Don't Ignore These Signs That Your Wound Needs Medical Attention
You have a wound, and you’re not sure if it’s serious enough to seek medical attention. When faced with this situation, you might look for signs that will help you figure out if the wound requires urgent medical care or if it can be treated at home.
Either way, knowing the signs of severe wounds—as well as the ones of minor wounds—will help you determine the best way to handle your injury based on its seriousness level. That’s why we’ve created this list of signs that you need to seek medical attention for a wound.
6 Signs That You Need to Seek Medical Attention for a Wound
1. A wound is bleeding heavily
If you have been in an accident or received an injury and are bleeding profusely, then you will want to get it under control as soon as possible. The first place that you should seek medical attention is in a hospital or trauma centre, where you can receive critical care from trained medical professionals.
If you do not feel comfortable going to these places, then there are outpatient wound nurse care options where nurses are on hand and ready to treat your wound immediately and assess whether or not your injury needs further examination by a doctor.
2. A wound is draining pus
While pus is an important part of your body’s natural healing process, it can also be a sign that you’re dealing with an infection. If your wound is draining fluid or showing signs of infection, like redness or fever, it may be time to call in help from an outpatient wound nurse care provider. These nurses specialize in treating wounds and performing debridement—removing dead tissue—which will help speed up your recovery.
3. A large amount of tissue has been removed from the area
Large amounts of tissue are vital to healing, and if large amounts have been removed from your wound, chances are you’ll be in need of outpatient wound nurse care. Ideally, as much tissue as possible should remain after surgery or an injury; if yours doesn’t, consider speaking with a wound specialist before letting it heal on its own.
4, There is no improvement in healing after 2 weeks
If you’ve got an open wound that is not responding, after 2 weeks of dressing changes and antibiotics, it’s time to seek out inpatient wound nurse care. Infections are one of several reasons why wounds don’t heal quickly. There are ways you can take action on your own by creating an environment that boosts healing—but if there is still no improvement after two weeks or so, medical intervention will be necessary.
5. The affected area hurts, itches, and/or bleeds
If you have an open wound, these symptoms can be indicators that there’s an infection or some other complication. Of course, it could just be your body’s natural response to tissue damage, but it’s better safe than sorry! Let your doctor check things out. They may want to cleanse your wound and remove foreign material; if that doesn’t work, they may send you to inpatient wound nurse care.
6. The pain won’t go away with medication
It may sound simple, but one of our best tools in gauging whether or not a wound needs medical attention is taking our own pain seriously. If we’re still hurting days after an injury and we can’t manage that pain with over-the-counter medication, then it’s probably time to see an inpatient wound nurse care provider. Our top recommendation is to go straight to your local urgent care clinic.
Conclusion
If you have any sort of open wound, it's important to keep an eye on it and seek medical attention if necessary. There are a number of different signs that your wound may need further medical care, so it's important to be aware of them. If you're ever in doubt, it's always better to take caution and seek out help from a medical professional.
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