Watching the Tour de France this week, we’ve seen some incredible crashes. As of this past weekend we’ve even seen Tour winner Bradley Wiggins and other riders suffer from burns that occurred when fans running with flares ran too close to the riders.
While burns and road rash are unfortunate wounds while riding this tough endurance race, Team Sky has a tool in its arsenal to help provide relief and heal faster. It’s a wound dressing system from Systagenix.
Team Sky uses dressings made with Adaptic Touch, a non-adhering specialized dressing that provides a soothing effect. Team doctor Richard Freeman applies the two-part system from Systagenix including products called Let’s Comfort, a dressing with a soft-tack silicone coating that can be easily applied, and is removed from the wound without damaging the abrasion. The dressing allows fluid to pass through the secondary dressing, which reduces the chance of maceration, or breaking down of skin that’s exposed to moisture.
Dr. Freeman then applies TIELLE Lite dressings, which complete the healing process.
Riders typically wear these dressings for three days. “It only needs to stay on for three days and during that time it draws the fluid out of a wound, making the healing process much quicker,” Dr. Freeman says.
Other teams competing in the tour, as well as teams from other sports, are looking to get the Adaptic Touch system in their medicine bags, from what the company says.