AIBU to be worried about this weeping cut?

[ThrowThoseCurtainsWide]

I cut the outside of the bony bit of my ankle last Tuesday. It's about an inch long, it did gape a little, but was clean so I put some skin closures on it and a dressing and figured it would be okay. The next morning the dressing felt soggy so I changed it. By the time I got home from work it was soggy again and the skin closures had come off. I left it uncovered at that point as the edges were pretty much together and I thought getting it to dry out might help.

Fast forward to Friday. I was at minor injuries for something unrelated and asked the nurse to have a look. She said it looked fine, but gave it a bit of wound glue and a new dressing to make sure it closed properly.

That stayed on until yesterday evening when I noticed the dressing was soggy, again. When I peeled it off the glue had completely come away and it's still weeping clear stuff.

It's pretty much closed together, not sore, not red and doesn't smell, so why is it still weeping so much? The top of my sock is as wet as it would be after a spin cycle in the washing machine, as is the bottom of my leggings on that side.

Why is it weeping so much? AIBU to worry about it? And what can I do to make it stop?!

Anyone?

You could ask your local pharmacist for advice.

Ooh good idea! I always forget about pharmacists. It would be good to know whether it's best to keep a dressing on it or not, or if there's anything I can do to make it stop being so soggy!

Clear is good. Not as good as not leaking, but good in terms of not infected - and the lack of swelling and such matches.

So what you need to do is not break the wound open, which clearly walking in your current clothing is doing.

Bang some more closures on it, and make sure there's no cloth touching it - I can't tell if you covered it with a sock or if you dripped onto the sock above, but keep it uncovered. Can you reduce ankle movement? Ideally completely for a couple of days but I know how hard it is to wangle two days on the sofa! One of those sports ankle supports would be good if you can get/modify one to be open at the site of the cut.

did you change the dressing from Friday til it was sopping sunday? You should really change at least once a day. if it is not red and angry, or warm definitely let it breathe for a bit. The wetness is your body doing its job as a healer. Give it breather, then dress it again when you need to wear socks/shoes. Pharmacist is a good port of call for this stuff, they can recommend a suitable ointment/dressing for your needs.

If it is more-or-less closed, not red , leave it open as much as possible. It will dry out and heal much faster than if you keep it covered.

I changed it Saturday I think, minor injuries said to leave it alone for a bit if I could.

Not moving it has been tricky, not sure that will be entirely practical either. I do t have any work-suitable shoes that will let it breathe unfortunately. Even in flip-flops it soaks into my trousers! Pharmacist tomorrow is a good idea I think. Are hydrocolloid plasters good for this sort of thing?

It will be fine. Just give it time. It's a thin skinned area so will take a bit of time to heal. If it's not painful, red and you don't have a fever, your body will heal it. Give it time.