How long should you apply wound care ointment before you need to apply it

Under normal circumstances, the care ointment for ordinary superficial wounds can be stopped after applying it for 1 to 2 weeks at most. If the wound has completely grown new skin, there is no exudation, and there is no pain when pressed, it can be stopped in advance even if it is only three or four days. Only for chronic wounds that are difficult to heal, the application time will be appropriately extended, but basically the same ointment will not be used continuously for more than one month.

When I was working as a surgical assistant at a community health station, I encountered many people who had misunderstandings about the time for stopping medication. They would either stop medication as soon as a thin scab formed, or they would not stop until the scab completely fell off and even the marks were gone. Both approaches are actually unnecessary. Last month, a junior high school student fell on his elbow while riding a bicycle. The bruised area was larger than the palm of his hand. There was a lot of exudation in the first three days. He disinfected and applied a healing ointment every day. On the fifth day, a complete pale pink new skin had grown. It didn't hurt when he pressed it, so he just stopped. Then he just took a shower and was careful not to rub too hard. In less than ten days, all the scabs were gone, leaving no trace of pigment. Another aunt was particularly impressed. Half of her arm was splashed with oil while cooking. It was a superficial second-degree burn. It was supposed to be completely epithelialized in about ten days. She heard others say that the longer the skin care cream is applied, the less scars will be left, so she applied it for two more weeks. As a result, the thick cream suffocated the newly grown tender skin and developed a patch of eczema. She scratched it every day and almost left permanent pigmentation.

The reason why everyone has such a different understanding of the withdrawal time is that the logic of action of different nursing creams is different. If it is a medicinal nursing cream containing antibiotics and hormones, the withdrawal time is even stricter. For example, anti-infective antibiotic nursing creams must be applied for up to 1 week before seeing a doctor to evaluate whether to stop, otherwise it is easy to develop drug resistance. Weak hormone nursing creams cannot exceed 7 days at most. Long-term use will make the skin thinner and the barrier damaged.

In fact, this is like putting up a support bar for a child who has just learned to walk. Holding one will prevent him from falling when he walks unsteadily. If he continues to hold on when he can stand firmly and walks on his own, it will hinder his balance practice. Wound care ointment is the support bar. It only plays an auxiliary role when the wound has no skin barrier, is prone to infection, and heals slowly. When new skin grows, its own barrier can block external bacteria and lock in moisture normally. Applying it again will add extra metabolic burden to the skin. Of course, if it is a chronic wound such as pressure sores or diabetic foot, the healing speed is much slower than that of ordinary wounds. The medication time must be strictly followed by the doctor. The doctor will also regularly observe the healing situation and adjust the medication plan, and will not let you apply the same care ointment continuously for too long.