Whether you’ve cut yourself while working on a carpentry project, burned your hand while cooking, or gotten hurt in any other way – having a wound always hurts, and it can be scary as well. Knowing what to do in order to ensure that it will heal as fast as possible and with no complications is key, but it can sometimes be hard to come up with things on the spot when you’re dealing with what happened. Because of that, it’s important to know the proper steps you need to take in advance in order to take care of the wound properly and prevent infection.

1. The items you’ll need

There are some basic items that you always need to have on hand for situations like this. Some of the most important wound care products include a wound cleanser, a topical antibiotic, stretched gauze, a film dressing (preferably a self-adhesive one), and medical tape. Some other items include a cool compress, bandages, gloves, and peroxide. It’s important that you keep all of these items in sterile conditions so that you can avoid introducing any contaminants into the wound. Ideally, you’ll have a first-aid kit containing these items with you at all times. It’s a good idea to have multiple ones, in fact, one you keep in your home and the other one to keep in your car so that you always have everything you could potentially need with you. Apart from that, it’s important that the kits always stay in their designated places so that you can easily find them even if you’re panicking a bit.

2. Cleaning the wound

The first thing you need to do is clean the wound. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap and water. Next, use a little bit of lukewarm water or saline solution to gently rinse off the area around it. However, make sure that you do it in a way that doesn’t let any water reach your wound – you don’t want anything unsanitary to drip into it. You may want to use cotton balls to gently remove any debris from the surrounding area in order to avoid any contaminants entering the wound. Next, you should use an antiseptic cleanser on the wound. Some of them may foam up as they come in contact with the wound – that’s because they’re reacting with the elements you’re cleaning the wound from. Rinse the wound with the cleaner two to three times, and then press clean gauze on it to dry it off as much as possible.

3. Applying topical antibiotic

After your wound is clean, you want to apply a topical antibiotic to it. You can use a powder or an antibiotic cream in order to help the skin heal and regenerate by protecting it from infections. Of course, always make sure the topical antibiotic you have is safe to use in this situation. Some are meant to be used on open wounds, while others work best with burns. You’ll need to follow the instructions on how to use it in order not to cause yourself harm, so make sure you read them carefully. If you happen to touch anything but the sterile products you’re using, put everything down, and wash your hands again. Remember to always dry them thoroughly because you don’t want to introduce any additional moisture.

4. Dressing the wound

The next step is stretching the gauze you have available over the wound, and then taping it down so that it stays in place. You don’t want any of the dressings to move around too much because they can cause additional pain or discomfort while also allowing the wound to get exposed. It should be tight enough so that it’s applying pressure to the wound, but not so much that you feel like you’ve cut off circulation to the injured body part. After that, use the bandage to wrap it up – this will serve to protect the gauze from any bacteria, dirt, or other contaminants that might pose problems if they get in contact with the wound. From there, use the tape to fix the bandage in place. If the bleeding doesn’t seem to be slowing down, call an ambulance or ask a friend to drive you to the hospital.

5. Going to the Doctor

No matter how big or small your wound is, you should always go to the doctor to have them take a look at it. Depending on how you got the wound, you might need to take some shots – if you’ve cut it on something metal, a tetanus shot is an absolute must. Apart from that, even if the wound doesn’t seem to be too wide, it might just be deep enough to need stitching in order to heal in a timely manner. You want a doctor to take a proper look in order to make sure that you’ve taken care of everything you needed in the best way possible, and not missed anything. They will also explain to you how often you should redress the wound, as well as which medications you should use in order to make sure the healing process goes without a hitch.

You should always act fast when you get hurt – that way, you’ll be able to go through the steps described before you deal with any issues like infection, delayed treatment, or scarring. By following the advice given in this article, it should be easy to take care of your wound properly, without making any unnecessary mistakes.

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