Dressing stuck on open flesh wound. Leave it or take off?

[Return2thebasic]

Don't even remember when was last time I had to treat wound that's so bad. So no recollection about how to deal with the basic. 🙈

So it was put on yesterday morning on a fairly bad open flesh wound. All felt alright until this afternoon (I was able to walk fairly fast this morning without pain), now it started hurt/being pulled and all layers of the dressing seems to have pressed together and stuck.

What shall I do? Use saline water to soak and remove before replacing with a new one or just leave it be until tomorrow?

Pic please then advice

Try an iodene dressing depending on the injury? Obviously were just a bunch of people on the internet. Our version of a bad graze is probably different.

Run a warm bath and put a few drops of tea tree oil in, then sit in it until the dressing literally floats off.

Thanks, all! I think I will pop in pharmacy to try first and then walk-in.

@ringoutsolsticebells 😅 don't intend to put gross graphic details up here to cause uneasy feeling. But thank you for being supportive!

OP if you need to clean this or anything else in future, salt water will do. Book up the kettle, use the boiled water to sterilise a cup (just pour it over), dissolve some salt in the water, wait for it to cool enough not to scald you, use cotton wool to squeeze salt water over the wound to flush out debris if it's too painful to touch. If you touch the wound with the cotton wool you place that bit straight into the bin and get a fresh bit, don't put the used cotton wool back into the sterile salt water or you'll contaminate it. Dressing should be changed every 12hrs or more often if it's obviously gunky.

*boil up the kettle, that should say

This is excellent advice. People forget how effective salt water can be.

Salt water is really useful.

My dad was a nurse. His wound care protocol, for things that don’t need stitches, is:

wash well with warm water and soap. Dry with gauze compress. Then cover with another clean compress and tape it on. Change at least once every 12/24 hours (as long as it doesn’t look infected). If the gauze has stuck to it, soak it off in warm salt water. Clean again and redress.

no tcp / dettol, no germolene / savlon cream.

we keep a good supply of gauze compresses and tape. Not such a fan of cotton wool as it tends to stick to bloody wounds.

you can get big hydro (something) dressings at the pharmacy. they are usually behind the counter and you have to ask for them.
they are basically blister plasters in a bigger size and are great for scrspes and scratches.

but if you have a deep wound, getting it proffessionally treated is better.

Hydrocolloid dressings are good for open wounds

@Return2thebasic
Needed a pic so I could advise properly. Am a Practice Nurse, see stuff like this all the time. No one can advise you appropriately if they can't see the wound.

Update: Didn't bother to chance with the Pharmacy, so went straight to the walk-in centre. With 20 minutes drive and 1.5hr waiting, I considered myself lucky, as the receptionist told me it's between 2.5 - 3 hrs waiting time.

The nurse was really lovely. She asked all the details about the fall and examined carefully. Cleaned up again (no infection, thank goodness) and re-dressed it properly. Gave me two spare outer dressings and booked another appointment for me in case I struggle to remove it on the 5th day. She even gave me a tetenus vaccine just in case! Absolutely a fantastic lady
Who made me feel I was well taken care of.

Now, I need to rest my leg high up in the air to let the healing process going.

@DitzyDaffodils , thanks for the tips. It makes good sense to use salt water. I will bear that in mind for future reference.

And thanks to all the lovely Mumsnetters! 💐

Amazing. The walk in clinics are really good. Glad you are patched up properly.

When my skin graft wound grew into the bandage in between appointments, the nurse had to rip it off. I nearly broke my Dh’s hand. After that, I changed my own dressings and used paraffin ones. They can’t stick unless left on for days and days. I used micropore tape to stick it and a tubular bandage to cover the whole leg-the whole outside of my thigh was used for the graft that covered my wound that went all down my calf. I’m quite good with dressings!