Suggest Treatment To Heal Infected Skin After Removal Of Gauze Stuck With Blood?

Posted on Mon, 23 Dec 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 23 Dec 2013 Answered on

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Last week I suffered a laceration to my fingertip. The ER finally stopped the bleeding enough the stitch and bandage. The first day it continued to bleed but I kept it wrapped and dry. When I attempted to changing the dressing I found under the gauze a super hard layer attached to my wound. I thought it was some special seal. I finally saw a doc yesterday. It is actually gauze hardened by blood but really hard. He soaked it in warm soapy water. No luck. On top of that when it dried it tightened more and hurts so bad. I tried a 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and water mix. No luck. What do I do? Please help!!!! Brief Answer: Removal under local anaesthesia. Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for your query. I have gone through the image attached with the query. I can understand your worry. Try Savalon over it to soften the dry and hard gauze over stitched wound. If it will not removed by this, consult your doctor for removal under local anaesthesia. Under local anaesthesia , it is easier to remove this without a lot of pain. today: I finally got the gauze off or at least mostly. it looks pretty nasty. i fear it is infected. I can't get an appointment tip Thursday morning. Is there anything I should do to care for it in the mean time? I took pictures. Is there anyway I can send them to you or upload them?

Answered by Dr. Chobufo Ditah (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Please, send the picturse to me! Detailed Answer: Hi and thank you so much for trusting us with your health query. I am so sorry to hear about this apparently infected wound.I have gone through the discussion with the previous expert. Apparently, he/she is not available right now. For us to continue to provide you with timely services, I will like to take off from where you both ended. You state the wound looks infected after successfully getting the dressing off. This could be true. However, we would need to examine it to tell whether it is for real infected or not. Because you are not reporting any symptoms of systemic infection like fever, I don't strongly think you need antibiotics without further information at this time. In the absence of systemic infection, the treatment of wound is principally centered around wound care and antibiotics only considered as secondary options. This is mainly cleansing with antiseptic solutions like Iodine and preventing it from contamination. Some more aggressive procedures may be needed to remove death tissue(debridement) if need be. Also, please follow the link to upload pictures so that I can provide more personalized information if need be. Pains need to be managed with pain medications. If have have some already, please continue with them. I hope you find this helpful. I wish you well. Thank you so much for using our services and please do feel free to ask for clarifications or more information if need be. Dr. Ditah, MD.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Chobufo Ditah (1 hour later)

For some reason I am unable to upload my images

Answered by Dr. Chobufo Ditah (35 minutes later)

Brief Answer: contact customer service Detailed Answer: Please, can you kindly contact our customer service for help? You may also mail the pictures to them for upload. Thanks. Hope you get to upload them soon. Would be here to review them as soon as you get them uploaded. Dr. Ditah, MD.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Chobufo Ditah (14 minutes later)

hopefully they uploaded this time...

Answered by Dr. Chobufo Ditah (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Good...I got the pictures! Detailed Answer: Hi and thanks for following up with me. I have taken a close look at the pictures. You would definitely require wound care, antibiotics and pain medications. There is clearly a rim of redness developing around the wound which makes the need of antibiotics for infection control urgent. Antibiotics can only be gotten by prescription from your treating physician. Thursday is a long wait and if it means going to urgent care, I will suggest so. Please, consider talking to your doctor about your tetanus vaccination status. You may need a tetanus shot or a booster dose to get covered and protected. I hope you find this helpful. I wish you well. Please, feel free to keep the discussion going if need be. Thanks. Dr. Ditah, MD.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Chobufo Ditah (39 minutes later)

When I went to the ER they gave me a tetanus shot but I will still go back to the doc. I just can't go tonight. Hopefully it doesn't get worse. Thank you

Answered by Dr. Chobufo Ditah (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Thank you, too! Detailed Answer: Thanks for the updates. Please, do all within your reach to be consulted. ER or urgent care are all options you should consider. It is of prime importance. Hope you figure out a way sooner than later. Thanks. Dr. Ditah, MD.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar