I took a hard fall yesterday, what is the best way to treat these injuries?

Oh I feel your pain. I recently recovered from an injury exactly like this. I fell down some rock stairs at a mini golf course and fell on my knees. My entire knee had been scraped of it’s skin. Don’t walk a lot, ice it up to reduce swelling, apply vitamin E oil to the scrapes, use the neosporin with pain relief in it, and take lots of ibuprofen. It’s gonna be hard to sleep the first few nights. I always found it comfortable to raise my leg with a pillow when I slept. I’m a young woman and it took about two weeks before I could walk comfortably again.

Also, don’t bandage it. Let it breathe.

There must be some kind of antiseptic spray you can spray on now and again. Otherwise let it breathe and take something lighter than ibuprofen. You will just have to wait it out. Plenty of water and fresh vegetables to aid and speed the healing process. Patience! A speedy recovery to you! I am sure you will be extra careful when walking in the dark from now on!

Your story made me queazy.

Could you have broken something in your foot? Weas there any rusty metal you scraped against? Is your tetanus shot up to date? Just a few things to consider.

Infections can set in an open wound during any time (skin can even close up around and it and you end up with an icky subdural infection) Clean clean clean your wounds. Use some antibacterial stuff on them. Watch for infection.

You probably strained muscles when you fell as well as the scrapes and bruises. I take pretty regular falls on ice here in the winter time and they always feel worse the second day because of the strain on the muscles, trying to catch myself in weird positions.

Easy on the Tylenol. Ibuprofin is your friend. It helps with the inflammation as well. Don’t take anymore than say, 800mg a day. Try a warm bath as well to help ease the muscles and clean the boo boos. I like to add epsom salts. If icing feels good and helps relieve the pain, do it. Icing is usually done right away to reduce swelling on strains and the like, but if you pulled something or broke a bone in your foot, it won’t feel like it is healing. You might need an xray. Can you move all your toes? Red may not be the only colour you see as it heals. It might start looking sort of blue and black and greenish and yellow.

Make sure that the wounds are clean with no dirt in them, Cover the skinned areas with antibiotic ointment.

It will be sore for a few days. I sympathize. I was rushing to catch a train home from New York City once and fell in the street shredding my hose and scraping my knees and shins. I limped onto the train and was very stiff when I limped home in Philadelphia. Also, it was a shock to my system to fall so hard since it had been a lot of years since I had fallen.

If it were me, I’d clean them thouroughly to ensure there is no dirt or debris in the wounds, then use alcohol or peroxide or other stinging antiseptic liquid to kill germs (there are formulas that are gentler available over the counter).

Next, I’d slather on Neosporin+ (it contains topical analgesic), then dress it with non-stick pads held down by medical tape or loosely wrapped with gauze – depending on the size and location. Then I would elevate and apply ice periodically throughout the day.

You can combine ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin) with acetaminophen (Tylenol) as they are different classes of pain reliever. I will take one of each, rather than two of either, when I have bad pain. Drink a lot of fluids – milk, orange juice, and green teas that have nutritional benefits. Soups and broths also boost fluid intake and add proteins – just be cautious of salt/sodium levels, as it can contribute to swelling.

If you feel that you can not function tomorrow in terms of getting dressed, wearing shoes and going to work or doing your daily duties, then go see your family physician and have them assess the damage and help you decide your course of action. I hope you heal quickly and recover fully!

Did you hit the top of your foot with the step?? could you have broken or bruised the bone in the top of your foot? If the swelling don’t go down with an anti-inflamatory like ibuprofen then I would just see the doctor to see if he thinks an ex-ray is necessary. You don’t want to have a broken bone heal incorrectly because then they need to rebreak the bone and put it in place.

I would also do all the steps that @hearkat suggested with cleaning and neosporin, but I wouldn’t put the gauze on it since its better for scraps to get air to heal unless you are going to wear any shoes that aren’t open. I would suggest wearing sandals/flip flops until it begins to heal and scab over.

Clean them up, which I assume you already have done. There are “salt” solutions you add to water that are very good for healing and reduce scarring you can buy. I need to look at my stock of drugs to get the name for you. If you are concerned about scarring the way to really reduce scars is to keep ointment on everything. Ointment like bactracin or neosporin, even vaseline, but that won’t have the antibiotic properties. If you let it heal without keeping it moist with ointment it will probably still heal just fine, it will scab over, but then you are more likely to have redness and less elegant scar tissue that forms.

Do not take aspirin for pain. Tylenol works good for the pain of the scrapes. Ibuprofen works well for any muscle soreness, actually helps relax the muscles, not just blocks the pain, and the pain of the scrapes also.

One more thing to consider is whether you may have broken a bone in your foot. You can do an unofficial check by gently pressing all over each toe. If you find a spot that causes sharp pain, it may be broken. Do the same with the rest of your foot. It’s that sudden sharp pain that could indicate a break.

@cazzie nothing metal or anything like that. I was in the woods.
I honestly don’t know if I broke something in the top of my foot, but I have considered it. I would guess that I didn’t break anything if I can walk on it, but my foot is swollen, my toes are swollen, and even my ankle is a bit swollen… but I think that I twisted it. Doing the touch test… everything is really tender, but nothing is jumping out at me as a particularly sensitive spot.
I was at an event, so I went straight to the bathroom and washed the wounds, but I do know to keep watch for infection. I feel like such a sissy, but it really is painful.

Thanks for all of the advice.

Cazzie, you’ve gotten some good advice so I’ll only add, take it from this voice of experience. Being able to walk on it doesn’t mean it isn’t broken. Been there, done that and ultimately wound up in a cast. Better to be safe than sorry.

Ooh, ow! The adult body just doesn’t handle minor injuries like it used to, does it?

I just had a freak accident recently, won’t bore with details but I thought my ankle was broken. It wasn’t, but the bone chipped and the Dr. sympathetically said that can feel worse than a break.

Rest as much as possible but don’t go completely immobile for long stretches of time because that can make it feel worse when you do have to move around. A bag of frozen peas makes a good ice pack, especially on those curves of your feet and it can help.

If it’s worse tomorrow, rather than improving, think about going to a doctor or walk-in clinic. I got so much more relief from a little bit of prescription Tramadol than from overdoing OTC ibuprofen.

You are already noticing improvement in using your foot? Then it may not be broken. Obviously, try to keep off it best you can. No mall walking or hiking. Gingerly keep your toes moving and try to rotate your foot every once and a while. You want to keep the circulation of blood and healing fluids working around it.

Cleaning the scrapes just the once won’t be enough, especially in sub-bar conditions like a public bathroom. Are you home now? I strongly urge you to get some antibacterial spray or cream on any open sores and keep them clean every day.

The road rash should be ok with regular washing while showering and then replacing the ointment. Did you mean more cleaning than that @cazzie?

My road rash the ER did not even clean at all, and I had to ask a nurse on the floor when they finally admitted me to irrigate the wounds. They never cleaned them again the whole time I was there, and I did not shower until Sunday having been admitted late Thursday night in the wee hours of Friday morn. My girlfriend in the accident they never cleaned her road rash. We both have scars of course. When I wrote the hospital the ER replied they never clean wounds like that. Can you believe it?! Everyone I know who works in hospitals says they always did in their ER’s. Anyway, what pissed me off most was the lack of care regarding how much scarring I would have, and they missed a deep wound that should have been stitched. I think if they had at least irrigated the wounds with saline water they would have noticed how deep that one cut was. Anyway, the likelihood for infections is probably pretty low.

@JLeslie she lost a toenail. That needs to be kept clean and I have not heard her mention anything about applying any antibacterial ointment or spray at all.

@cazzie I had missed the toenail. Certainly any wounds that are deep should be cleansed, as they will not mend as quickly anyway. The road rash heals over rather fast.

I broke off part of my toenail, I didn’t lose the entire thing. (Gaah, but I cringed thinking about it.)
I am washing it daily with soap and water during my regular bathing routine, and I am applying antibiotic ointment. I haven’t used any type of bandage or wrap or gauze. The skin wounds are healing fine, my scrapes and cuts are scabbed and fading, as expected. Foot is still swollen and red, though.
Following the advice here, I stayed off of it (as much as possible) yesterday, Planning to do the same today, as much as I can. I can walk, though it is tender, but stairs have been a challenge. Any flexing of the foot (as with going up or down stairs) is hurty, but not gut wrenching. Mostly just keeping an eye on it, now. It isn’t worse, just about the same. But, it has only been a couple of days. Seems likely that I could have just bruised the bone/s?

@DigitalBlue You can but crutches at the drug store if you want to keep weight off of your foot.

^^You can get crutches (even rent them) but they’re an awful hassle especially on stairs. I was given a walking cast (lightweight boot) with a rocker-sole which eliminated flexing while healing and was quite comfortable even after 9 hours of wear. If you have to walk a lot, I highly recommend the boot. I’m sure it cut my healing time to ¼ of what it would have been.

The swelling has gone down quite a bit, it is looking pretty good. Thanks for all of the suggestions.