One of the most common injuries in humans are wounds. With them, the integrity of the skin is violated, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels and internal organs can be damaged. The affected area depends on the location and depth of the injury.
Wound classification
All skin lesions can be attributed to a certain type. So, in everyday life, most often people are faced with cuts. They are made with sharp objects on a tangent. You can cut yourself with a blade, an ordinary knife, a piece of glass. With such injuries, it is enough just to know how to treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide.
But with deep stab injuries, it is not recommended to self-medicate. Depending on the depth of the puncture, both the skin, 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 occur after being struck by a pointed heavy object, such as an axe. The doctor should assess the complexity of such damage. He will be able to check the integrity of bones, internal organs, and, if necessary, sew up such a wound.
Domestic 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 its disinfection. In most cases, an ordinary household wound poses no threat and can heal without problems. The main danger is that an infection can get into it. This is what you should pay attention to in the first place.
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, there is no point in going to the hospital. Of course, we are not talking about cases where the incision is so large and deep that it needs to be sewn up. It is also worth going to the emergency room if the wound is deep, it contains dirt or foreign bodies. So, for example, if you stepped on a rusty nail, then you should not wait until the puncture site heals itself. It is important to clean all the dirt in time and properly treat the wound. Also, many deep, contaminated, or bleeding wounds require tetanus toxoid.
Tactics of action
If you have a minor domestic injury, you can figure out how to properly treat the wound yourself. 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, you can skip this step.
AfterAfter that, you can already start disinfecting the site of damage. For this, it is important to know how to treat the wound. So, the problem area must be filled with an antiseptic. Hydrogen peroxide is considered ideal. By the way, it is highly undesirable to use cotton wool for any cuts. If its fibers get inside, then it will be very difficult to get them out. 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 an iodine solution. This will prevent the entry of germs from neighboring skin areas. But pouring it inside the cut is strictly prohibited!
After that, the wound must be covered with a sterile napkin, which will need to be fixed with a plaster or bandage. Please note that the bandage should 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 yourself with qualified assistance, and the wound you received seems too big and deep, then it is better to go to the doctor. The specialist will properly wash it, disinfect it and apply a sterile bandage. If necessary, he will sew it up 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 process it. It is imperative to show the doctor the wounds in which it is impossible to stop the bleeding. This may be due to damage to large vessels.
Not worth itcontinue to self-medicate if you see exudate appearing 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 appropriate tactics of action.
Signs of infection
Each person should not only know how to treat an open wound, but also be aware of what indicates a deterioration in the 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;
- rising temperature;
- Shooting or stabbing pain at the incision site.
When the condition is neglected, a general reaction of the body may begin, a fever will appear. Infection is also accompanied by general malaise.
The next step will be the appearance of exudate. In this case, it is up to the doctor to decide what to do next with the damaged area. He may prescribe one of the water-soluble ointments. These include "Levomekol", "Dioxidin ointment 5%", "Furagel", "Streptonitol", "Miramistin 0.5%", "Nitacid" and a number of 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, "Dimephosphone 15%", "Furagin potassium 0.2%", "Iodopyron" or an aerosol - "Gentazol", "Dioxysol". The listed drugs should not be prescribed to yourself on your own, they should be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the patient's condition.
How to handle damage at home
Ifyou 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’s not enough just to know how to treat a wound, you also need to have the right tools at hand.
It is desirable that in each first aid kit there is a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide. It is a universal antiseptic, which can be safely poured even on open wounds. An alcohol solution of brilliant green is able to 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 the treatment of any areas of the skin, including mucous membranes. This preparation of bright crimson color is washed off the skin better than brilliant green. But he has contraindications - the period of breastfeeding and pregnancy.
Dealing with how to treat a wound, do not forget about iodine. Its solution cannot be poured onto an open area of damage, but it is ideal for processing its edges. It will prevent bacteria from neighboring skin areas from penetrating into the wound.
How to treat a wound with peroxide
Unfortunately, not all people who have experienced domestic wounds believe that they need to be treated. As a result, some of them become clients of surgeons. But it’s not at all difficult to figure out how to treat a wound with hydrogen peroxide and cover the affected area with gauze.bandage or band-aid.
If you have a regular household cut, fill it with this antiseptic. Please note that peroxide should be watered abundantly, and not blotted. As a result, you should see how the solution foams. This will ensure not only 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, you can apply a medical bandage, folded in several layers, or a gauze bandage to the wound.
Injuries in children
Very often, parents wonder how to treat a child's wound. If you have a baby in the house, then the first-aid kit must be equipped with hydrogen peroxide, brilliant green, fucorcin or an alcohol solution of chlorophyllipt. The tactics of action for a cut in children should be the same as for injuries to the skin of adults.
The difficulty lies in the fact that children often do not give the opportunity to treat the wound. But this is not the case when you need to feel sorry for the baby. Parents should do their best to wash the damaged area and treat it properly. 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, then you need to treat the damaged area as soon as possible. To do this, you will need hydrogen peroxide and brilliant green. But fill the bites with alcohol, cologne or iodinenot worth it. This will only make the situation worse. Alcohol burns the wound, as a result, it is even more injured. Please note that you may need information on how to treat a deep wound with lacerations.
After washing the damaged area with peroxide, it is better to see a doctor. Perhaps he decides that it is better to sew up the edges of the wound or simply treat it additionally. In some situations, it is better to remove damaged tissues, because they can be a source of infection.
Surgical debridement
Many believe that they can cope with a cut or puncture of any complexity on their own. 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 dead tissue, make a decompression incision, clean the wound and suture if necessary. Severe lesions may even require a skin graft.
