Regardless of the level of damage to the various skin layers, each wound, acute or chronic, requires appropriate care and management. In effect, the slightest breakage in the skin exposes the human body to bacterial contamination and therefore to a risk of infection.
How to manage a wound?
- Clean the wound with water, which should preferably be warm. Remove any foreign bodies at the surface or even in the wound (gravel, soil, pieces of glass, metal splinters etc.)
- If the tissue is particularly red around the edges of an acute wound; if there is a sensation of heat (sign of local inflammation) or it is yellow/green (sign of the presence of pus); if the wound is weeping considerably; if the wound gives off an unpleasant smell; or if fever is also present, these could be signs of a local infection which should be treated by a healthcare professional.
- You should see your doctor if you have a chronic wound of any type, which occurs or persists.