Hi! First time poster, longtime lurker.
About an hour ago, I had a nasty crash on my bike and scraped my knee badly. Though I’ve stopped the bleeding and washed it out fairly well, it’s swelling up tremendously. Ice has not had a big effect, I’m out of Advil, and it still hurts like a b*tch. What’s the right way to fix the big yellowish mass my knee has turned into?
Oh yeah- I do have an old prescription of Naproxen, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate in this situation.
Disclaimer - IANA doctor but used to be a poor skateboarder so I have lots of experience with banged up knees. Washing it was a good start, ice won’t do too much for swelling but helps a little. It’s gonna swell, natures way. As for the pain, either advil or acetaminaphen will help. Advil probably better because it is safer in higher doses. The doctor will tell you you can take 4(800mg) at a time, every 4-6 hours but I have found that taking that much gives me canker sours aftaer a couple of days, so I say 3(600mg) every 4 hours.
The real trick is to slather that sucker with neosporin(sp?). It is an antibiotic with built in pankiller. It will help control the pain and prevent infection so it heals faster with less scarring. You need to keep it wet with the stuff though until healed to really fix the scarring and keep it covered with a bandage when not in the shower.
Last thought, now that you have cleaned it fairly well, go back and clean it really well, then look carefully to make sure there is no gravel in there. If there is, go to the doctor and get it cleaned proper. Gravel will make it very painful for extended periods and opens you up to increased infection risk.
Don’t worry about the swelling, if you can walk, it’s unlikely the kneecap is cracked.