How to use wound care ointment

The key thing to remember is not to apply paste to the wound right away. You have to clean the wound first, wait until there is no obvious leakage, and then apply a thin layer just enough to cover the wound. In most cases, you don’t need to apply it too thickly.

I took my child to play in a country park a while ago. The child ran wildly and fell on his knee, which embedded a lot of fine sand. My grandma hurriedly took out the nursing cream from her bag and tried to squeeze it up. I quickly stopped her. I first found the normal saline I brought with me and rinsed it two or three times to rinse away all the sand. Then I disinfected it with iodophor and let it dry for two minutes. , after the wound was completely dry and no more tissue fluid was escaping, I squeezed out a mung bean-sized ointment and spread it gently with a sterile cotton swab, just enough to cover the entire abraded surface without even wrapping it with gauze. When I got home at night, I saw that the wound had already started to close. If I had directly applied a thick ointment at that time, and the sand particles were trapped in it, it might have caused inflammation and pus and pain for several days.

Some people may want to refute this. I read popular science before and said that wet healing requires thick coating? In fact, there is nothing wrong with both of these statements. It mainly depends on what kind of care cream you use. If you use a special hydrogel-like moisturizing healing care cream, you can indeed apply it 1-2 mm thick to form a closed moisturizing environment. It can also isolate external dust and bacteria and reduce the retention of moisture. Regarding the probability of scars, if you are using ordinary antibiotic care ointment or a repair ointment with Chinese herbal ingredients, there is really no need to apply it thickly. A thin application is enough to cover the wound. Applying too much will make it boring, and the skin cannot metabolize it. Sensitive skin may cause redness, swelling and itchiness around the area.

There are also some situations where it is really not suitable to apply nursing ointment. For example, when the wound is still actively bleeding, or when there is obvious slough and a large amount of yellowish-white purulent secretions on the wound, do not apply ointment right away. Apply pressure to stop the bleeding first, or go to the hospital to clean up the necrotic tissue and purulent secretions. Otherwise, the ointment you apply will seal the dirt in the wound, which is equivalent to providing a breeding ground for bacteria and will heal more slowly. Previously, a cyclist fell into a bicycle accident and scratched a large area of ​​his arm. He thought it would be troublesome to go to the hospital, so he just washed it home and applied a thick layer of nursing cream. The next day, his whole arm was swollen and the pain was so painful that he couldn't lift it. When he went to the hospital to debride the wound, he screamed in pain because the ointment was applied before the dirt was cleaned.

You don’t need to be too diligent when using it. Changing it 1-2 times a day is enough. Before each change, use normal saline to gently wipe away the remaining ointment and oozing tissue fluid before applying a new one. If you apply it for two or three days, the wound will become more and more painful, the redness and swelling will expand, and there may even be pus. Don’t mess around on your own, and go to the doctor quickly to avoid causing a serious infection.