Good Lake Swimmers itch & ear Info

[scottchapman]

I was looking for a fix for my cut foot and found this info.
http://www.kare11.com/news/health/pharm ... 1&catid=11

By the way the sharp rock I cut my foot on a Malmo yesterday was thrown close to the shoreline rock pile. If you stay at least 4 feet away you should be fine.

I am going to try some New Skin which is like super glue to sinch it back together.

At least I got my 4 days of kiting ina row in before I got slashed by the Malmo arrowhead rock.

Hope to see you all on the water again soon.

[krazykatie]

Yea, my feet are trashed after yesterday; it hurts to walk. I think its time to invest in some type of booty for Malmo esp after your incident. I wish you a speedy recovering Scott!

[JRN]

I AM ALWAYS AMAZED at how few people use booties. I missed 1/2 a windsurf season due to an infected foot from one of the few times I forgot to put them on & sliced it on a broken bottle. I hear all the "cons" like foot feel, etc, but with all the crap lurking on the bottom, I think they're worth the hassle. Maybe they'll save a bad encounter with a stingray, or anything else you could step on. WISE UP KIDDIES!

[steveb]

OK Jim...really high level riding tip for bare foot riding....don't put your feet down!.
Sarcasm aside, you get the occasional cut, if you're unlucky a nasty one, but I can't stand the feel or lack of feel of booties. Additionally rubber boots promote fungal toe nail, something I'd prefer to avoid if I can.
It's a taste thing and to my knowledge no ones ever died from stubbing a toe, though they may have fainted when they hear my language when I do it.

[krazykatie]

i now have a festering boil on the bottom of my foot i must have something imbedded in there any volunteers to come dig it out

[bennett]

I also hate how booties feel when windsurfing, but when you get a big cut it's nearly impossible to heal if you're in the water all summer. I had a large piece of glass cut open my right foot this year followed immediately by a large cut from a rock, took nearly a month to heal since i was in the water everyday.

If you hate foot injuries wear protection but i'd rather surf with a cut foot than a booted one.

[chanrider]

I wear booties for kiting because I usually have to walk a lot, sometimes really far! For windsurfing though, booties start to hurt my toes after while in the footstraps so I don’t wear them unless it’s cold or a sketchy unfamiliar launch. At Waconia I use a “shuffle step” walking my gear out which just means lightly touching your foot down to feel for broken glass before putting all of your weight on it. I have no idea if this really helps.

My feet still take a beating in the footstraps because I have “office worker feet” so band aids and duct tape are good to have. Duct tape across the top helps with blisters I have found. My Starboard Carve 121 footstraps are the harshest. Not sure if it’s the straps themselves or this is just a big board which requires heavy footsteering in the chop. I think it’s just intense footsteering that causes blisters on top.

I would like to try that new skin stuff also, I’ve heard great things about it. But duct tape alone or over a band aid seems to help also. That saved me earlier this summer when I had a nasty fin cut on my heel. It did take FOREVER to completely heal, though!

[Dave Z]

JRN....don't get me wrong but I love BOOTY just as much as the next guy but I prefer to to go "uncovered" in the summer! Yes there are risks involved but what's life without a little risk?

[scottchapman]

For years during my windsurfing days I wore booties. After a year or so I went "ah natural" As your feet toughen up it is not much of a big deal. I am healing up well and hope to be on the water in a few more days. I talked with a Pharmacist and she said the new treatment is to keep cuts moist rather than dry and they heal faster. New Skin was not recommended because if there is any infection in there it can not ooze out. So for me it is just regular Band-Aids pulling the cut together, Neosporin and a big Band-Aid over it. I change it twice a day...I'll let you know how it turns out.

[Dave Z]

I spent years sliding around on asphalt and pavement when I used to race bikes (not on purpose). Via many other hard-core roadies I learned how to reduce scar tissue from "road-rash". Basically you want to keep the skin clean, moist and covered up. This prevents a scab from forming but allows the wound to heal. After about seven or so days you're good to go. The most important thing besides keeping the wound clean is to make sure you cover up the new skin with plenty of sun screen. Scott - you're on the right track!

[JAE]

I've had the same experience. I get a lot of rips and tears on my hands from climbing. They always heal the fastest (usually less than a week) if I put neosportin, and cover with a bandage. I usually wrap athletic tape over the bandage to hold it. Should be able to tape up your foot and get out today .

[scottchapman]

OHHH nice. You had to tempt me. I was going to be good and get a few things done over the next few days. Now if the trees start to waggle I will be in a quandry again...

[peterrib]

Cuts and scrapes. Being a chef I get my share. This spring I lopped off the tip of a finger (in a rhubarb
patch) that I needed for guitar playing. I struggled and bled through one performance thinking I needed to dry it up and form a scab. My Doc friend got me onto a gel like bandage that was to keep things moist. I put it on and forgot about it. Next gig finger was almost like new. I was amazed at the speedy turn around. And I was in the lake eveyday there was a breeze.
Peter