How to clean off a cut and prevent infection?

Garage Boy, a lot of the advice given here sounds a bit extreme for your injury, or at least for my mental image of your injury garnered from your description.

I have heard that hydrogen peroxide kills the cells around the would and will not promote fast healing - I do not know if this is true, but soap and water seems to work fine for me. Use an antibacterial cream if you are worried, but unless the wound is oozing blood do not use a bandage - simply keep it clean and dry. Your household/school enviroment is probably clean enough that infection is not a major problem.

I hurt my thumb a couple of weeks ago - I sliced off a large chunk of tissue and nail off the tip. After the wound stopped bleeding, it healed in a few days with no scarring. This method works best for minor injuries in my experience, but, as they say, different stroke for different folks.

EDIT: I have never used peroxide myself, so I do not know if it actually is painful. Alcohol definately impedes the healing process, however.
 
First aid is a subject that comes up frequently over in the balisong section (I wonder why? :p ).

Since Hydrogen Peroxide came up so frequently here, I just wanted to ask if there's anyone out there who knows if it actually helps or not. I was researching the first aid thing a bit for a page on one of my sites and I stumbled across some debate on this. I use it all the time to clean wounds and while it has never hurt, I can't say that it definitely helped either. I'll continue to use it, but I was just curious.

I also like Liquid Bandage though it's a little on the expensive side.

edited to add: Just read Will P.'s post. I read that the H202 bubbling is the result of contacting the exposed cells (and not germs), but never heard about it killing the cells.
 
I hear very often that anything that causes pain is killling cells... Alcohol, Iodine, Mecurochrome and Peroxide. The best wash is plasma or sterile saline solution. There's also this stuff called shur-cleanse that also has a hemostatic additive. triple antibiotic ointment after that to block out airborne bacteria.
 
Wounds should be irrigated with water or a saline solution. Regular tap water is fine to use, but you need to make sure that there is enough water pressure to adequately clean the wound out. Tests have indicated that water or saline solution works equally well. Tap water is generally preferred because of its availability. It's more a factor of flushing out the wound for a sufficient amout of time at a high enough pressure.

You should not irrigate a wound with betadine or rubbing alcohol; they will kill the bacteria but will also kill cells. Hydrogen peroxide should also not be used because it negatively effects capillary blood flow and extends healing time. If a wound is particularly deep, go see a doctor.

Neosporin and a faucet is all you really need.
 
Tap water? Not for me. I have seen micrscopically all sorts of little critters swimming around in it. No need to introduce these into the wound. Good for flushing when you have nothing else but not my first choice.

If Hydrogen peroxide kills cells [ and I'm not saying it does or doesn't ], it has no adverse affect in the wound healing. If it did I wouldn't have any fingers left after 35 years of using it. ;) It stings some initially, I let it fizz until it stops and then cover with bandage or bandaid. Leaving it like that for 3 days the wound is usually good to go for me. On several severe cuts I've reapplied the neosporin and recovered it if it looked like it needed it.

Brownie
 
wolfmann601 said:
How serious is Osteomyelitis and how is it treated
Click to expand...

Infection of bone or bone marrow. Very bad - can lead to death if not treated. Treated with IV antibiotics for possibly several weeks. Antibiotic of choice depends on strain of bacteria causing infection.
 
brownie0486 said:
Tap water? Not for me. I have seen micrscopically all sorts of little critters swimming around in it.
If Hydrogen peroxide kills cells [ and I'm not saying it does or doesn't ], it has no adverse affect in the wound healing.
Click to expand...

Any germs in city water (treated with chlorine) may show up under a microscope but they will be dead. Can't speak for untreated well water but it's not likely to be an issue.

Hydrogen peroxide makes a very good initial rinse. The problem arrises if it is used repeatedly during the healing process. It *may* interfere with developing tissues.
 
Hi..

Cauterize the wound...
Heat up a butterknife on your stove until it's reddish hot, then apply it to the wound.... Rub it back and forth several times in a rocking motion...

LOL Just kidding..

I like the medicated Scooby Doo bandaids myself...


ttyle

Eric...
 
I'm not trusting the city/town clorination system to remove or kill all unwanted little critters. Too many cases in the papers all over the country of Giardia problems and other contaminants where the state or cities/towns are telling you to boil the water before use due to contaminants.

Take a look under a microscope of a drop of tap water anywhere in the country [ USA ]. Too many little microbes moving around to want to use tap water to "clean" the wound for me.

Well water would be worse as noted. As a last resort perhaps, but not my first choice. Water has mercury, arsenic, etc in various levels the EPA deems no danger, well, do I them trust them to keep me safe? NO, I don't.

Some places in the country, the water isn't even drinkable and people resort to bottled water in lieu of tap water. There's got to be a reason for that to my thinking. If I won't drink the water, I don't want to introduce it to an open wound unless I have to.

Brownie
 
In an EPA test, 30% of bottled water failed to meet the standards set for tap water. Many (most?) types of bottled water are, in fact, tap water. If you want to buy something for wound cleaning, buy distilled.

If you can hunt down the episode of Penn and Teller's Bullsh*t where they take on bottled water, do so... it's a hoot.
 
Wash area with soap(preferably anti-bacterial soap) and water. Dry. Apply some Neosporin, then a band-aid. If the cut is to the underside of your fingers, make sure you can still move the fingers because a tendon might be nicked or cut. Of course, if the cut appears deep, time to head to the ER for some stitches....and a 3+ hour wait. :mad:
 
Howdy all,

Just thought I'd add my two cents here. Rinse it well and wash it with water and soap or use normal saline. Do not use alcohol, peroxide, betadine or any of the likes, unless it was a very dirty cut. All the above impede healing and are not neccesary. Likewise unless it is a deep cut you do not need any antibiotic ointment. Just keep it clean and dry with a bandaid over it. Wounds like you described generally heal faster if left open to air and ointment prevents this.

Until Next time......

MNU
 
Dear all,

If its not deep enough to require some real help, like maybe stitches or at least butterfly clips, I always put a bit of aloe vera on it. Its great for healing any kind of wound where the skin is broken. It dries up the wound quickly and promotes rapid healing. You use the gooey bit inside the plant, but it can stain clothing or sheets if you're not careful. I even used to use it when I had a period of getting some nasty little ulcers inside my nose. Ouch they hurt!! Rub a little aloe vera goo inside the nose, and they dried up real quick.

Regards, Acolyte.

PS No one seemed to know of the origin of my forum name. It comes from a book called The Ringworld Throne, and Acolyte was a young Kzin who was seeking wisdom.
 
Acolyte, welcome to Bladeforums, and thanks for the reference! I always enjoyed the Ringworld stories and the Kzin, also. I'm glad to learn your name didn't come from James Blish's Acolyte Stars, from his Cities in Flight books. :D
 
before the advent/popularization of "liquid bandage," i put a drop or krazy glue or clear nail polish on minor cuts. stops the bleeding, prevents additional splitting, and as far as i can reason, is safe.

using adhesives can really help on places where bandages are inaccessible. knuckles, your palm, between fingers, etc. just a thought.
 
My $0.02 . . .

For small cuts Liquid Bandage works really good because it completely waterproofs the cut. This really makes a difference on hand cuts because repeated hand washing/rinsing slows the healing of open wounds.

For larger lacerations, I disinfect with Betadine and use Campho-Phenique. C-P has the same triple antibiotics in the same concentrations as Neosporin but also has lidocaine to numb pain. Betadine stings less than hydrogen peroxide and leaves a film residue that keeps on disinfecting. Real Betadine is really expensive, so I use the generic brand.

The last time I got a deep cut on my thumb, I went to a clinic and they rinsed it out with saline, had me soak my thumb in soapy water for half an hour, then taped it with Steri-strips. I thought I needed stitches for sure, but the Steri-strips held the edges closed for almost a week before they started peeling off. I went back for another application, and that was enough.

For deep wounds that need rinsing, try a solution of Betadine watered down 10:1 in an irrigation syringe. Saline works, too, but don't use hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, or full-strength Betadine. Imagine stepping on a nail smeared with feces. Use tap water if that's all you have, but I'd want saline at the least. I think your doctor would agree.

If you get a deep cut or puncture wound and have ANY doubts as to infection, tendon/nerve/ligament damage, etc. go see a doctor ASAP. Don't mess around. It's worth the trouble and embarassment to save yourself from potential disability, infection, or tetanus.
 
Thanks. What are good brands of bandages? I used New Graham's washburn labs. Also, who makes the butterflies?
I need to get some aloe and vitamin E
 
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