How to Tell if a Wound is Healing or Infected

Posted by julesalanna on February 25th, 2020

Small wounds, like scratches or small cuts, can be safely traded at home without medical assistance. If cared for properly, most of them will eventually heal on their own.

First of all, how to tell if a wound is healing? A wound that is haling properly will scab after bleeding and clotting. During the healing process, there might be some redness, some pain and swelling. There might even be some discharges, but the wound will heal properly as long as these signs do not last long. The final sign that a wound is healing as it should be is the growth of new tissue around the scabbing. Depending on the seriousness of the injury, the whole process can take a few weeks.

When Is a Wound Infected?

Wounds, especially deep ones, can become infected if not treated properly. Some signs that a wound is not healing properly and has become infected are:

 Increasing pain

 Redness around the wound, especially if it spreads

 The skin around the wound is warm

 Fever

 Drainage from the wound, like yellow or green pus

 Unpleasant odor

If a month has passed since the wound appeared and it is still showing these symptoms, it has most likely become infected and a medical professional should be consulted immediately. If left untreated, infections can become very dangerous and even deadly.

Oxygen therapy for wounds

In the last few years, the use of a hyperbaric chamber for wound healing, and, especially, the treatment of infected injuries, has become very popular.

How does it work? Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) involves breathing almost pure oxygen at intervals inside a hyperbaric chamber at greater-than-sea-level pressure.

HBOT helps tissues fight infections because it can defuse the toxins from some bacteria. Plus, it increases the concentration of oxygen in the wound. Also, the therapy helps white blood cells fight off invading organisms and eliminate them from the blood.

There are two kinds of hyperbaric chambers: the monoplace chamber and the multiplace chamber. As their names indicate, the former fits only one person, while the latter is more like a room and can fit more than one patient at a time.

The patient only needs to sit in the chamber and take deep breaths for the duration of each session. How many sessions are needed, if any, is to be determined by the medical professional in charge of the patient’s treatment.

HBOT has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a valid treatment option for up to 13 conditions. They have also warned patients against using the therapy as treatment for unapproved injuries.

The relationship between wound care and hyperbaric medicine seems to be getting closer all the time. Oxygen therapy is becoming a more and more popular form of treatment for wounds as people become more aware of its existence. Remember to always consult a medical professional to be sure that this is a valid treatment option for you.