Is this gash infected? (pic) (Page 2)

It does not look infected (no cellulits) skin infection. Just continue to clean and wash away the gunk, soap and water will work fine. if it gets red, and warm around the gash then go see a health care professional. That stuff oozing out of it is the stuff that helps it heal. You may have to change the dressing 4 to 5 times per day for the first 3-4 days then it will slow down.

Stiffen up that upper lip. You'll be ok. Time is wonderful.

The fascination with this thread amazes me. Hope your healing!

bump/scrape

second vote for the pic every day so we can animate a gif

You may want to make sure that you do not have MRSA. MRSA is a type of "Staff" infection that is resistant to many antibiotics. Left untreated, MRSA can get really bad.

We need our daily pic!

(Staph)

alcohol and spelling do not mix - Sorry.

It's getting better.

I'm a lawyer, not a doctor, so don't rely on anything I, or anyone else in this thread says. The statements made by anyone of this cite should not be contrued as medical advise, and its patently unreasonable to rely on any statements made in refernce to looking at your JPEG of a scrape.

Lawyering done...now my advice. I had tons of these when I played baseball. They ALWAYS looked disgusting on day three...I have had many green puss stains on my sheets from my leaking burns.

The advise we used to get from the trainers in college and the pros was:

"Don't over react to how nasty it looks unless you start to feel sick or it stinks."

Good luck, don't listen to me, see a doctor.

about a month ago, I cleaned out a wound that a stray cat had in her neck almost the size of a dime. It was rotting (hidden by fur) as one could smell it. Removed the hair, removed the core of rotten flesh, cleaned with warm salt a couple of times a day along with peroxide and polysporin ointment and 12 days later she was healed up!!!

Have fun with it!

Time to debride that thing. soak it in some epsom salts till it's real soft then scrape all that junk out- suck it up, it's what a doctor would do. We had an Iraqi kid who was slashed in the stomach with a knife, when he moved his abs it looked like a litttle mouth moving- that was fun scraping. But seriously, anything more than a minor scrape you want to clean all that scabbing away and keep it covered and moist with some type of antibiotic. It'll hurt the first time you clean it, but then just keeping soaking it and putting antibiotic on it and the scabbing will stop from forming.

Ok, I debrided it. Ouch.

It is more painful, but is looking much better. Thanks!







Edited by ragingferret 2007-09-30 11:38 PM

I want to stop reading this thread,  but I keep coming back to it for some reason...

GOOD!!! Keep it looking like that last picture, let it heal from the inside out. Keeping putting neosporin or some other type of antibiotic cream on it and keep changing the bandage to keep it from getting crusty. Hurt like hell, huh?

What, I thought I wanted it to scab over... Ok, I'll put on some ointment and bandage it up.

TEGADERM TEGADERM TEGADERM!!! Look it up!

YUMMY!

Scabs tend to harbor different types of goo underneath them that your body would rather not deal with. It's better to clean puss and other dead organic matter away than let it stay against a healing wound. Thats why any type of cavity or deep scrape usually isn't sutured, it's packed. Stitching it up or letting a scab form would cause a pocket for puss and dead tissue to fester in. If a wound is small and can be closed without cavitation (or a scrape that isn't very deep), and the flesh can be brought into contact with each other, the body can properly dispose of the waste products on its own.

In the world before medicine, a scab would be better because it offers a degree of protection from dirt and germs. But, we can form a better barrier than that. It's along the same lines as shock. Shock may have given a bleeding caveman the strength he needed to fight off and escape a saber toothed tiger, but in the hands of medical care, it's better to prevent it.

Tegaderm would be great, especially if you are planning on swmming. There are all kinds of flesh eating ameoba and necrotizing bacteria in the water that you wouldn't want inside you...

Edited by KSC 2007-10-01 12:57 AM

It's been covered already!

I generally don't rip off scabs as you'll rip off any developing skin cells that have made their way into the mess. YOu don't want it to scab unless you don't mind scars. PUtting a tegaderm over a non-infected scabbed wound will let the scabby stuff soften nicely & allow you to clean it up without traumatizing healing tissue underneath.

Great work, keep on healing!

Ha, I just pulled another scab off my hip.

Wait, chicks dig scars, right?

Edited by ragingferret 2007-10-02 12:01 AM