You catch your leg on the screen door and cause a puncture, you wear new shoes and raise an ugly blister or you back into a rose bush and get a nasty scratch. While these don’t seem like “call the doctor” problems, when your vascular health is compromised, they could turn into serious issues that require months of care to avoid an amputation.
Home care should be your first step.
For a wound that bleeds, first wash your hands with soap and water so you don’t contaminate the wound with bacteria as you try to stop the bleeding. Using a clean cloth, apply a gentle pressure to the wound. Change cloths if the blood soaks through. Raise your leg above your heart if possible. If you’re still bleeding after 10 minutes of pressure, it may be time for a visit to Urgent Care.
Next, clean the wound. Using cool, clean water, gently rinse the wound to remove all dirt and debris. This is an extremely important step in preventing infection. Don’t use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or other solutions to clean your wound, as these can damage surrounding healthy tissue, making it more difficult for your body to heal the opening. Use soap and water to clean around the wound, avoiding getting soap into the wound itself. Pat dry with a clean, lint-free towel.
If there is still dirt or debris in the wound, call us. Do not use tweezers or other instruments to pick at the wound, as that can cause further injury, infection and damage to healthy tissue.
After your wound is clean and dry, apply petroleum jelly, like Vaseline, over your wound. This helps provide a barrier to bacteria and helps skin stay moist to hasten healing. Place a bandage over any wound that could be irritated by clothing or socks. The bandage will also help protect your wound from bacteria and help the wound to help faster.
When you’re treating a minor wound at home, change your bandage every day. Wash your hands before beginning. Rinse the wound if needed, reapply petroleum jelly and put on a clean bandage.
You can also treat a blister at home. As with a bleeding wound, always wash your hands with soap and water before treatment. Don’t ever drain, pierce or break open a blister. That overlay of skin is protecting your wound from contamination, bacteria and infection. Wash it carefully and pat dry. Apply a bandage if the blister is small enough to cover. When a blister is too large to cover with a bandage, create a “doughnut” with moleskin, with the hole large enough to surround and protect the blister, then wrap the area with gauze.
If your blister does break on its own, gently wash with soap and water, apply petroleum jelly and cover it with a bandage. If the fluid has a foul odor, is thick, is cloudy, pink, red, yellow or greenish in color, call our office.
Your blister will need to be checked and the bandage changed each day. Wash your hands, rinse the blister, reapply petroleum jelly and apply a clean bandage.
Check your healing progress each day. Call us immediately when:
Proper wound care will protect you from infection, help wounds heal cleanly and quickly and prevent life-changing amputation.
