How to Clean a Skin Wound

How to Clean a Scrape or Skin Wound
How To Clean a Skin Wound

If you do not clean them properly, minor cuts and scrapes can result in a trip to the hospital.  It is important to know how to clean a skin wound as soon as possible. This can help prevent infection, lessen any irritation and speed up the recovery process. 

Visiting a doctor immediately after becoming wounded is only necessary if the wound is large, deep, has an object in it you cannot remove, or if it is too painful to clean at home.  If it does not fall under any of these categories, you can clean a skin wound at home by following these directions:

Pre-Clean

  1. Whenever you can, you should clean your own wound because you are the best judge of your pain threshold. Wash your hands. Put on disposable medical gloves if you have them.
  2. Skin wounds usually stop bleeding on their own, but if bleeding continues past a minute, apply gentle pressure to the wound with a sterile cloth or bandage and elevate it.

Cleaning a Skin Wound

  1. Use a large amount of clean water to rinse off the wound.
  2. Clean around the wound with a cloth wet with water and soap, being careful not to get any soap inside it.
  3. If dirt or debris remains in the wound after washing, use tweezers sterilized scraped elbowwith rubbing alcohol to extract those remains. Avoid the use of hydrogen peroxide, iodine or an iodine-containing cleanser, which can be irritating to tissue already injured. As mentioned earlier, see a doctor if there is any debris you cannot remove. Do not poke tweezers deep into a wound (beyond the first layer of skin)!

Post-Clean

  1. Apply a thin layer of an antibiotic cream, such as Polysporin, to a newly clean skin wound to prevent dryness. Although creams and ointments do not make a skin wound heal faster, it reduces the risk of infection.
  2. Cover the skin wound with a bandage, unless the injury is just a minor surface scratch. In that case, it is best to leave it uncovered and let it air out.  If you decide to use one, change the bandage at least once a day.

Even after establishing daily cleaning of a skin wound, you should check for signs of infection.  These include lack of evident healing, redness, warmth, and swelling.  If you clean a skin wound regularly, you should not have to see a doctor about it, but you must remember it is always a possibility when you are injured.

How to Clean a Retainer

How to Clean a Retainer

Since a retainer goes in your mouth, it is really important to know how to clean a retainer.

Methods for How to Clean a Retainer

how to clean a retainer
How to Clean a Retainer

The easiest way to for how to clean a retaineris with a toothbrush and toothpaste. A good time to clean your retainer is when you are brushing your teeth since you already have your toothbrush and toothpaste handy. Put a dab of toothpaste on the toothbrush and scrub all over the retainer. Rinse with clean water.

Another method for how to clean a retainer is with organic castille soap. This has been recommended by dentists. Use a squirt or two of organice castille soap in a small dish of water then soak the retainer. The main ingredients in castille soap are olive oil and coconut oil which do a great job of cleaning the retainer without using any chemicals.

Some orthodontists have a very simply recommendation for how to clean a retainer: soak the retainer in water and one denture cleaning tablet. Use two tablets if the retainer has buildup on it. Soak for 15 minutes then rinse.

Words of caution about how to clean a retainer: do not put the retainer in boiling water as this can damage the retainer, do not soak the retainer in mouthwash that has alcohol in it as this can dry out the retainer and cause it to crack. It is not recommended to use baking soda to clean a retainer because baking soda changes the pH of your mouth and a retainer has the potential to absorb and this puts your gums at risk of exposure.

Be sure to also clean your retainer case before putting your clean retainer away. Simply use warm soapy water to scrub all surfaces of the retainer case. Rinse with clean water and dry.

Dentists recommend that you never let your retainer dry out because tartar and biofilm can start bonding to the retainer. Keep your retainer in your mouth or in distilled water in your retainer case.

Knowing how to clean a retainer is an important part of having one.

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