Probably every person knows what a wound is: at least once in a lifetime, but everyone received it. Fortunately, in most cases the matter is limited to minor damage, which, nevertheless, gives a very clear idea of the subject of our article. Even a person who is not a surgeon or at least a doctor by occupation, must have not only theoretical information about what a wound is, but also practical skills in the initial actions when it is received. In serious situations, before the arrival of qualified health workers, they can save a life - not for you, but for someone who, thanks to competent measures, will survive until the ambulance arrives.
What is a wound from a medical point of view
Despite the general awareness, we give a few vague ideas more clear outlines. If we give a more or less scientific definition of what a wound is, then we can say that it is called gaping, visible damage to the skin (often even deeper tissues of the human body). It is accompanied by a number of symptoms. Common ones include:
- Bleeding of varying severity.
- Mandatory pain.
- Visual observation of the source of blood flow.
Local or private are considered:
- Acute anemia, i.e. severe blood loss. It can not be called a common symptom, because with minor damage or quickly taken measures, it does not occur.
- Shock. Also not all wounds accompany. It accompanies mainly deep and / or extensive damage.
- Infection - it is characteristic for individual types of wounds or for illiterate-treated lesions.
Other more rare symptoms may be observed. Any open wound (except, perhaps, the most insignificant) can lead to extremely unpleasant consequences. Therefore, such injuries require increased attention and indispensable medical supervision.
Types of injuries due to tissue disorders
The upcoming wound treatment is fully determined by a number of its characteristics. The first one is how much damage has affected the inner membranes lining the peritoneum, the membranes of the brain, any joint or pleura. Here are distinguished:
- Penetrating wounds in which the integrity of one of the mentioned shells is broken.
- Non-penetrating, touching only the skin and upper muscle layer.
The first type is more dangerous: an open wound of this type heals longer and requires an integrated approach to treatment. The most severe are penetrating wounds with damage to internal organs - one or more.
Types of injury due to infection
A very important factor, largely determining the course of further treatment. Any wound - on the leg, arm, head or trunk - can be assigned to one of three groups:
- Unclear course, the so-called contaminated. There are no signs of suppuration, but infection is possible.
- Purulent, they are also infected.
- Aseptic, in which suppuration is impossible even theoretically. These include only injuries resulting from surgery.
Types of injury by origin
The most extensive classification regarding the mechanism of getting a wound and the type of object that caused its appearance.
- Stab wound. Its inlet is small in diameter, but the wound channel is long, albeit narrow. It is usually applied by sharpening, a nail or an awl. The most dangerous is considered due to the high probability of damage to the insides and the development of infections due to poor oxygen availability.
- Cut, on the contrary, is shallow, with a rather large entrance. The instrument of application is a knife or razor. If large vessels and viscera are not affected, such wounds heal faster than others.
- Chopped is applied with sharp and heavy objects like an ax. Damage is extensive, severe, often accompanied by bone fractures and fragmentation.
- A laceration is very difficult to treat, caused by sliding along the body of an uneven blade with simultaneous pressure. It may be accompanied by a partial loss of cover and underlying tissues.
- Gunshot wounds have a number of features caused by a variety of weapons (shot, bullet, fragment), and the degree of damage. The lungs include tangents, in which the bullet does not get inside, but only peels off the surface tissue layer. The most difficult ones are the blind, in which the bullet remains inside the body.
The key to successful healing
The main treatment for a wound more serious than a scratch will be prescribed by a doctor. However, so that it does not drag on for too long, primary measures must be taken. These include:
- Stop bleeding immediately . If the wound is on the leg or arm - a tourniquet is applied; if on the body or head - a pressure bandage.
- Aseptic ligation, which blocks the access of an infection to open tissues.
- Immobilization of the affected part of the body: fixation of the limb pressed to the body, if there is a wound on the arm, applying a splint with an open fracture of the leg, etc.
- Anesthesia (if possible). It will prevent the appearance of shock, which often ends with cardiac arrest, especially in the elderly.
If all these measures are taken even minimally, further treatment of the wound will be much more successful.
Why wounds do not heal
However, there are often cases when the wound does not heal, the prognoses for which were quite optimistic. In most cases, this is due to objective reasons, among which:
- Diabetes. In people suffering from this disease, even small scratches do not tighten well. This is due to the fact that a high sugar content destroys the capillaries little by little, which impairs blood circulation in the limbs and tissues, the situation with their nutrition is complicated, and it becomes more difficult for them to regenerate.
- A special case of the previous case can be considered obesity. The abundance of the fat layer makes it difficult for the damaged tissues to enter the nutritional tissue, which makes their recovery significantly delayed.
- Anemia is a continuation of the same topic. “Weak” blood is not able to saturate the tissues with the necessary substances sufficiently. This also includes the general weakening of the body, including - caused by all kinds of diets.
- Skin diseases like eczema, dermatitis of various origins and psoriasis prevent the rapid healing of wounds.
A separate item can be made immunodeficiency and cancer. Here, wound treatment should be carried out by the efforts of doctors of various specializations.
How to speed up healing
In order to prevent a situation in which you have to find out why the wound does not heal, in most cases it is enough to zealously follow primitive hygiene rules.
- Change dressings regularly (at least 2 times a day).
- Periodically disinfect the skin around the lesion (as directed by a physician).
- Watch the sterility of dressings and tools used.
- Properly choose (taking into account the recommendations of the doctor!) Wound healing drugs.
And so on: to remain inactive, if recommended, to drink drugs meticulously (primarily antibiotics) and to obey the attending physician in everything.
Features of lacerations
Especially a lot of trouble and anxiety causes any laceration. It heals poorly, certainly requires medical intervention and a long time. The main problem of their treatment is the remaining disfiguring scars. Therefore, if the wound is large and is in a conspicuous place, the surgical method is preferred by the conservative method (overgrowth by secondary tension). When using it, torn edges under anesthesia or anesthesia are excised before the start of healthy, intact tissues. Next, a seam close to cosmetic; at the same time, the lacerated wound heals several times faster, and the scars remain almost invisible - provided that you do everything as the surgeon ordered, do not arbitrarily and exercise patience, even experiencing nervous tension.