Does this wound look infected? Do I need to seek help tonight?

[GrazeConcern]

DS grazed his knee in the swimming pool on Friday, he said it felt sore so we’ve been putting germoline on it and he says it hurts much less now. However I’ve just taken a look at it and feel a bit horrified. Any mn wisdom? I will obviously seek nhs advice too but sometimes it’s useful to know what others think!

The scab in the middle is hard but it’s like the skin around is peeling off in a bigger area each day and weeping.

Looks like it's healing. Have you got anything to protect it from being knocked?

Looks alright to me. Needs some air to ot to scab over.

No it looks fine. It's healing. Stick a plaster on it if it's tender.

I think it looks like it's heading the right way. If worried you could try drawing round it with a pen, then you can check in the morning to see if it's expanded.

Hmmm. If the red area is spreading then may need Antibiotics.

That’s just a normal scab being formed …
it looks a bit hazy at first then forms a hard crust

It looks Infected. The redness around the edge is enough to see that. Is it very warm to touch?
Get some silver gauze from the chemist, I forget what it's called, sorry. Google knows. That will treat the infection as it looks near the bone and that's a whole other thing if it gets too deep. Really great stuff.
If it doesn't improve see a nurse at your GP to be safe OP. I know it's a hassle but my foot looked like that from a small burn and then eventually swelled up and was quite scary.

Seriously , people go their GPS with scabs and grazes 😳

And we wonder why we can’t get a GP appointment and wonder why receptionists have to triage appointments…

Sounds a bit odd, but try to measure the red patch and then you can check to see if the redness is growing. If it does get bigger then definitely take him to be looked at.

Just saw it's a child, I'd get a nurse apt. They will take a quick look and dress it correctly so you know what to do to help it heal. Maybe I fuss but it's kids and these things can turn nasty. Better to put your mind at rest.

Send the pic to the surgery on an online form rather than us trying to advise you. We Mumsnetters seem to differ in opinion fairly widely. I'd just ask the professionals.

Exactly.
When I was a kid, in the dark ages, my knees and elbows constantly looked like that.

If a wound on a child becomes infected they need antibiotics or if can get worse and lead to sepsis, GPs have prescribe antibiotics to children. It's not rocket science.

It’s not infected
it looks like a million skint knees I had as a child and I can’t believe someone would think otherwise
it will scab over and dry out tomorrow

Please ignore snapandfart24 comment - absolute catastrophising. It looks to be healing, as PP has said draw a circle around the edge of the redness, if it spreads then yes see someone. If it swells, is hot to touch, discharges pus or you LO feels unwell, has a temperature or are not themselves then yes see someone.
Otherwise stick a plaster on it and it will heal.

I dont like the sound of that, if the wound is getting bigger daily its infected with something nasty. Id get some antibiotic (fusidic acid) cream on it asap and take him to Dr. If he gets a fever then A&E fast.

FFS put some Savlon and a plaster on it. I'm 64 and I've still got scars on my knees from grazes that looked 10 times worse than that.

Thanks everyone, he’s ok in himself and it’s not noticing hot to touch. I wouldn’t normally even think of gp for a graze but it’s this started 5 days ago as a patch of skin taken off with a few deeper lines on it but was much smaller. I’ve re-dressed it for tonight and taken a picture with something by it for scale.

Lol at the Gp time wasting comments, DS is 9.5 and if we do need it looking at tomorrow (agree nurse would be fine) it would only be his 3rd visit in his whole life.

Looks like normal scabbing over to me. You could get an inadine type dressing in the morning from the chemist that will help it heal faster and prevent infection. As long as it’s not hot to touch or increased pain or oozing then should heal up soon. Obviously go to the gp if you’re worried

Looks like it's healing. A scab is a good sign.
Draw a pen like mark around the redness and if it gets larger in size then let nurse/gp/pharmacist know tomorrow.
If at any point you see a red line moving up the arm then go to A and E ...it means the infection is spreading to the body.

All in all it looks like a healthy scab!!!

@RubyRooRed I agree it's most likely not infected and no action needs to be taken. The poster you were bitching at said 'if it doesn't improve' I.e if it's clearly infected to see a GP, which is a totally appropriate action.

It looks infected. One of Germolene's ingredients is a local anesthetic, so your DS saying it hurts less doesn't necessarily mean it's not infected.

Get a proper antibiotic cream from the pharmacy. Use it after washing with soap & patting dry with sterile gauze. Loosely cover to keep the cream on.

If the wound is getting bigger it’s a bit difficult to say without seeing what the original wound looked like. If it’s not hot to the touch, he’s fine in himself and the red area round the outside isn’t growing I’d say that’s fine.

I had an infected mosquito bite recently and I was worried about it looked really bad and was painful - I called 111 and they referred me to a local pharmacy and the pharmacist cleaned it and dressed it for me and I ended up with antibiotics!!

so I’d call 111 if your worried op!

@RafaistheKingofClay agree I wish I had a photo of the original now, but it was so inconsequential - ds also did it on Friday but didn’t say it hurt until Sunday which also makes me a little more suspicious.