One of the most common injuries in humans is wounds. When they break the integrity of the skin, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels and internal organs can be damaged. The area of ​​damage depends on the location and depth of the wound.
Wound Classification
All skin lesions can be attributed to a certain type. So, in everyday life, most often people encounter cuts. They are made tangent sharp objects. You can cut yourself with a blade, an ordinary knife, a splinter of glass. With such damage, it is enough to simply know how to treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide.
But with deep stabbing injuries, self-medication is not recommended. Depending on the depth of the puncture, skin integuments, muscles, and internal organs can be affected. There is another type of damage in which it is also better to consult a doctor. These are the so-called chopped wounds. They arise after hitting a pointed heavy object, such as an ax. The doctor must assess the complexity of such damage. He will be able to check the integrity of the bones, internal organs, and if necessary, sew up such a wound.
Household injuries
Most often, people wonder how to treat a wound when it comes to a shallow cut with a knife, a broken knee, and other simple injuries to the skin and muscles. Even with a small scratch, it is important to properly approach the process of disinfection. In most cases, an ordinary household wound poses no threat and can heal without problems. The main danger is that infection can get into it. This is what you should pay attention to first of all.
It is worth knowing that, from the point of view of surgeons in everyday life, people usually get minor injuries. Therefore, if you know how to treat a wound, it makes no sense to go to the hospital. Of course, we are not talking about those cases when the incision is so large and deep that it must be sutured. It is also worth going to the emergency room if the wound is deep, there is dirt or foreign bodies in it. So, for example, if you stepped on a rusty nail, then you should not wait until the puncture site itself has overgrown. It is important to clean out all the dirt in time and properly treat the wound. Also, many deep, contaminated or bleeding wounds require the administration of tetanus toxoid.
Action tactics
If you have a small household injury, then you can independently figure out how to properly treat the wound. First of all, it must be washed with soap. This must be done from the center to the outer edges. Otherwise, you can only aggravate the situation by increasing the number of microbes in its middle. But if you just cut your finger with a clean sharp knife, then you can skip this step.
After this, you can already begin to disinfect the site of damage. To do this, it is important to know how to treat a wound. So, the problem place must be filled with an antiseptic. The ideal option is hydrogen peroxide. By the way, cotton wool for any cuts is extremely undesirable. If its fibers get inside, then it will be very difficult to get them. And they will contribute to the development of infection. In this case, the healing of the damaged area will be difficult. It is desirable to treat the edges of the wound with a solution of iodine. This will prevent microbes from entering adjacent skin areas. But pouring it inside the cut is strictly prohibited!
After this, the wound must be covered with a sterile napkin, which will need to be fixed with a patch or bandage. Note that the dressing must be changed as it begins to get wet. In this case, the damage site can be moistened with peroxide each time.
When to go to the hospital
If you doubt that you can provide qualified assistance, and the wound you feel seems too large and deep, then it is better to go to the doctor. A specialist will properly wash, disinfect and apply a sterile dressing. If necessary, he will sew it and inject you with tetanus toxoid. It is also necessary to see a specialist if you received an injury more than 6 hours ago, and during this period of time you did not have the opportunity to properly handle it. It is imperative to show the doctor wounds in which it is not possible to stop the bleeding. This may be due to damage to large vessels.
Do not continue to self-medicate if you see the appearance of exudate in the wound. Even if you know how to treat a purulent wound, you should show it to a specialist. He will be able to choose the most suitable tactics of action.
Signs of infection
Everyone should not only know how to treat an open wound, but also be aware of what indicates a worsening condition. So, a sign that the wound does not heal, and bacteria continue to multiply in it, will be the following factors:
- swelling of the edges, their inflammation;
- redness of the skin around the lesion;
- temperature rise;
- shooting or stitching pain at the incision site.
With a neglected condition, a general reaction of the body may begin, a fever will appear. Infection is also accompanied by a general malaise.
The next step will be the appearance of exudate. In this case, the doctor must decide what to do next with the damaged place. He can prescribe one of the ointments on a water-soluble basis. These include Levomekol, Dioxide Ointment 5%, Furagel, Streptonitol, Miramistin 0.5%, Nitatsid, and several others. The doctor will also explain how to treat a purulent wound, and prescribe an antiseptic. It can be in the form of a solution, for example, "Dimephosphon 15%", "Potassium furagin 0.2%", "Iodopyron" or aerosol - "Gentazol", "Dioxizole". The listed drugs should not be prescribed for yourself, they should be prescribed by the doctor, taking into account the patient's condition.
How to handle damage at home
If you have a shallow fresh wound, then you can independently figure out what needs to be done. But for this it is important that you have a stocked first-aid kit. It is not enough just to know how to treat a wound, it is also necessary that suitable means are at hand.
It is advisable that each medicine cabinet has a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide. It is a universal antiseptic that can safely be poured even on open wounds. An alcoholic solution of brilliant green can destroy pathological microorganisms that may be in the wound. The advantage of this drug is that it is able to maintain its antiseptic properties for a long time.
Fukortsin is less known in our country, but it can also be used for disinfection. It is suitable for treating any area of ​​the skin, including mucous membranes. This bright raspberry color is washed off the skin better than brilliant green. But he has contraindications - the period of breastfeeding and pregnancy.
When dealing with how to treat a wound, do not forget about iodine. Its solution cannot be poured on an open place of damage, but it is ideally suited for processing its edges. It will prevent bacteria from neighboring skin from penetrating the wound site.
How to treat a wound with peroxide
Unfortunately, not all people who have experienced household wounds believe that they need to be handled. As a result, some of them become clients of surgeons. But it’s not at all difficult to figure out how to treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide and cover the affected area with a gauze bandage or adhesive plaster.
If you have a regular household cut, then fill it with this antiseptic. Keep in mind that peroxide must be watered abundantly and not soaked. As a result, you should see how the solution foams. This will provide not only a good disinfection of the damaged area, but also help to remove small particles of dirt from the wound that are not visible to the naked eye. After that, a medical bandage folded in several layers, or a gauze bandage, can be applied to the wound.
Injuries in children
Very often, parents wonder how to treat a child’s wound. If you have a baby in your house, then the first-aid kit must be equipped with hydrogen peroxide, brilliant green, Fucorcin or an alcoholic solution of chlorophyllipt. The tactics of action for cutting in children should be the same as for damage to the skin of adults.
The difficulty is that children often do not give the opportunity to treat a wound. But this is not the case when you need to feel sorry for the baby. Parents should do everything possible to wash the damaged area and properly handle it. At this time, it makes no sense to scold the baby, you need to calm him down and try to explain what exactly you are doing with his wound.
Animal bites
Unfortunately, some are faced with another type of damage to the skin. If you are bitten by a dog, you need to treat the damaged area as soon as possible. For this you will need hydrogen peroxide and brilliant green. But pour bites with alcohol, cologne or iodine is not worth it. This will only worsen the situation. Alcohol burns the wound, as a result it is even more injured. Note that you may need information on how to treat a deep wound with lacerations.
Rinsing the damaged area with peroxide, it is better to see a doctor. Perhaps he will decide that it is better to suture the edges of the wound or simply treat it additionally. In some situations, damaged tissues are best removed because they can be a source of infection.
Surgical treatment
Many believe that they can independently cope with a cut or puncture of any complexity. Some of the victims underestimate the seriousness of the situation, while others are simply afraid to go to the doctor. But in some cases it is simply necessary. After all, only a specialist knows how to treat an open wound without introducing an additional infection into it. But often surgeons have to work with those injuries in which pus has already begun to accumulate.
The specialist can remove the dead areas, make a decompression incision, clean the wound and, if necessary, suture. For severe lesions, you may even need a skin graft.