Proper Hygiene in Wound Care

If you are an upholder of the common belief that uncovered wounds represent the natural process of wound healing?

Learn how to take care of your wounds properly. Although it contradicts wound hygiene protocol, many people believe that not covering their wounds speeds up the healing process.
Not only is this not true, but not covering the wounds can also lead to improper contraction and make them vulnerable to contamination, and therefore infections.

What Are the Possible Consequences?

Of course, a regular person would not be able to identify etiology, comorbidities, and assess their wounds as correctly as wound care specialists or pediatricians. However, everyone should be educated about the basics of wound treatment, to prevent unwanted complications and understand the consequences of neglecting such steps of wound care as regular cleansing, disinfection, dressing, and refashioning of wounds.

We have already externally covered some of the possible consequences of improper wound care, so let's take a look at some other comorbidities that can occur:

• chronic wounds
• diabetes
• hypertension
• nutritional problems
• long-term morbidity

This is not a full list of potential risks for a wound, but it's imposing enough to dig deeper into the following protocol of accurate wound hygiene. 

Tips to Take Care of Wounds

The basic 4 steps of wound hygiene protocol include cleansing, debriding, refashioning, and dressing. It is crucial not only for healthcare professionals but also for patients to understand and implement these steps to treat their wounds effectively from the initial phase of wounds' emergence.

Cleansing. 

If your wound has already reached the chronic stage, it is most likely that the wound is colonized by the bacteria. In this case, the cleansing technique will be the best method for treating your wound. Before moving on to the cleansing of the peri-wound, you will need to remove the dead particles and devitalized tissue from your wound. The subsequent cleansing of the peri-wound, which covers the skin within a 4 to an 8-inch radius around the edges of the wound, should be done with a surfactant-containing antiseptic. Cleansing should be performed at every dressing change and, preferably, with as much physical force as the patient can bear.

Debriding. 

Depending on the thickness of the wound and the skill level of the specialist who performs debriding, different methods can be used, such as biological, sharp, mechanical, or ultrasonic debriding. In any case, debriding includes extraction of the slough, biofilm, necrotic tissue, and debris at every change of the wound cover.

Refashioning. 

The main goal of wound refashioning is to remove dead tissue around the edges of the wound in order to promote the formation of new healthy tissue. Refashioning also includes the removal of overhanging, crusted wound edges that can contain biofilm. Moreover, for epithelium contraction, it is important that the necrotic edges of the skin coincide with the wound bed.

Dressing. 

The fourth step is to dress the wound with an antimicrobial dressing. This is an important hygienical step that helps to prevent bacterial contamination that can lead to the reappearance of the biofilm. Depending on the amount of wound exudate and the condition of the wound bed, an appropriate bandage should be chosen. For profusely exuding wounds it is better to use highly absorbent dressings. While for weakly exuding wounds, vapor-permeable dressings are more suitable.

In conclusion, it is significant to be educated about wound hygiene in wound care in order to reduce the risks and complications that were mentioned above. What's even more important? Get tested as soon as you spot suspicious wounds. Contact Number One Lab Wound disease to get tested! Go to our website and book the test you need and get the result in the shortest time via email. Number One Lab does its best to bring you the best experience.

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