After any surgical operation, you'll have a wound from where your surgeon cut into your skin and tissues. It's vital that you take good care of your wounds, to lower your risk of infection and ensure it heals properly. If you start to notice anything unusual or concerning about your surgical wounds after you've left the hospital, you can call on our emergency doctor service in Torremolinos for a checkup and expert advice.
Types of Wound Healing
A surgical wound is a cut made to your skin during a medical procedure. Usually, your surgeon will bring the edges of the cut together and secure them with stitches, staples or glue once they've finished the operation. This is known as primary wound healing.
Sometimes, however, it may be best to leave the wound open to heal up from below by itself - your surgeon will discuss this with you if they decide it's the best option. They may do this if your wound is likely to be infected, or if the edges couldn't be brought together quickly. This is known as secondary wound healing and is most common after having a bite cleaned or an abscess drained.
How a Wound Heals
Wound healing is a complicated process but can be divided into several overlapping phases.
Immediately after your surgeon makes the cut, platelets in your blood form clumps and release chemicals to stop the bleeding.
Over the next few days, the blood flow to the surgical site increases and white blood cells arrive to fight infection and remove dead tissue. New cells arrive to start repairing the wound as part of your body's natural immune response.
Between three days to three weeks after your procedure, new blood vessels grow to bring nutrients to your wound and help the development of new tissues.
Finally, from three weeks up to about a year, the new tissues are gradually replaced and re-organised, causing your scar to get stronger, paler and more like normal skin gradually.
Once you’ve returned home from the hospital it’s important to keep your wound clean and take note of how it’s healing. While you may have scheduled check-ups, it’s important that you know you can call our emergency doctor service in Torremolinos if you notice any changes to the surgical site that worry you.
Most Common Ways of Caring For Your Wounds
- Dressings - used to absorb any fluid weeping from the wound, provide the best conditions for your wound and protect it whilst it heals. Your surgeon will advise you on how long to keep the dressing on for and you can always call on our emergency doctor service in Torremolinos if you're concerned that it might need changing before your recommended day. Make sure you don't touch the healing area with your fingers when removing the dressing as this could cause infection.
- Stitches, clips and staples - all three of these methods are used to close your surgical wound. Do not pull or touch the stitches as this could affect the healing process and leave you vulnerable to infection. If you find that your stitches are causing you pain or discomfort, call our emergency doctor service in Torremolinos and someone will come to check that everything is okay and give you the support you need. If your stitches are non-dissolvable, we'll arrange for a nurse or doctor to remove them for you on a set date.
For more information about how our emergency doctor service in Torremolinos could help you manage your surgical wounds, get in touch.