What can I put on skin - bad fall (gross pic alert)

[Killermanjaro]

My ds had a bad fall and his skin looks really red. Its been a day now and is scabbing / drying. What can I put on it to help heal / protect it?
I have a balm with lots of oils that I use if my skin becom s sensitive and it's great for that. Can I use this?

Pic

I would leave that to heal. .

However if you want to cover it boots (and provably orher chemosts now sell plasters that speed up healing)

Just leave it well alone to heal over. I wouldn't use anything until the scabs are off and then only some gentle moisturiser if needed.

Forgot to mention that it's a bit moist as well like it's kind of emitting a bit of fluid but only just this has reduced significantly this morning. So that's why I wasn't keen on putting a plaster as didn't want it to stick

How did he do that? What happened?
Not just being nosy, depending on how he did it, you need different things.

Oh bless him, looks sore! I too would leave that uncovered for now, will probably heal quicker than covering with a layer of anything. Poor lad, what did he do?

He fell side on a huge stone boulder so grazed his cheek on it.

I found Vaseline Aloe Vera excellent when I fell and badly grazed my lip and chin. The Vaseline kept the skin supple and stopped the cycle of scabbing and cracking open on a mobile part of face.

I would leave it uncovered as much as possible and not use anything on it. It may need a light dressing at bedtime if he lies on his side just to protect it, but remove during the day.

Savlon?

So did you put this vaseline on when the wound was fresh and not scabbed?

Ouch.

I'd leave it alone and not put anything on

I have a large skin wound and the hospital have told me to keep it moist with Vaseline once I've cleaned it. Bit I would wait until its stopped weeping first.

You may find it's fine as is tbh.

Ouch

Leave it alone. Our bodies are fantastic at healing this sort of thing by themselves.

I wouldn’t put Vaseline or oils, it’s hot and sunny out there.
Sudocrem is good for grazes.

The only thing I'd put on at this stage is Savlon or Germolene or similar antibacterial cream. Anything else would be an infection risk, especially if it's already open. But tbh if it's weeping he should probably see a doctor. Do you have minor injuries nearby?

I'd go to a minor injuries unit if you have one locally.
My husband had a similar wound after a fall, put sudocrem on it initially and then got told off by a nurse for not going in sooner when it got infected! It's scarred quite badly too, so you don't want that on your son's cheek.

At this stage I would say sudocrem- good on weepy things IMO and antiseptic. Once it's scabbed over I would probably just leave it and let it heal on its own.

Bathe it with tepid salt water using a cotton wool pad. It will clean it at the same time as drying it out. It will also take the sting out. Repeat on a daily basis until it stops weeping.

Ooo! I know the definite answer to this one! Make sure clean, pat dry, then use a hydrocolloid dressing. You can get them in boots. Speeds up healing, reduces scarring, keeps it clean. Only needs to be changed every 3 days.
My son recently had a weeping graze like this and it healed amazingly well.
If your son will keep it on his face that is.
Best x.

You need a hydrocoloid dressing for that.

i have only seen the hydrocolloid suggestion now! it's been a couple of days now and isnt leaky anymore. its started scabbing over - the inner most bit which is the worst bit is still a bit raw in places. ive been putting on vaseline but he hates it.

As you can see, it heals v quickly left to it's own devices.

All the redness is his body expanding the capillaries around it to bring all the healing chemicals as fast as possible. Which is pretty amazing.