Help!!! Can I leave a wet gauze stuck on the wound?

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I grazed the surface layer of my knee badly two days ago. The tape that I got from Boots was useless (barely sticky) and I ended up tied a few long stripes around my leg to keep the multiple small ones in place over the gauze. So I thought I'd better redo the whole thing when I finally decided to take a shower.

I thought a shower is sufficient to wet the gauze and remove it relatively easily. But no! It's stuck badly. I've spent nearly one hour trying to loosen it with wet towel and antiseptic spray to remove it without pulling too much.

But the speed of progress would provide keep me up for another one hour or two! I'm sleepy and can't put my pyjamas trousers on! Cold and tired!

Can I just leave the gauze with the wound? I really don't know what to do now!😭

Yes, you can leave it an go to bed. Tackle it in the morning when you have more time.

And it's the second time in 3 months I hurt my knee! Really fed up!😫

Thanks! Do I have to leave it in the open air when I go to sleep? Can't cover it up with more gauze surely?

You need to thoroughly clean it in the morning, otherwise you'll end up with a nasty infection.

Open to the air is better than letting it sweat undera gauze. Although the bedding/PJ's may rub it.

I don’t think a damp towel and spray will do much. It’ll probably come loose if you can sit in a warm to hot bath for half an hour. When the gauze comes off, dab the knee dry with a clean towel, put some antiseptic on it and leave it open to the air for as long as you can. As it heals check there’s no discharge from under the scab.

I'm progressing with the anticeptic spray. Pulling upwards and spray. Each spray loosens a tiny bit, sometimes a bit more. But about 1/3 is off. I think maybe another 40 minutes! But God, it really hurts, the raw skin! I need painkillers!

Gauze is designed to be used wet to clean wounds, not to be used as a dressing. Get some proper melonin dressings to keep in the cupboard- they’re really cheap! Or get gauze coated in paraffin if you want to use it as a dressing but they can dry out if left on too long. I’d also soak it off in a bath, the antiseptic will cause further irritation

Didn't know gauze is not meant for being used as dressing. DH bought a pack of melonin dressing when I grazed my knee badly last time. But it was adhesive and I felt it was pulling all over the place. I ended up going to a walk-in centre and had it removed and properly done. Left it until the skin healed.

I think maybe if I've done it properly this round and leave it for a week without touching, maybe it would just come off with the scabs?

I haven't had wound like this since after the first 10 years of my life. Feeling really stupid to fall on all fours twice in 3 months ending up doing this!

It’s not actually advised these days to let wounds dry out and leave them ‘open to the air’. They should be cleaned and covered with an appropriate dressing.

I read moisture helps the wound heal quickly. But otherwise, what's the consequence to leave it dry in the open air. Is it because the dryness might lead to wound pro to tears?

It came off! A pain-free wound spray (Elastoplast) + 1 hour 30 minutes!

Now what shall I do with the wound?!

I think we need to see a picture. I've never heard anyone make such a fuss over a grazed knee before, so it must be bad.

If you let it ‘dry out’ the hard scab impairs wound healing as it’s more difficult for the new skin cells to migrate. The problem with the gauze is that it’s a foreign body and thus infection risk, it has probably knit into the newly forming skin rather than just the scab. If you found the adhesive melonin uncomfy it was possibly too small a size. You can also buy sheets of it and secure with a stretch bandage or a film dressing go over the top. Film dressing is really thin so very stretchy and usually can’t really feel
it.

Do You have any melonin dressings left? If yes I’d put one on and change it tomorrow if you want to use something different. If not I think you’ll have to try and sleep with an odd blanket arrangement so nothing is touching your knee tonight. If you’ve just removed the gauze and the wound is raw and weepy it’s likely to stick to anything in contact with it!

@BungleandGeorge , thank you! What you said makes very good sense.

In the end, I decided better to cover it up properly. Luckily, I managed to find the 3M tranpore tape (again, didn't like it last time) DH bought. Along with the "low-adhesive" melanin dressing, I did it properly this round. However, the dressing does pull the raw skin underneath (about 5cm x 1cm). So I took some painkillers to keep the pain in bay over night. Hope don't have to remove it again until it more or less heals.

Thank you and to everyone else too. I'm off to bed now...

Spray on plaster you just spray onto the cleaned wound, scream like buggary as it stings so much and then it washes off.

I'm allergic to tape/plaster adhesive so use it.