How Long Should You Keep A Bandaid On A Cut

Do Cuts Heal Faster with a Cast?

A very mutual old wives' tale is to permit your cuts or wounds heal without a protective covering, in the belief they will form a scab and heal faster. We detest to intermission it to those who follow the dominion, but this is not right.

Leaving a cutting exposed to the air is like leaving your front door open up on a windy day. Eventually, you're going to become clay and debris in your business firm. Ambulation information technology out too makes it more likely that the wound will get out a more noticeable scar.

The best thing you can do for a cutting or wound is keep information technology make clean, moist, and covered.

Why should I comprehend cuts, scrapes, or wounds?

When the cut dries without a clean, protective covering, it will form a scab. The scab will finish the wound from bleeding, but information technology will also partially block new cells from replacing the lost, dead, and damaged cells. The crusty scab tin can also make scarring more pronounced.
When the wound is moist, new skin cells move in and supplant the damaged peel cells more than readily.
A wound that is kept moist is less painful.

What's the best way to dress a cut or wound?

Clean information technology thoroughly.
If information technology'due south a new cut, you tin use an antibody ointment (such as Neosporin) or spray (such as Bactine) to make clean the area.
Apply a thin film of antibiotic ointment or petroleum jelly (such equally Vaseline). This will seal in the wet and go on air out.
Cover it with a bandage to go on it moist and to keep dirt and debris from touching the wound.
In the days that follow, whenever you replace the bandage, apply petroleum jelly to the spot. The key is that it stays continuously moist throughout the healing process. For most minor wounds and cuts, five days should be sufficient.
Bandaging without the moist bulwark is not as effective. It is the petroleum jelly that will continue it moist and keep air out. Besides, without the jelly barrier, newly formed skin may stick to the cast and come up off every time yous change it.

As an farthermost example, I had Moh'southward surgery on a visible part of my cervix almost 5 years ago. Moh'south surgery is done to remove peel cancer. (I wish someone had given me this data when I was younger!)

Moh's surgery tin can leave a large, deep wound. Mine was circular, virtually the size of a dime. The photos are a bit graphic, so I'll spare you lot the details. Needless to say, you'd assume information technology would leave a pretty nasty scar, correct?

Wrong.

Here'due south a moving-picture show of that same spot, now.

Can you even tell where to look? How is that possible? The doctors, nurses, and other staff were all very good at explaining the healing process and process to me. I was instructed to continue information technology covered and continuously moist with Vaseline until new skin formed. They told me it may have up to two months to heal. For the next v weeks, every time I changed the bandage, I covered information technology with a thin film of Vaseline. It never formed a scab. I never felt any serious pain or discomfort, fifty-fifty when laying on that side. Today, most people cannot fifty-fifty come across the scar unless it is pointed out to them.

The lesser line: Go on your wound continuously moist and covered in lodge to speed up healing, relieve discomfort, and reduce scarring. Every bit a further note, continue the expanse from getting sunburnt for upwards to six months in society to further prevent a noticeable scar.

References:

Am J Surg. 1994 Jan;167(1A):2S-6S.

Br J Nurs. 2008 Nov 13-26;17(20):S4-15.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8109679

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19043322

world wide web.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/mohs-surgery/nuts/definition/prc-20014261