Back wound care measures

As long as these three points are done to reduce wound traction and friction, standardize cleaning and dressing changes, and prevent infection, most superficial or postoperative wounds can heal smoothly, and problems such as scarring and infection are rare.

I have been in the general surgery clinic for almost two years, and the patients with back wounds I met are really diverse: there are students who fell off their bikes and lost a large piece of skin, office workers who had lipomas on their backs and had surgery to change dressings, and online ride-hailing drivers who had huge boils that ruptured due to sitting for a long time. Many people think that "it is invisible behind the back, so just deal with it a few times."

As for whether a wound should be "dried" or "covered and moisturized", there is actually no unified standard answer in the industry. It depends on the condition of the wound: the old view of traditional surgery is that the wound should be kept dry and scabbed to heal quickly. This logic is actually suitable for very superficial abrasions with almost no exudation. For example, if you rub the skin a little in the summer, there will be very little exudation. If you don't sweat in an air-conditioned room, it's really no problem and you won't feel stuffy if left to dry; but now the more mainstream wet healing theory believes that in a sterile and humid environment, granulation tissue grows faster, and there will be no problem of scabs pulling on new tissue to leave scars. This type of wound is more suitable for wounds with a lot of exudation and depth reaching the dermis, such as postoperative incisions and wounds after boil drainage. What particularly impressed me here is a fitness instructor who came here last month. He had a sebaceous cyst removed from his back. He felt that the dressing was stuffy and affected his training. He went to the gym with the wound open every day. As a result, he sweated on his back and rubbed against the equipment. The wound should have healed in a week, but after the infection, it took three weeks to change the medicine. It was not worth the loss.

After all, you can't see your back. It's really not recommended to change the dressing blindly by yourself. It's best to ask a family member to help: wash your hands first and gently peel off the old dressing on the wound. If the dressing sticks to the wound, don't pull it hard. Pour some saline and soak it for half a minute and you can easily peel it off. It won't hurt and take away the new granulation. I met an uncle before who tore off the sticky dressing and tore off a large piece of the newly grown epidermis. Not only was he sweating from the pain, but he also got an extra wound. Many people also ask whether hydrogen peroxide can be used for disinfection? This also depends on the situation: if it is a dirty wound that has just been dropped and is stained with mud and sand, you can flush it with hydrogen peroxide for the first time to bring out the dirt and necrotic tissue. Do not use it after that - hydrogen peroxide is very oxidizing and will kill the healthy growing granulations and slow down the healing speed. For daily dressing changes, just wipe the wound with iodophor from the center to the outside. Do not rub it back and forth, otherwise it will bring bacteria from the surrounding skin into the wound.

Many people change dressings in a very standard way, but the result is that they heal slowly, mostly because they don't pay attention to it in daily life: for example, try to choose loose-fitting pure cotton styles when wearing clothes, and don't wear tight-fitting chemical fiber fitness clothes and overalls. They rub the wound all day long, and it is not breathable. It is so stuffy that the wound is full of sweat. No matter how good the wound is, it is easy to cause problems. When sleeping, try to sleep on your side. If you are used to sleeping on your back, you can buy a pressure-reducing pad with a hollow center to free up the wound. Don't press it all night, otherwise the local blood circulation will be poor and the growth will naturally slow down. There are also many people asking whether there are any dietary restrictions? To be honest, there is no evidence-based medical evidence to prove that eating dark foods such as soy sauce and vinegar will leave scars on wounds. However, spicy foods and alcohol can dilate blood vessels and easily make wounds itchy and exudate. It is better to avoid touching them as much as possible.

If when changing the dressing, you find that the wound oozes yellow pus, the surrounding skin becomes increasingly red, feels hot to the touch, or even hurts so much that you can't sleep or has a low fever, then don't hesitate to go to the hospital and don't apply the so-called "ancestral ointments" or "recipes" at home. I have actually encountered someone applying toothpaste and pot ash to the wound before. It was just a small scrape, but eventually allergies and infection caused it to rot into the dermis, leaving a big scar.

In fact, back wound care is really not that fancy. The core is not to mess around, don’t be lazy, and pay more attention to the things you can’t see. If you are really unsure, go to the community hospital to find a nurse to change the medicine twice. It doesn’t cost a lot of money. It is much more reliable than searching Baidu at home and trying blindly.