fever, severe illness and even death. If you see this, you need urgent medical help. Do not delay even if you are in a remote place \u2014 you will need antibiotics or change to a different antibiotic if you are on one already. Get some medical advice even if it\u2019s on the phone to work out which antibiotic is best and assess your condition if you\u2019re getting ill and febrile.<\/p>\n
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Seek urgent medical attention if\u2026<\/p>\n
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Avoid Reef Cuts When Possible<\/p>\n
Reef cuts can be challenging to treat, which is why you should exert effort to avoid such wounds whenever possible. This is especially important if you\u2019re fond of spending time at the beach and in the surf.<\/p>\n
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If you like to explore reefs when you\u2019re not surfing investing in and wearing some water aerobics shoes is one way of avoiding reef cuts out of the surf in the future. Wearing a dive suit and maintaining a respectful distance from the reefs can also help whenever possible. If this accident happen while you are staying in Canggu, berawa, Hydro Medical Clinic is the perfect choice to get the treatment done for you. We are ready to provides fast wound care to get you back in the water as soon as possible. With the convenient location, don\u2019t hesitate to contact us when the accident happen.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Surfing cuts and infections are a big deal\u2026 They require immediate attention to avoid countless health problems. Your surf trip will eventually become a nightmare if your reef cuts lead to infections that can adversely affect your overall health. The coral reefs throughout Indonesia contain unusual nasty bacteria and toxins. Foreign debris and coral spores […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1046,1080,1074,1076,1078],"class_list":["post-3625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-care","tag-bali-surfing","tag-surfing-cuts","tag-wound","tag-wound-care","tag-wound-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3625"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3627,"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3625\/revisions\/3627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hydromedicalbali.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}