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Advice On Monitoring Wound Health

Surgical wound healing requires careful monitoring to ensure that the site remains infection-free and that the patient has the best possible chance of a complication-free recovery. There are a number of reasons why surgical wounds do not heal and these produce observable symptoms.

Careful monitoring of a post-surgical site helps to reduce recovery time and minimize the risk of infection and other complications. Coupled with careful wound care and patients following health professionals’ advice, recovery can be quick and relatively painless. The main causes of complication include stress on the wound site.

If the surgery has taken place in an area that is constantly moving, this may put additional stress on the sutures. This can cause them to burst and the wound to open. Damage to the affected area through knocks or blows can also cause the stitches or clips to come undone. Infection, contracted either during surgery or post-operatively, also puts the wound at risk. Surgical wound care starts with knowing and looking out for signs and symptoms of these problems. 

These include bleeding and pus coming from the wound. Inflammation and redness also need to be carefully monitored, particularly if the wound becomes increasingly sensitive or painful to the touch. Broken sutures can be a result of any of these causes and further investigation may need to be carried out before the stitches are repaired. If this is not done, then any infection present can spread and have severe consequences.

Surgical Wound Care Guidelines For Effective Healing

Surgical wound care guidelines should be provided by your surgeon or nurse practitioner to aid in the effective healing of your wound. Following these guidelines will shorten your recovery time and lessen your risk of infection or other post-surgical wound complications. After all, the recovery for surgical dental implants is very different in comparison to having a kidney removed. Your aftercare should be included within the multiple or single tooth implant cost when it comes to any sort of private treatment like this. 

There are a number of ways that a post-operative wound may be closed. These include stitches, staples and surgical glue. There may be occasions when wounds are left open, and these require very specific and different care to closed wounds. It is important to know what type of wound closure has been used so that you can plan your wound care accordingly Staples need to be surgically removed, and so do some stitches. However, dissolvable stitches and surgical glue will come off on their own. If pieces of either remain, do not try to remove them yourself. Go to your doctor or nurse and get them to inspect the wound and, if appropriate, remove the last pieces. 

Other guidelines for surgical wound care that you may be given include elevating the wound above the heart, where possible. This should be done for a few days as it will lessen pain and minimize swelling in the area. On occasions, there may be some post-operative bleeding. When this occurs, firm pressure should be applied to the site using a clean, ideally sterile pad. If after five minutes the bleeding does not stop, or the rate increases, you should seek medical attention. This could be a sign that your stitches have broken, or that there is an infection in the site.

 

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Hi friend!

I’m Marian Mitchell, Health Coach, Chronic Illness Warrior, Mom, and Food Lover. I help you navigate the food and lifestyle side of Chronic Disease Management with coaching, meal plans, recipes, podcast, and this blog. You can thrive without eating the same 4 things every day. I’m here to show you how.

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