Road rash on knee skin#
Road rash on knee professional#

Road rash on knee skin#

Recovery is a key performance determinant in a 3-week stage race such as the Tour de France and several nights of interrupted sleep are likely to have a gradual attritional effect on the riderД¬lothing worn during cycling races/training typically offers very little protection from skin injury, though that is beginning to change with the development of specialised fabrics incorporated into the garments (see below). While skin wounds may appear to be only a minor issue, they can impact heavily on the performance of an individual, as their presence in the typical locations will often impair sleeping and thereby recovery. Less frequent sites include the medial and lateral malleoli at the ankle, which can be very difficult to manage due to the minimal overlying skin thickness, occasionally requiring skin grafting. The commonest sites for skin trauma are over the greater trochanter, shoulder, upper back, knees and elbows. Injuries can also be caused by contact with other riders, their bikes, cars/motorcycles and a variety of вЂroad furnitureвЂ™, as alluded to previously. The injury mechanism is usually a combination of shear and compression forces, with the association between the two determined partly by the speed at the time of impact, the nature of the road surface and the trajectory as the rider hits the ground.

Other types of skin wounds are also occasionally seen (lacerations, incisions and puncture wounds). Skin wounds are the most frequent traumatic cycling injury and the commonest of these are skin abrasions (вЂroad rashвЂ™) and skin contusions. In addition, the supporting team cars travel in very close proximity to the riders and frequently move through the peloton at great speed in order to attend to mechanical issues or wheel changes, so itвЂ™s perhaps not so surprising that crashes are fairly frequent occurrences. More recently, there have been a number of significant injuries caused by collisions with motorcycle outriders carrying photographers or TV cameramen, eager to obtain close up images of the riders during the key moments of the race. They also have to contend with narrow roads, tortuous descents and вЂroad furnitureвЂ™ (such as traffic islands, roundabouts and bollards).

Road rash on knee professional#

Professional road cyclists not only ride at speeds of up to 80 km/hr, they often do so in a peloton of up to 200 riders. Management of traumatic skin wounds in professional road cyclists