quick question: infected wound (7)

1 Name: Anonymous : 2007-12-03 15:21 ID:r+DohUGL

Hey guys, i realise that a chan isn't really the best place to ask, but most places on the net describe what to do to keep a wound from being infected, not what to do after it IS infected. I got a small gash when a TV scraped me when it fell on me. We just slapped a bandaid on it and kept moving out of the APT (into my new house, btw, woo hoo!) however, it became pretty obvious it was infected.

So, i've been pouring Hydrogen Peroxide on this thing and polysporin at night (ran out of bandaids so I just tape on some gauze or tp).

my question is this: do i just rip off the scab, clean it, and start over, or do I keep this up?

2 Name: Anonymous : 2007-12-03 19:38 ID:GtTiw/ND

I have no medical knowledge. But I would say leave the scab on. That's your body's way of protecting the wound, and mother nature knows best. It just may take longer to heal that way rather than opening it up to clean it.

3 Name: Anonymous : 2007-12-03 20:42 ID:vsdku8yl

Does it hurt? If there's no significant pain, keep up cleaning it with disinfectants and change your bandage. My guess if the infection starts hurting you'll want to see a doctor. There are some prescribed antibiotics you can take I believe.

My guess is resist the urge to pull off the scab as well, you don't want to reopen your wound. It'll come off on its own when it's safe to do so.

But I am in no way a medical professional.

4 Name: Anonymous : 2007-12-04 02:51 ID:Heaven

Kill a man; Eat his heart to gain his strength.

5 Name: Anonymous : 2007-12-05 07:55 ID:Xe33/WbS

What you should've done is just use normal-saline or water to debride the wound, and apply any type of over-the-counter antibiotic ointment on it, and use a bandaid or gauze to cover it up.

If the wound right now looks really red, if there's a lot of yellow goo (puss) oozing out, if it's still really painful and doesn't look like it's improving, it's likely to be badly infected. In that case you will need to see a Doctor for a prescription for oral antibiotics (ie.tablets/capsules/pills) to make sure the infection doesn't get worse.

Please DO NOT use Hydrogen Peroxide to clean wounds. Not only does it just intensify the pain, but it may also damage the normal tissue around the wound. A simple, minor wound only needs to be briefly cleaned via normal saline solution or if you don't have that, just use tap water. Pat dry it with a clean towel and apply some type of antibiotic ointment and cover it up. This is a concept called "moist wound healing", which lets your immune system do most of the fighting against any type of infection.

There's your advice from a health professional.

6 Name: Anonymous : 2007-12-07 23:55 ID:HDrDOP7Y

>>5 Thanks so much for this post. I'm not OP, but a small cut on my finger became infected, and my father tried to convince me that I just needed to put hydrogen peroxide on the puss-oozing bastard and I'd be kk. I actually made him look at your post, and now he's taking me to a doctor.

7 Name: Anonymous : 2007-12-07 23:55 ID:HDrDOP7Y

>>5 Thanks so much for this post. I'm not OP, but a small cut on my finger became infected, and my father tried to convince me that I just needed to put hydrogen peroxide on the puss-oozing bastard and I'd be kk. I actually made him look at your post, and now he's taking me to a doctor.

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