Healing depends on your general health and the type of surgery you had. Large or deep surgery incisions can take 6 to 8 weeks to heal. People with medical problems or prescribed certain medications may take longer.

How to recognize the signs of wound infection

1. Increased or continued pain. If your wound is healing properly, the pain should gradually subside.
2. Fever. An infected wound may have localized fever, meaning it feels significantly warmer than surrounding areas.
3. Feeling unwell.
4. Swelling.
5. Redness.
6. Draining pus.
7. Restricted movement.

Infection of the wound triggers the body’s immune response, causing inflammation and tissue damage, as well as slowing the healing process. Many infections will be self-contained and resolve on their own, such as a scratch or infected hair follicle.

How to speed up the wound healing process

1. Get your rest. Recent research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggested that getting more sleep can help wounds heal faster.
2. Eat your vegetables.
3. Stay active.
4. Don’t smoke.
5. Keep the wound clean and dressed.

If you experience any of the following symptoms of improper wound healing, contact your doctor immediately: Worsening or no changes in pain. While some wounds can remain painful at the start of healing, worsening pain or lack of relief over many days indicates a non-healing wound. Foul odor.

Scar tissue can have a local area of pain when touched or stretched or it can produce a referred pain that feel like that of a nerve which is a constant annoying burn that occasionally turns sharp.

As it heals, the new skin sometimes appears yellowish and may be confused with pus. When a scrape removes all of the layers of skin, new skin will form on the edges of the wound, and the wound will heal from the edges in to the middle. This type of scrape looks white at first, and fat cells may be visible.

Maceration occurs when skin has been exposed to moisture for too long. A telltale sign of maceration is skin that looks soggy, feels soft, or appears whiter than usual. There may be a white ring around the wound in wounds that are too moist or have exposure to too much drainage.

Purulent drainage is a type of fluid that is released from a wound. Often described as being “milky” in appearance, it’s almost always a sign of infection. If you’re healing from a wound, you should keep a close eye on its drainage.

A: Airing out most wounds isn’t beneficial because wounds need moisture to heal. Leaving a wound uncovered may dry out new surface cells, which can increase pain or slow the healing process. Most wound treatments or coverings promote a moist — but not overly wet — wound surface.

An abscess is a collection of pus. Pus is a thick fluid that usually contains white blood cells, dead tissue and germs (bacteria). The pus may be yellow or green and may have a bad smell.

Types of Wound Exudate There are four types of wound drainage: serous, sanguineous, serosanguinous, and purulent. Serous drainage is clear, thin, and watery. The production of serous drainage is a typical response from the body during the normal inflammatory healing stage.

Wound drainage that has a milky texture and is gray, yellow, or green is known as purulent drainage. It could be a sign of infection. The drainage is thicker because it contains microorganisms, decaying bacteria, and white blood cells that attacked the site of the infection.

Smell or odor is coming from the wound, distinct from the smell of exudate mixed with wound dressing material. If wound odor is still present after wound cleaning, suspect a bacterial cause. Gram-negative and anaerobic bacteria can create foul odors due to tissue breakdown.

Managing Wound Odor

1. Topical Metronidazole is available as a commercially produced gel.
2. Systemic Metronidazole can be used if there is evidence of deep tissue infection causing foul odor.
3. Topical Silver Sulfadiazine ($4-$20) has been shown to be helpful in controlling odors of superficial wounds.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has a distinct grape smell. Escherichia coli has a distinct fecal odor. Then there are the staphylococci. Staphylococcus aureus smells like decomposition while S.

Signs of Infection

1. expanding redness around the wound.
2. yellow or greenish-colored pus or cloudy wound drainage.
3. red streaking spreading from the wound.
4. increased swelling, tenderness, or pain around the wound.
5. fever.

Know the Signs and Symptoms of Infection

• Fever (this is sometimes the only sign of an infection).
• Chills and sweats.
• Change in cough or a new cough.
• Sore throat or new mouth sore.
• Shortness of breath.
• Nasal congestion.
• Stiff neck.
• Burning or pain with urination.