Dressing change: How do I remove the old dressing?
Wash your hands thoroughly before changing the dressing and then use a hand sanitizer. You should also wear sterile gloves to prevent infection. Then carefully pull the plaster strips from the skin – rapid tearing should be avoided. Older people in particular often have thin and very sensitive skin, which tears easily when old plasters are forcibly removed.
When a wound is oozing, it often happens that it sticks to the dressing material. This makes removing the old dressing very painful. In this case, it is recommended to soak the stuck dressing with a medical irrigation solution (for example, 0.9 percent saline solution) until it is softened and can be easily removed. Under no circumstances should you attempt to simply tear off the dressing by force, despite the pain!
How do I clean the wound when changing the dressing?
If you want to treat a purulent wound, the wound should be freshly dressed daily and rinsed particularly conscientiously. If necessary, the doctor will prescribe an antiseptic rinsing solution or an ointment containing antibiotics to combat germs in the wound. Use these exactly as recommended by the doctor.
The new dressing
If you notice that the skin is irritated by the plaster strips when changing the dressing, you can apply a ph-neutral or urea-containing cream to the area around the wound.
