Yesterday I was riding my bicycle as usual through a busy road in my city and the unthinkable happened. A careless pedestrian trying to cross the road jumped in front of my bicycle. Unfortunately I couldn’t stop my bicycle in time and to avoid hitting the pedestrian I severed the bicycle, lost balance and fell down.

Thankfully I escaped with very little injury. But when I fell down, I scraped my knee on the hard asphalt road.

My bruised knee showing skin abrasion

So this post is about how you can treat minor skin abrasions. Bicyclists call it road rash.

How to treat skin cuts or abrasions

These are the steps I followed to treat my skin abrasion.

1. Clean the wound gently but thoroughly with bathing soap and running water till any and all dirt has washed away.
2. Pat dry the wound with a soft clean cloth.
3. Apply Petroleum Jelly (Trade name : Vaseline) directly on the abrasion.Petroleum Jelly is very good for repairing cuts and skin abrasions. It not only keeps the exposed part clean, it also provides a soothing effect. To learn more about the numerous benefits of Vaseline petroleum jelly, read this article.
4. To be on the safe side, you can also consider taking a tetanus injection if you haven’t taken one since the last 3 years.This is to stop the growth of  tetanus bacteria and to prevent infection.

Finally, as an avid bicyclist who believes in commuting by bike, let me say something – Always be cautious while riding a bicycle. Mishaps can happen to you even when it is not your fault.