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.

Did you go back to the GP OP?

I agree with not being on the shelf but the ability for a pharmacist to be able to sell it having seen the wound would be really helpful

hope yiu got oral antibiotics

What did the GP say? How's your son doing?

Looks like a staph infection to me.

I had a nasty one on my earlobe and it was so wet and drippy. Took oral and topical antibiotics to clear it. Hope it’s all sorted now

100% agree hydro colloid dressing

Hi OP, hope you went back and that they were able to help you at the doctors. Really hope your son is on the mend soon.

hi everyone, sorry for being awol - had to fit in a full days work after all the racing around and now have a migrane after all the stress.

Dr said it didn’t look that concerning in the scale of things and he’d seen some wounds go like this. Has given oral antibiotics and advised switching the fucidic acid for tea tree oil mixed in a bit of other oil. Tentitively looks as though it’s stopped spreading but the morning will be the real test. The good news is DS still very perky and totally fine in himself so I think it’s still very localised.

thanks for checking in 🙂

Aw that's good news. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery now. 😊

@GrazeConcern My DH had a similar thing in the summer. He’d gouged his shin on his bike pedal. Was covering it with a dressing but it was getting worse. Turned out he was allergic to the adhesive in the plaster. The GP gave him antibiotics and he kept it covered over and moist whilst it healed. Took a good 10-14 days till it was better. Your son’s young skin should be quicker! Hope your lad’s knee is right as rain soon.

Good news op and sorry about the migraine!! Hopefully it’s stopped spreading now?

The number of people - presumably, mothers - who said the picture from 07:45 on 15/11/2024 looks perfectly normal is nothing short of frightening. One of them apparently works in wound care

A wound that is visibly growing, with a red and swollen periphery, the middle getting deeper rather than closing always needs to be assessed. This wound looked mildly infected in the first picture and you could take your pick of the treatment options depending on how antibiotic-averse you are. In the following photos there isn't a shadow of doubt that this is not a normally healing wound and anyone who has posted here saying that it is needs to educate herself before they are painfully educated by a RL tragedy.

Thanks @CoteDAzur I accept it’s hard to tell from a photo, but I do think people are quick to dismiss and also skim read OPs - this started out as the most inconsequential graze. To show other posters what can happen I’ve attached yesterday’s photo

That has really enlarged. I’ve no idea what it can be.
Has any doctor suggested skin swabs? Or calling in a dermatologist?

Ooohh the latest picture does look very sore, is it improving now?

I think people continue to comment on the first picture long after updates.

I've got a lovely scar on my arm from just a graze.. it wasn't as bad as that, but was infected.

Are the antibiotics having any effect? When I had mine (as I said a young puppy ran up to be and was so excited her tooth caught my leg and took the top layer of skin off so small and minor) but the bacteria from her saliva

it took two lots of heavy strength antibiotics to shift (taken at the same time) and then they were wkrrried it wouldn’t - skin and wound infections can be tricky - I then had a nurse appt to check it had healed

another appt and maybe see if you can book ina nurse - when DS has his really bad knee he had a lot of appts to check it

I’d say it’s halted now, but not improved yet, it took ds 2 days to learn how to swallow a tablet so he’s actually only had 3 doses of flucoxicillin so far. If it’s still looking ropey tomorrow I will go back to gp and ask for swab etc.

Just want to repeat my previous comment, you knew it wasn't right, trusted your own judgement and you took the right action with each concern. Imagine if you'd stuck a plaster over it for 24 hours and put it out your head, now this. Sounds like it's responding to treatment now and all will be well.

You're a great mum and I hope your son is all better soon. 💐

That sounds like a plan - as I said with DS knee once the infection was cleared by the antibiotics it didn’t always heal like I would expect (it was a huge wound to begin with) so seeing the nurses really helped as they cleaned it and dressed it after the stitches came out and they recognised what was normal healing and what needed to go for it to heal - it could be the wound now needs come cleaning by a professional!

Update we’ve let it dry out, it’s still red on the periphery but seems to have stopped blistering and growing - 36 hours of abx so far. I’m not sure that all the ‘scabbed area’ is real scab though, and have read that if it’s slough it might need removing to aid healing. Any thoughts anyone (will obviously continue to get medical advice if needed).

Leave it another day whilst taking the abx, very clean flannel with hot salt water and place oner it to soak it without actually soaking it as you want it to stay dry not oozy. Too much moisture will harm the delicate fresh skin that may still be fighting the nasties.
Then gently wipe off the skanky surface with the dry part of the VERY CLEAN cloth/flannel. Lick of salon and leave to the air.

Other than that I would leave alone and let the antibiotics do their thing. Soak in the bath in a couple of days when it's better and should be fine soon.

If anything else is needed go straight back to the Drs, OP.

Your poor lad, hope he's OK. Brave little fella he is. You too, OP.

@GrazeConcern why didn't they give him liquid antibiotics! At least he's learned a new skill 😬

@EclipseoftheHeart1 apparently the liquid tastes so bad it’s almost useless. DS has quite sensitive tastebuds anyway so we decided to give the capsules a go. Agree it’s quite good to get that skill unlocked!

Good grief! Glad that it is healing now, it looks rank but obviously granulating and slowly healing over. At this point I wouldn't poke at it and try to remove scab or anything with out medical oversight, you might make it worse.
And I agree with the PP, the amount of people including self proclaimed medical staff who dismissed it before is worrying.
Rule of thumb- the more definite the responses then the more likely they are to be confidently wrong!

It's generally easier to swallow pills with something other than just water. Juice, milk, yoghurt, sparkling water or another fizzy drink tends to help carry it down better. (I still struggle sometimes as an adult.)

Glad he's improving, I was quite surprised by how large the wound became!

Ouch. Just shows our mummy instincts about something are usually right! Hope it heals well now.