Page 1 of 1

Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 4:53 pm
by PandaJosh
Does it attract sharks like a unhealed wound. Im just wondering always wonder this I know the ocean will get you with all the salt making it burn but will it? It's kind of stupid to ask

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:58 pm
by drowningbitbybit
Don't be silly :wink:

Even the "blood in the water" thing is almost certainly a myth, or at least irrelevant as long as you're not gushing gallons of blood into a rivermouth at dusk (and if you are, you've probably already found the shark) :lol:

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 12:15 am
by PandaJosh
Yea I got aa cut today when I went surfing went in to go clean it then when back out

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 3:48 am
by IB_Surfer
You went in to clean it? Except for the time that I needed stitches I usually don't get out of the water if I get a cut

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 4:26 am
by jaffa1949
A genuine medical type answer!!! Surfing with scratches or scars is actually beneficial in most cases as the salt water helps clean the wound.
It is not helpful if the sea is in any way compromised with runoff after rain or by effluent discharge, very nasty infections can occur this way.
Lots of surfing with an unhealed wound can lead to sea ulcers, where wound gets a pathogen suited to being constantly wet, which eats its way deeper and deeper into the flesh.
Often the beach sand is dirtier than the water so if the wound is on your foot be aware.

Bad pun but a footnote none the less.... Australians are much more casual than Americans about foot wear, going without it more often under more conditions.
Young Aussies can be seen in shopping malls and on the street without footwear. :shock:

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 4:58 pm
by AJR
jaffa1949 wrote:
Bad pun but a footnote none the less.... Australians are much more casual than Americans about foot wear, going without it more often under more conditions.
Young Aussies can be seen in shopping malls and on the street without footwear. :shock:


It sucks but us Americans are limited by store signs that say "no shirt, no shoes, no service"...

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:55 pm
by PandaJosh
It was a scratch on my knee kept bleeding alot for some reason so i went in to get a sirt and put pressure on the wound

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 11:07 pm
by jaffa1949
Here is an interesting thought for you PandaJosh, it certainly is a case here in Australia.
Bandaids the none clear variety are racially biased, they come in white man pink!!!

The clear ones came about not because of skin colour, but new materials in medical dressing.
I realised this when I saw a Congolese man with a wound on his bald head wearing a bandaid :shock:

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 11:45 pm
by dtc
To show you what surfers are like... I was reading an article about a surf photographer who took a couple of pros to a small island in Indo for some magazine shots. The surf was a bit flat one morning so they went onto the island (from their boat) and found theee 20yr surfers camping on the island. They had been there for about 2 months, with several suitcases of tinned food and peanut butter, drinking rainwater, catching some local sealife and surfing whenever the waves were up.

Because it was a reef break, they all had reef cuts that they had stuck bandaids on but kept surfing (keeping the cuts wet) and no other treatment. One of the surfers could barely walk due to reef cuts on his feet; the others had infections and all sorts of things.

But, nonetheless, they refused the offer of a lift back and said they were going to stay until they ran out of food because 'the waves were so good'.

So, real surfers just keep going...

Re: Surfing with scratches or scars

PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:25 am
by PandaJosh
Besides my bad spelling, where was the place they where surfing at?