The ‘dreaded’ turf burn is a common injury among hockey players playing on synthetic turf surfaces or on different indoor hockey surfaces. A turf burn is caused by friction which generates heat and removes layers of skin, leaving a painful and unsightly “raspberry” abrasion. They hurt at the time but not as much if left untreated. In fact left untreated it can be a gateway to serious infection.
The skin is the human body’s armour, protecting you from internal injury, bacteria and infection. When that barrier breaks down, you are much more susceptible to illness, including the very dangerous staph infection. According to Miranda Hitti with WebMD Health News, one Connecticut school’s college football team suffered from a massive outbreak of drug-resistant staphylococcus bacteria and the main culprits were turf burn and shaving nicks.
Turf burn creates tiny wounds in the skin, allowing bacteria, such as staph, easy excess into the body. As turf burn becomes infected, it can create weepy sores that continue to spread the bacteria to others, especially those with open wounds. When a skin infection is left untreated or is resistant to treatment, bone or bloodstream infections, or even pneumonia may develop. While turf burn may be unavoidable, it is paramount that the injury be treated and healed as soon as possible, restoring the skin’s defensive powers and preventing long term scarring.
Over the years I have witnessed some horrific turf burns as a result of players literally ‘throwing themselves into the game’. I watched one player players body go into shock from burns that covered most of his exposed skin including face as a result of damaging fall. I myself still bear scars from the early days of playing indoor hockey on concrete surfaces without the adequate protection players have today.
These days hockey officials have a responsible ‘duty of care’ to ensure that artificial surfaces are kept clean from bacteria that finds its way into the turf fibres. Also the turf water that is used on the field needs to be investigated to ensure it also is not a conduit for infection. Recently at a masters tournament players and spectators were complaining of sore, burning eyes. Upon further investigation the source of this complaint was a combination of the water being used on the field and strong winds which carried water spray into the spectator area. In this environment any turf burns could lead to infections if untreated.
TREATMENT
Step 1
Apply pressure with sterile gauze to stop any initial bleeding. Bleeding from most turf burns generally will stop within a few minutes of pressure, although weeping of clear fluids may continue after bleeding has ceased.
Step 2
Clean the turf burn abrasion with a saline solution, gently rinsing it to sterilize the wound as well as remove any particles that may be in the damaged tissue. “Football Times” recommends adding 1/4 teaspoon of a non-iodized salt such as sea salt or kosher salt to clean water to make a saline solution, since chemicals such as peroxide, iodine and alcohol can cause unnecessary pain and destroy wounded skin tissue.
Step 3
Apply a hydrogel liberally to the surface of the turf burn. A hydrogel will keep the abrasion moist when it is dressed–a key element of proper healing for turf burns. According to the “Journal of Athletic Training,” moist wound dressings shorten the amount of healing time, help prevent infection and reduce pain with abrasions such as turf burns.
Step 4
Cover the turf burn with an occlusive dressing, which will seal in a moist environment in which the abrasion can heal. Occlusive dressings are available at pharmacies, and range from adhesive films to waterproof bandages–anything that will close off the turf burn from air and keep it moist to prevent scabbing and scarring.
Step 5
Change the dressing after a day or two to ensure that the turf burn is still moist and shows no signs of infection, such as excessive redness or foul odour. Apply more hydrogel and use a fresh occlusive dressing when bandaging the turf burn again. Most turf burns will heal within a week in a moist dressing, so if you see that the abrasion is covered with healthy, new skin–pink in colour–you can remove the dressing from your healed turf burn.
For all hockey players it is recommended that you keep in your hockey bag a small first aid kit to treat turf burns early.
Adapted sources; livestong.com. ehow.com
