This morning while checking out shops in Seminyak, I noticed the staff hobbling around, a fresh cut on her lower leg. ‘What happened to you?” I said. “I have motorbike accident.’ she said. I saw she said put some kind of oil on the cut, which was still bloody. “Don’t go anywhere,” I said, “I’ll get you some Betadine.” Returning to my house, I saw that a lot of my stuff has been rearranged by Ika, The bottle of Betadine disappearing into the ether. She produced another bottle of antiseptic liquid, which she assured me was similar to Betadine.
Grabbing a Band Aid and a roll of gauze, I went back to the shop and helped the staff, Komang, clean up her injury. She told me she slipped off of her bike due to the wet road this morning. As well as the cut lower leg, she has a bump on her knee, which isn’t serious. Most of the accidents out here occur at low speeds, so if you are wearing your helmet, you’ll probably walk away from it.
In a humid environment, its important to prevent infection in a cut, and allow it to dry out, while stopping dirt getting in there. I got a little graze on my shin the other day at Museum Blanco, no big deal at all, and it scabbed over fast. Ika pointed to a leaf that grows in our garden, and said if I rub my leg with it, it won’t scar. “I don’t get scars anyway.” I said. For some reason, Indonesians seem to get scars on their legs. Don’t know why this is, maybe has something to do with diet, or hygiene.
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Nick-For your information it is a genetic difference in skin types. People with darker skins tend to scar more than lighter skinned people. Have you ever noticed keloids on very dark skinned people? Those are the very large raised scars that you sometimes see. I have even seen them on pierced ears, it is a lump that will grow out of the site of the tiny piercing.
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