Abrasion: Cause and Remedies
March 2, 2010
Abrasion is often confused with a scare or cut. Abrasion is the term given to a superficial skin damage which does not penetrate the epidermis. Abrasions are not as serious as scar since there is hardly any bleeding involved. In simple word, abrasion is simply removal of epidermis skin layer with only a minimal bleeding, if any.
Yet, it should not be ignored. An untreated abrasion may lead to scaring of the tissue.
Factors Responsible for Abrasion
Abrasion may occur as a sudden rub of the skin against a surface, example wood. But there are many there are certain factors that may cause abrasion of the skin with time.
Abrasions can be caused due to rubbing of the skin against textile material. Such abrasions are called carpet burns or rug burn. Though it is referred as a burn but strictly speaking it is not. A burn is a skin damage in which the protein of the skin is damaged.
Nappy rashes in babies are another form of abrasion. Use of low quality sanitary napkins may cause abrasions of the sensitive skin in women. They may find it difficult to walk because of these.
Abrasion may also occur because of ropes or other slippery surface. These are called friction burns. Use of contact lens for more hours then indicated leads to abrasion of the outer layer of the eye. This is called corneal abrasion.
Sudden rush of a grain or a particle into the eye may cause damage to the eye. It is for this reason that ophthalmologists always ask never to rub eyes in case of irritation in the eye.
Remedies
Abrasion must be cleaned with an anti-bacteria agent. Neem water and aloe vera gel is natural anti-bacterial agent. Cut the aloe vera leaf and apply the contents directly to the abrasion.
After cleaning apply honey. You do not need to cover the abrasion. Moreover, the honey, being sticky, in nature will stay on the injury for a longer time.
Apply few drops of garlic drops to it. Garlic oil can be prepared by frying garlic in base oil (coconut oil/olive oil) at a slow flame. Once they appear brown, sieve the contents of the frying pan through a muslin cloth and store in a glass bottle.
You may also apply vitamin E oil or cod liver oil.
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