PART 1: Keep the wound clean & cover the area with a clean, dry bandage.
A couple of days ago I posted an article from The Conversation that discussed the stages of wound healing:
1. The inflammation phase: an immediate response to remove pathogens and boost blood supply).
2. The proliferation phase: multiplication of blood vessel cells, epidermal cells and fibroblasts – to create collagen.
3. The remodelling phase: the creation of the scar.
It mentioned keeping the skin clean, covering the scar to promote healing, and protecting it from sunlight. But there’s plenty more that we can do to help speed up the scar-healing process.
Note, the following advice is for minor wounds. If you have a large wound, a wound that keeps bleeding and/or oozing with either lots of pain or loss of sensitivity and redness surrounding the area, then please seek medical help. And remember if you’ve had a traumatic injury from an animal, or come off your bike for example, you might need a tetanus shot.
Keep the wound covered
1. Keep the wound clean, wash it off with clean water (avoiding soaps on that area) and apply an antiseptic solution like betadine.
2. Cover the area with a clean bandage, preferably like paraffin gauze dressings (https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/…/bactigras-10x10cm…). You can cover it with a waterproof dressing (https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/…/opsite-flexigrid…) to keep it dry.
3. Change the dressing every couple of days, or sooner if there’s lots of oozing.
