The Right Way to Treat Scrapes and Abrasions

A few years back, I got several large abrasions as a result of a motor vehicle accident. With plenty of free time laying around on the sofa, I researched the right way to dress abrasions. Note, this post applies only to abrasions (superficial, surface injuries to the skin) and not to lacerations which are deep cuts that may require stiches or other professional medical intervention. Remember the first priority is always to stop the bleeding.

What most people still don't know is that the "state of the art" in wound treatment has moved beyond what our parents taught us. Research has shown that antiseptic rinses and topical anti-bacterial ointments such as hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin (just two examples) actually damage skin tissues and inhibit healing. And Band-Aids do not do very much to help as they do not create an anti-bacterial barrier nor the desired moist healing environment for the wound.

Here's the "right" way to dress an abrasion:

1. Stop the bleeding by apply gentle pressure to the wound. Do not let the wound dry out or scab. If you can't stop the bleeding within 15 minutes or so, you should seek immediate medical assistance.

2. Clean the wound thoroughly using soap and water by removing as much dirt and dead skin as possible.

3. Dress the wound using a semipermeable dressing such as 3M's Tegaderm, J&J Bioclusive or similar product. As long as the dressing does not leak exudate (the "ooze"), it can remain in place for up to a week.

The advantages are:

1. Because the wound is not allowed to scab, the optimum, moist healing environment is created. Remember that our blood clots and creates scabs, because there was an evolutionary necessity to stop the bleeding, but modern man can stop abrasions from bleeding by simply applying pressure. Abrasions heal much faster and better in a moist environment (without the scab). Scarring is also reduced.

2. Unlike Band-Aids, the dressings create an anti-bacterial barrier and thus the risks of infection are greatly reduced.

3. The dressings are waterproof so you shower or bathe with them in-place. Thus the need for dressing change and the amount of overall maintenance is significantly reduced.

4. The dressings are flexible so they are more comfortable than alternative of having a scab and traditional bandage. This is especially important if the injury is in a area that moves regularly such as a knee or elbow.

5. The semi-permeable dressings are clear so you can see how the wound is healing, how much exudate, if it is infected, etc.

The problem today is that these semi-permeable dressings are not commonly available in most grocery stores or pharmacies. They're still relatively expensive (more than $1 or $2 per dressing), and Johnson and Johnson still dominates the bandage market with their "Band-Aid" brand bandages. People have become brainwashed with Band-Aids for 20-30 for two bucks (depending on size and shape). Hospitals and medical professionals already know better but hopefully the word will get out to consumers soon!

Is China spending its trade surplus at the Olympics and other events?

Americans are currently addicted to cheap Chinese goods and the resulting trade imbalance flows hundreds of billions of dollars to China each year. Some people believe that, with intelligent investing in infrastructure, technology and research, that China will use this huge positive cash flow to their long-term strategic advantage.

Well, it's not much, but after watching the Olympics, there were many examples of China spending money on image-building, and not infrastructure. At least some of the $40 billion China is spending on the Olympics is going toward extravagant, one-time expenses such as the elaborate opening and closing ceremonies, good-will expenses, decorations, landscaping, etc. etc.

And, according to the Wall Street Journal, Shanghai will spend $40 billion for the 2010 World Expo and Guangzhou is estimating $27 billion for the 2010 Asian Games.

On top of all that, U.S. companies are finally getting in on the action for all the infrastructure spending. Maybe there's some hope to balance our trade someday after all...

My Olympic Highlights and Lowlights

Here are my personal highs and lows from these 2008 Beijing Olympics:

Highs
- 32-year-old Jason Lezak's unforgettable final leg swim, running down trash-talking Alain Bernard of France, in the men's 4x100M relay.
- Despite the loss of perhaps their two best gymnasts, the U.S. men's gymnastics team's earned a surprising bronze medal in the team competition.
- Michael Phelps: 8 gold medals and a thrilling 0.01 second margin of victory in the 100M fly.
- 41 year-old Dara Torres wins a silver medal in the 50M freestyle.
- Shawn Johnson finally gets a gold medal. Her cheerful attitude, charisma and spirit was a lift on the sideline so if anyone deserved a gold medal for her performance, heart and positive attitude, it was her (even if she reminds me of Robocop).
- The son of illegal immigrants, Henry Cejudo, wins the 55kg wrestling gold.
- The U.S. women's indoor volleyball team making a surprising run for the silver, and the U.S. men winning the gold for grieving coach Hugh McCutcheon.

Lows
- Alicia Sacramone's torture after her failures on the beam and floor.
- Gymnastics Judging. American women were obviously cheated out of medals on the individual vault and uneven bars. Why don't these incompetent judges ever make deductions for the Chinese gymnasts? Gymnastics needs to either simplify their scoring system by returning to the old 10.0 scale or simply rank competitors relative to each other. You'll never remove the human element so at least keep it understandable.
- Boxing Judging. When a boxer's glove hits his opponent's head and snaps it back, then it's supposed to be a point for the guy doing the hitting--not the guy getting hit. Get rid of the stupid 3 of 5 scoring system.
- Pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski being criticized and put-down by her coach Rick Suhr, after she had just won the silver medal.
- Lolo Jones hitting the ninth hurdle just meters from a certain gold medal.
- After winning 22 games in a row, and outscoring opponents 57-2 in this Olympics, the U.S. women softball team are stunned in the gold medal game. To make matters worse, it looks like this might be the last softball game played in the Olympics as the IOC voted it out for 2012.
- U.S. men and women both dropping the baton (and their gold medal hopes) on their 4x100M relays

The Un-Olympic Spirit

Jenn Stuczynski should be totally thrilled and extremely proud in the aftermath of her silver medal performance in the women's pole vault. She "lost" the gold medal to world-record holder Yelena Isinbayeva. Considering she's pole vaulted for all of four years, and that she was competing against a dominant, umpteen world record-breaking champion, she did really really great.

However, if you caught NBC's short coverage of the event, then you saw her coach Rick Suhr verbally berate her immediately after winning the silver medal. You could see how visibly dejected Stuczynski was after her coach's negative remarks.

I was stunned that someone would choose that moment to deliver those words to an athlete who had worked so hard and performed so wonderfully. Unconscionable. Jenn Stuczynski should find herself a new coach. And, if my kid were a pole vaulter, I would never consider sending them to his pole vaulting school or academy. His behavior was reprehensible and his "win the gold or you're a worthless piece of sh!t" attitude runs counter to everything the games should be about.

Olympic Swimming Relays

My wife and I got really confused as to how the swimming relay exchanges are handled. As nobody on NBC bothered to explain it, I had to do some research and here it is.

Basically, swimmers can (and should) be in motion during the relay exchanges, but the outgoing swimmer must maintain contact with the starting platform until the incoming swimmer has finished. The incoming swimmer's finish is registered by the electronic touchpad on the finishing wall, as is the outgoing swimmer's contact with the starting platform. The two times are compared by an electronic timing system (with a .03 second "allowance"), and if the outgoing swimmer is off the platform early, that team is disqualified.

The above also explains why only the first leg of any swim relay counts towards official records, as it is the only leg that is comparable to a non-relay race.

Killer Tires?

I was recently forwarded an ABC News story called "Tire Danger: The Cryptic Code That Could Save Your Life". It basically warns that driving vehicles with tires older than six years old could kill you. The point of the story is that, regardless of actual wear or appearance, driving on tires that are older than six years old greatly increases your chances of having tread separation and this could kill you. And there is a conspiracy amongst tire manufacturers to keep all this secret so the story goes on to tell you how to find and decipher the cryptic code found on every tire that tells you when it was manufactured.

While I agree that people should not use older tires, and that tread separation is not desirable, I think the danger and risk is overstated. When a tire blows out on most vehicles, the vehicle will suddenly pull to one side but the vehicle itself remains controllable. So if you remain calm and maintain directional control over the vehicle (i.e. keep it straight!), you should be fine.

In summary, it's great to warn people about the risks of driving on old tires, but I think it's more useful and important to learn how to handle your vehicle in emergency situations!

Olympics, Kids and Chinchillas

Poor Alicia Sacramone. After yesterday's women's gymnastics team competition, much focus was placed on the poor young lady and her big mistakes. The underlying point was that her mistakes cost the U.S. team the gold medal. I don't really understand this because the Chinese beat the Americans by 2.375--a signficant margin of victory. While I'm not a gymnastics expert on scoring, I don't see how, even adding back the deductions for Sacramone's fall off the beam and on floor exercises, how she cost the U.S. the gold? Even if none of the American girls hadn't stepped out of bounds, I don't think the total sum of all the deductions would have made up the difference. Thus the Chinese girls definitely earned their gold, and we shouldn't diminish the Chinese performance by blaming Sacramone and implying the Americans "gave it away". Now if only the Chinese girls were actually the required 16 years of age to be eligible to participate...

Then, very late last night (at least on the East Coast), Andrea Joyce interviewed (or should I say grilled?) Sacramone on her performance and its impact on the team. Exactly how many different ways can one ask the same question about the girl's mess-ups? Why didn't you ask her when she planned to commit suicide? Very cruel.

Anyhow, after the interview ended with Sacramone near tears, NBC cut back to Mary Carillo in the studio. Clearly distraught after watching Sacramone suffer through Joyce's interview, Carillo blurts: "Uh, it's a killer... it's a killer watching... I mean they're just kids... as a parent... this is why some people just raise chinchillas." Buwahahaha! I love it!

Olympics and Diversity

I've been watching a lot of Olympic coverage these past four days! There were a few interesting examples of our nation's diversity, and the rest of the world's lack thereof. During the medal ceremony for the men's gymnastics team competition, did you happen to notice just how homogeneous the Japanese and Chinese teams were, while the U.S. team included men of Russian, Indian and Chinese descent?

Meanwhile, in women's gymnastics, Nastia Liukin's parents were both former Russian gymnastics champions who decided they could have a better life here in America. They opened a successful gymnastics club in Texas. And Shawn Johnson's coach is a former co-captain of the Chinese men's gymnastics team who immigrated to the U. S. to pursue the American dream in Iowa.

Aren't these examples of what makes our country special? We nurture the best and the brightest, and because we embrace diversity and provide opportunity to all, we also attract the best and the brightest from around the world.

Tipping

Tips are supposed to give service providers an extra incentive to provide good or excellent service. Tipping and expectations vary however, from culture to culture. In many western nations, tipping is expected by many (but certainly not all) service providers. In China however, tipping is generally no expected and may be considered inappropriate.

We actually need guides on who to tip, when and how much. In the U.S., we don't tip service providers such as doctors, dentists, auto mechanics or other "professionals". But we are supposed to know, for example, to tip hair dressers and waiters 15%-20% for good/excellent service. We are expected to know that taxi drivers and food delivery people should customarily get 10%-15%. Massage therapists and aestheticians might receive between 10%-20%. And then there are the hotel housekeepers, bellman or valet parking attendants who get a few bucks per whatever (night, bag or car) depending on this or that.

I'm 46 years old and have travelled a little in my life, and only now, do I think I've got it mostly figured out. But I think the world should move away from tipping. Why can't the cost of each service be right out in the open? Why can't people just pay whatever the price is without burdening it with some mysterious ghost cost? In the computer world, there used to be a term called WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) to describe the new fangled graphical user interfaces. We need WYSIWYG for services!

Restaurants and hotels should just pay their wait and housekeeping staff a living wage. And bellman and valet drivers, for example, should just hang signs on their chest that say "I'll help you with your bags/car for $2 each please". One should always expect service to be good. If the service you receive is not good, then take your business elsewhere, but I say let's not continue the current confusing "it all depends on who and where you are" system of tipping. For the current system to work, people need to study, know and memorize different rules with various exceptions for each country or culture. Isn't that crazy?