It is normal for children to fall during childhood while playing or learning new skills. Yes, one gets used to always carry band-aids in the bag. However, it is not always enough to wash the wound with water and apply a plaster. What happens if the wound becomes infected? how should we heal an infected wound?
One of the dangers of children cutting or burning themselves is that the wound may become infected. That is why it is important to heal the wound properly to eliminate those harmful or risky elements with which the wound may have come into contact. And doing it is very simple, you just have to follow a few steps.
How do we know if a wound is infected?
There are wounds in which there is a increased chance of infection. Deep wounds or those that have occurred in a dirty and contaminated environment, as well as those resulting from an animal bite are generally more at risk of infection.
But not everything depends on how the injury is produced or how it is, if the child has a weakened immune systemIf you suffer from circulatory problems or malnutrition, the chances of the wound becoming infected will also increase, since you will have fewer tools to fight the infection.
That being said, how can we know if a wound is infected? In what signs we must look for to conclude that it is so? Redness or swelling in the area are great indicators that there is an infection, but they are not the only ones. Infected wounds present...
- Una high temperature, higher than 37 degrees and touching them feels hot.
- Swelling at the edges usually accompanied by redness.
- Pain in the area of the wound. If you feel pain during cures, it is very likely that there is an infection.
- stinging sensation Tingling and stinging in the wound area.
- secretions, usually yellowish in color.
Another sign that the wound is infected is that it does not heal. If over time the wound not only does not improve but also gets worse, it will indicate a possible infection. In the most serious cases, if it is not treated in time, it can even appear fever and malaise.
How to heal an infected wound
When a child cuts himself shallow cut that bleeds little the ideal is to clean it and treat it to prevent infections. It is the way to anticipate and we only need to follow a series of simple steps to do it well:
- Clean our hands. To treat a wound, the first thing we must do is wash our hands with warm water and a neutral and antimicrobial soap to avoid transferring more bacteria to the infected area.
- Wash the wound. The next step will be to wash the wound with antiseptic soap and water to remove dirt. You can do it using a gauze that, unlike cotton, does not leave traces of fibers.
- Dry the wound. Ideally, dry the wound with gauze or a clean cloth.
- Apply an antiseptic. Then it will be enough to apply an antiseptic such as chlorhexidine and let it dry.
- cover with dressings or gauze. Once dry we will cover the wound to protect it.
- Check the wound. Once healed and covered, it will be necessary to check the wound daily until it begins to heal.
What happens when we do not realize that the child has a wound and it becomes infected? Or when we clean the wound and still after a few days signs appear that it is infected? If you notice that the days go by and the wound appears red, is hot and swollen, the ideal is go to the doctor.
The doctor is the one who can assess the degree of infection and establish the appropriate treatment to remove it. Topical or oral antibiotics, analgesics or anti-inflammatories if there is pain, or tetanus prophylaxis.
And how do we treat the wound until the doctor attends us? In these cases, it is advisable to continue cleaning the wound, now applying some drugstore antibiotic ointment, and keeping it covered. If you don't end the infection, at least it doesn't get worse.