- Joined
- Sep 21, 2014
Medical professionals feel free to criticize my amateur sort-of evaluation of what's happening
Okay, I have no idea what's going on with the wound, I will tell you that straight up, I'm taking my best guess based on what I have learned from all of my science classes/being interested in medicine.
The wound might be infected, but it looks clean, if large. It also looks like there isn't enough red around there for it to be infected. However, there could also be an internal infection, but it sounds like the wound is draining. That's good. The bigger concern for me anyway, is the enlarging, and reopening of the wound by Chris. Not allowing it to heal increases the risk of infection if it is not already infected. The mental state of Chris is also disturbing, but it's hard to tell how far away this behavior is from normal. If it is far from normal for Chris it could be a sign of infection, in which case, cultures need to be taken to confirm bacterial presence, and treated with antibiotics.
He says he's using rubbing alcohol. Pure Isopropyl alcohol makes a terrible sanitizer compared to bleach or concentrated Iodophor. Pure rubbing alcohol would not sanitize the wound. Assuming that he's not using hand sanitizer, he might be debriding the wound, but not sanitizing it. If he is using hand sanitizer, he's actually sanitizing the wound, and debriding it. Could be he's just putting chemicals into a wound that looks rather painful to begin with.
Again, this is my best guess as to what may be going on. Fuck if I know.
You pretty much nailed it.
Harsh chemicals tend to inhibit healing and create inflammation. They're rarely appropriate for wound care as they kill healthy tissue and can actually increase the risk of further infection. Chris would be better off using saline solution (or sitz baths) than rubbing alcohol. The rubbing alcohol should be kept for sanitising his hands before he touches the wound and dressings (cos we all know he's not going to glove).
There are some amazing dressings available these days which optimise wound healing by creating a moist environment and chemically debriding the wound - it sounds counterintuitive, but the science shows it to be the best option for wounds like Chris's which need to heal by secondary intention. Those dressings are more expensive on a per unit basis than traditional wet to dry gauze dressings but they also need changing less often.
He should skip the pantyhose for a while, too.
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