hi dr b
haven't been here in a while, hope all is well.
my son (11) fell off his bike and scraped his knee and elbow. the knee is pretty bad, with a crater like thing in the middle. i cleaned it, hydrogen pyroxided it, neosporined it and covered it that was yesterday(Wednesday)
he leaves for outdoor camp on Sunday

here are my concerns:

Will he be able to do the activities which are in/around the lake/pond, like fishing and canoeing?

we are in georgia and i'm scared about the flesh eating bacteria which we had at least 2 cases of here.

also, how can i make it heal faster?
lastly, i assume that it's ok to get in the pool after 2 days...

thanks

hi dr b...
anxiously awaiting your advice, he leaves for camp on Sunday!

should i have him use water proof bandages? plain bandages? no bandages? i don't want that lake water trapped in there!

i'd really like to know all you can tell me on what you think i should do.

it is really raw.

Hi,

Sorry, been a very busy couple of days. I'm off schedule a little. I'd use neosporin or even better, bactroban if you have it. Also, a waterproof bandaid. If you cover the wound with both the ointment and the bandaid and then clean after going in the water with soap and water, then it should be fine. I'd only uncover it to clean it and then put the ointment and a new bandaid back on. I wouldn't restrict activities.

thanks dr b.
he will be at overnight camp so i won't be there with him. they have a nurse on site, so i will ask her to do this.


i'm so scared about the flesh eating bacteria from the lake/pond!

so, the nurse at the camp didn't seem to make me feel any better and wanted to restrict him from canoeing. i am trying to remember that you have more experience than her and of course, you are a dr, not a nurse, so more training as well. but it made me kind of nervous.

when we got there i showed the knee to the nurse and she said, well i wouldn't go canoeing. you don't want to get it in that lake water. we've had 3 cases of flesh eating bacteria here in georgia. SERIOUSLY!!!!? that is what she said.

then my son cried cause he wasn't gonna be able to canoe, and then my husband said "it's fine buddy, you can go canoeing". then the nurse said, well, maybe it would be ok.
my head was spinning. is it ok or not? i was counting on her to make sense of it, and instead she just caved when my husband said it would be ok. so we left it that she would see it in the mornings and then decide if he could go canoeing.

i guess i just want to be reassured that if he does go canoeing, he will be ok...

Hi,

If it's covered with ointment and a waterproof bandaid and you wash it after, then it should be fine. How's any bacteria going to penetrate that? Plus, it's had days to start scabbing over.