Wound / Scrape Care

[mstevens]

I got a scrape on my shin this afternoon which took the skin off and drew blood. There was also some minor bruising around the scrape site, but nothing major. It's not that big and it's certainly not deep, but there was a little blood. I just wanted to check in and make sure I am caring for it correctly.

 

I washed the wound first with water and then cleaned it with Dettol. I waited for it to dry and applied a little Betadine over the wound. I then put a bandage over it, followed by a gauze and some 3M medical tape. I had it cleaned and dressed within about 25 minutes of it happening. It took that long to go to a pharmacy, get the supplies, get back to the hotel and get it cleaned and dressed.

 

I guess my question is how often do I change the dressing? I am guessing every 24 hours? And do I apply Betadine again when I change it tomorrow? Any thoughts would be welcome.

[Crossy]

I'm not a medical professional, nor do I play one on TV.

 

I would have a look at it tomorrow and change the dressing, if the dressing was damp on day one give it another day and change again. Keep that up until you see no moisture on the dressing. Then you can leave it longer, things should scab over fairly quickly at which point you only need the dressing to protect it from bumps.

 

BUT

 

Watch for any changes, redness, swelling, also if you get shivers, sweats, pain get to the doc pronto. Infections can get going very rapidly here and can quickly turn nasty.

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

56 minutes ago, mstevens said:

I guess my question is how often do I change the dressing? I am guessing every 24 hours? And do I apply Betadine again when I change it tomorrow? Any thoughts would be welcome.

Never, changing the dressing opens the wound.

Better to not use any dressing and just avoid getting the wound dirty.

[Sheryl]

It depends on whether the dressing gets loose or dirty. If it does not, you can leave it a few days.

 

As Crossy said, once the wound scabs over no need for a dressing.

 

Moisten the dressing before you remove it to avoid pulling off scab.

 

For just a scrape I would have cleaned it but not applied a dressing. When yo udoi the remove tghe dressing consider leaving it off and just clean it daily until it scabs over.

[mstevens]

Thank you very much for the replies!

[uhuh]

Depends on what you do with the injured leg:

 

Walk around and get it dirty (beach,  paddy field)? > dressing

Stay in air con room all day? > maybe no dressing

[attrayant]

5 hours ago, mstevens said:

I washed the wound first with water and then cleaned it with Dettol.

 

What the... I've been using this as shampoo.  It's sitting in the shampoo caddy in the bathroom next to the bar soap and other shower accouterments.  Is this really for first aid/wound care?

[Katia]

I thought Dettol was for general cleaning/disinfection, similar to Lysol or somesuch... I didn't even know it was meant for use on the body.

 

(That said, I think I've seen Dettol bar/liquid soap, too, and maybe that's what OP means, not the cleaner stuff?)

Edited March 9, 2019 by Katia

[Nyezhov]

I like the Betadine Honey stuff, both the sanitizer and the soap.

 

But Ive used Whiskey in the past, and even urinated on a super nasty hand wound.

 

I dont play with hunting knives or axes any more, and dont fall down drunk, so as long as I wear closed toe sandals and dont walk into walls, Im usually good.

[Just Weird]

5 hours ago, Sheryl said:

For just a scrape I would have cleaned it but not applied a dressing. When yo udoi the remove tghe dressing consider leaving it off and just clean it daily until it scabs over.

"When yo udoi the remove tghe dressing..."

Just what I was going to suggest...I think.