How to Care For Your Wounds
Injuries are very unpleasant, but this unpleasantness can be made shorter depending on how you care for your wound. There are generally four stages of wound healing, from preventing blood loss to the healing stages, so as long as you familiarise yourself with the process you can find ways to better prepare for it. This article is your guide to caring for your wounds in a practical and effective way.
A clean area twice daily with soap and water, and apply a new bandage and ointment after cleaning. There is no need to use hydrogen peroxide or alcohol for cleaning. Continue this care until the wound is fully healed. Deep or gaping wounds may need stitches or other wound care from a medical professional.
Choose Your Dressing Wisely
The kind of dressing you choose can greatly affect your comfort. For example, the brand EXU-DRY is an affordable dressing that offers full absorbency, in a variety of different shapes and sizes to fit your wound. The material is soft and malleable, and this in addition to the absorbency means that irritation to the wound is eliminated as much as possible. For hygiene reasons, change your dressing daily, especially if it becomes wet.
Keep It Clean
Rinsing your wound with water immediately is the key to reducing the risk of infection. Ensure that you do this before dressing the wound, or you will be entrapping potential infection and germs. However, it is strongly advised to not directly get soap in the wound as this will further irritate it. Instead, wash around the wound.
Antibiotic Ointments
Using ointments and creams for your wounds is largely dependent on the type of wound that you have. For example, minor injuries such as a scrape or surface cut do not require any powerful creams but burns generally call for stronger treatment that contains antibiotics. These will soothe the skin, stave off infection and lessen scarring.
Be Vigilant When Healing
Fending off infection is what you want to be most aware of when caring for your wound. Infections can be minor, but can also cause huge amounts of prolonged pain and further complications down the line. If you don’t stop the infection, it can cause sepsis, which is life-threatening. Familiarise yourself with the signs of infection– this includes redness, pus, and a fever. If you suspect that you have an infection, consult a doctor immediately to get it checked out.
Consider What Caused Your Wounds
After the immediate wound care has been dealt with, the next step is to consider the cause of your wound to eliminate the chances of a repeat injury. This can be as small as replacing your cookware, for example, if you have gotten a burn. If the pot or pan handle is loose, there is a high likelihood that you will drop it and end up burning yourself. These seemingly insignificant measures are worth
taking as they can reduce the risk of the injury happening again.
Final Thoughts
Caring for your wounds is dependent on the type of wound you have, although a lot of the necessary steps to take are similar. Some wounds just require a little more attention due to their severity. For all wounds, however, you must clean the area and dress them appropriately in order to allow your skin to heal with limited pain, scarring, and further issues.
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