I managed to cut myself quite badly a few days ago and I want it to heal up as quickly as possible. I’m looking for any tips/solid information people might have on how to accelerate or at least not hinder the process of healing.
Specifically:
It’s a wide but shallow wound to my lower calf; caused by broken glass. A flap of skin was left dangling a bit but the A&E (ER for Americans) Doc said stitching was not necessary, and used some long thin strips of sterile tape to hold it down in it’s former position.
It happened 2 weeks ago and I can see some improvement, but there is still some slight bleeding now and then from around the edge of the flap.
Should I change the dressing regularly, or leave it alone?
Should I expose it to the air? (Most people seem to think it will heal faster if allowed to get some air.)
I ask mainly because I’m going on holiday soon, and being so close to clear blue sea but not able to swim might drive me a little crazy.
Any and all help much appreciated.
I don’t know if there’s a hard and fast rule but I generally leave it unbandaged (unless it’s leaking and icking up my bed sheets) and keep it clean with some hydrogen peroxide.
2 weeks and it hasn’t stopped bleeding? Is that normal for you? I normally heal in 3-5 days with bleeding stopping in 5-10 hours (from experience from having 2 teeth pulled and an accidental stabbing of my palm with a screw driver).
I’m sorry, I’m just not very good at this search-engine stuff. I can’t find any cites that address the issue of fresh vs. dried thyme for healing wounds. 
Good luck to you, anyway.
You may want to see your doctor again.
Is the drainage red, like when you first injured it? If its truly bleeding, my guess is there’s still glass in it, or you may be disrupting the re-granulation, (healing) by moving the muscle under the area.
If the drainage is any other color or if it has an odor, it could be infected.
Either way, it needs to be looked at again.
What kind of glass was it? Some glass is radio-opaque (its shows up on x-ray) If it was safety glass or auto glass, they can x-ray it to see exactly where it is.
General care: Keep it clean. If it still has the steri-strips, it doesn’t need to be covered.
If you can’t keep it clean with it open to air, cover it loosely while in any dirty environment, leaving it open whenever you can.
You can clean it with hydrogen peroxide, but only for 2 or 3 days. The H2O2 can damage healthy tissue if used for too long. If the steri-strips are still stuck, use a Q-tip to clean it, if not, just drip a bit over the injury.
Thanks for your info picunurse. Can I take it from your Handle that you are in fact a qualified nurse?
The discharge is red, but it only comes in spots after I’ve been walking. I’m afraid that I simply can’t spend the next few weeks immobile but I’ll definitely not be running anywhere.
You asked about the glass: It was from an ordinary drinking glass o I guess it not show up on an X-Ray.
I did see my local GP’s nurse yesterday afternoon, after I posted the OP and had seen the first couple of responses, but not yours unfortunately.
She pronounced herself satisfied with it’s progress, removed one of the steri-strips, put on a new waterproof dressing to allow me to shower and told me quite firmly to leave it alone as much as possible and definitely to keep it covered at all times.