Smelly under plaster cast. Normal?

[HappyHolidays75]

Hi
DD has had a plaster cast on her arm for 3 weeks following a break and surgery to insert a plate. Due to come off in 10 days.
She says it's really itchy for the last couple of days. It smells in there too.
Peering carefully in, it looks like there has been further bleeding/oozing (she had surgery but after initial 2 weeks it looked dried) and that maybe the dried blood on the lining is causing the scratching.
Any thoughts on whether it could / should be removed early / replaced?
Not sure whether to ignore, go to walk in centre or phone for earlier consultant appointment (which would have to wait until monday).
Thanks!

Itchy and smelly is normal to a degree, because you can’t wash under the cast and the build up of dead skin and grot under there. However, if you are concerned that there are wounds and bleeding under the cast, I’d get it checked. You can have the cast removed, the skin checked and a new cast put on. That’s fairly run of the mill.

When my DD has a cast on the hospital staff who put it on said to come back to them if it got wet, started to smell etc. I definitely wouldn’t leave it. I don’t think it sounds normal.

Please encourage her not to poke things down there to scratch the itch. I’d phone the trauma/fracture clinic on Monday morning to ask for advice.

Thank you! I'll go for phoning on Monday. She has confessed to trying to scratch it. She's fine in herself, no temperature or anything.

When I had surgery on mine, I had to go back because the wound was oozing. They told me that it can be the result of "knocking". This is when the swelling goes down and the arm starts to knock against the loose cast. Just needed a new cast...in a new colour of course. Hope things get sorted for your DD.

@CrepuscularCritter Thanks! That sounds like it might be the case. Then the dried 'ooze' is hard and scratchy.

If you were given a letter from the fracture clinic, it should have a contact number. I rang, and they told me to come in and see one of the plaster techs. It got sorted that day with just the replacement cast. Hope your DD isn't too itchy in the meantime.

Oh, and be aware that she might now set off the airport security scanners... O'Hare proved to be a bit of a surprise when I next flew.