Dirty graze after a fall, how best to clean it?

[Rabidferret]

Hi. Sorry all, am not sure if this is in the right place. I had a bit of a fall into a wall last night and I have a graze that looks quite dirty. I have been trying to wash it all day & it still looks like I’ve been rolling in mud. Have had a couple of showers, antiseptic wipes - & have tried to scrub it as much as I can, but it makes me feel quite faint & I'm on my own. Now there looks like there’s a bit of a rash on part of it and it’s all quite red but I don’t know whether that’s just because I’m aggravating it trying to keep it clean.

Cap full of dettol in warm water. Soak cotton wool balls in it and blot gently and repeatedly, then leave area uncovered.

Don't scrub or you'll irritate it. Clean it up once and then leave it alone.

That sounds great. I’m torn between trying to get it clean vs irritating it too much and/or passing out. The dirt just doesn’t seem to shift. Thank you so much. I’ll try this.

Another for the Dettol method
Mum used this on me a vvv long time ago.

Can you have a soak in the bath for a while and swish the area around whilst the water? That should gently help remove and grit/soil without making it feel worse? I’d add some dettol to the water too to be on the safe side. Then antiseptic cream afterwards and a dressing that won’t stick to the graze.

I fell and skint the whole side of my face I had mud and gravel bits well and truly wedged into the deep grazes. I think some smaller parts were washed out by my tears walking home for the rest I stood under a Luke warm shower and just let the water run over my face for ages. I occasionally wiped it with a clean face cloth then repeated until all the dirt was out.

i hope you manage to get cleaned up

Thanks to all of you for replying. I wasn’t sure if anyone would. Am at work until 10pm but will deffo try the dettol trick - & if that doesn’t work I’ll try a long soak in the bath too. The two showers and running it under water with gentle cleaning didn’t seem to work but hopefully the dettol and a soak might start to shift it and take some of the swelling down.

If there is any debris in it you might find it hard to clean yourself. Can you get to a minor injuries unit? This is the very definition of a minor injury but one that needs a bit of help!

There’s a walk-in centre but will be closed long before I can finish work. If I have no joy getting it all clean overnight - or if the rash/redness swells more then I’ll have to swallow my pride and head to the walk in tomorrow.

NOT cotton wool - you risk fibres sticking in the wound.

Gauze or similar to clean

If they’re is gravel stuck in it, you might need to pick it out with sterilised tweezers.

I don’t think there’s any gravel. It’s strange - it just looks muddy, as if it should rinse off but it doesn’t. I think it’s like a sandstone type wall that I had a meeting with 🤦‍♀️