Can anyone advise on wound care? (Picture)

[opalescent]

Hi all: I have a friction burn on the back of my leg (caused by an extendable dog lead- not mine!!).
It's 12 days old now, but has become very wet/ sloughy etc.
I have been using hydrocolloid plasters, but have had to change them three days running, as the oozing has loosened them at the bottom. This is it now- no pus or anything, but VERY wet still (12 days on??!) and very tender. The plasters also smell nasty.

Thoughts? I feel like it actually looks healthy, but why does it smell? And why won't it dry out?!!

I think you should get this checked at minor injuries. It can be cleaned and dressed appropriately and ABs can be given if needed, especially if there is a bad smell. Hope it heals soon without complication

No advice, just sympathy - looks painful in the extreme!

Hmm I also think it looks a bit minor injuries, have you tried leaving it to dry out in the air to see what happens first though?

Thanks all. @Zola1 I left it uncovered initially for a good week. It scabbed over completely, but this suddenly broke down over the course of a day or so, and it became super tender. Now that I've written that down, it becomes clear that I should get it checked.

Thanks again

Firstly I have no medical qualifications!!

If you don’t think it’s infected then I’d be letting it air as much as possible and just put a regular dressing on it if it needs to be protected.

The hydrocolloid plasters do keep wounds very wet in my opinion, so maybe see how you get on without them

It looks like it is starting to over-granulate a bit now, which means a hydrocolloid dressing won't be the best for it. It looks nice and clean / no signs of infection, so I'd give it a good rinse with warm rubbing water just in the shower, and then dress it with a foam dressing which absorbs exudate and is non-stick. You can get completely non stick foam pads and then use tape to stick it around the edges. As soon as it's not producing exudate any more start to leave it open to air.

You need to be seen by either your practice nurse or in minor injuries.

12 days in that should be dry and healing.

Retired health professional x

I don't like the redness around the wound, nor the smell. I think you need to get that properly looked at.

When I treat family members for friction burns or for deep grazes, I also use hydrocolloid dressings. Especially in areas that flex, where a scab would pull and crack. After a week I would expect to see a lot of healing from the edges inward. The centre would still be wet, but there would be no oozing. There would be no redness around the wound and there would definitely not be a bad smell. So what you are experiencing sounds very wrong.

If it smells you need it swabbing. Plus there’s some dried yellow discharge.

You have all been so helpful, I really appreciate it. It's very interesting that over granulation has been mentioned- I have googled and it looks very much like that.