I cut my finger on our tv stand the other day and it took a nice chunk of skin off. I washed it right away with soap and water then put neosporin and a band-aid on. The next day I took the band-aid off to put more neosporin on and left the band-aid off that day. Now it has the start of a scab, but my question is that the skin around it feels really tight and the scab is yellow in color. Is this normal or should I re-open the wound to get a "healthier" scab?
Thank-you for all the responses. I didn't end up going to the doc. but did have Sean's aunt take a look at it. (she's a nurse) She said it looked like it might be slightly infected, but nothing that shouldn't go away. It's feeling much better (unless I bump it) and is no longer red around the edge
DO not reopen the wound, that is how you get really bad scars. I have a huge one on my knee, from an athletic director telling me that I needed to get the scab off to get a better scab because it was not healing properly. Well now I have a Keloid scar and it is raised up and huge. It sounds like it could possibly be infected. If it is red around the scab, I would make an appointment with my dr, because it could be infected.
Scabs often appear yellowish due to the rush of white blood cells to the surface to repair the skin.
No, don't re-open it. You will just put yourself at risk of an infection. The yellow scab is fine. As long as it looks to be healing and it is not warm, puffy, red, or swollen you will be okay.
** please, please, please DO NOT use alcohol or peroxide on your skin...especially broken skin! Use only a triple antibiotic ointment, cream, spray, gel, etc.! **
It should be fine. Yellow on the scab is perfectly normal. If it is red around the wound, warm to the touch or weeping white, yellow, or green fluid...then you need to have it checked. Don't reopen it, your body is doing exactly what it needs to and doesn't need your intervention...LOL! Keep the neosporin on it, keep it covered if you are going to be getting your hands dirty, and make sure your Tetanus is up to date.
~L.
As far as I know...the tight skin is normal, it is just healing itself. That's why scabs always itch. I also believe the yellow is normal. As long as the skin doesn't start to get really bright red and expand away from the cut (a sign of infection), it should be ok. Green would obviously be bad too! It sounds like you should just keep doing what you're doing.
I would see my doctor. I once cut my finger and did not go to the doctor. It was right after I had my first child. I now have a scar that looks like the state of Florida. My mother in law who is an RN said that it needed a stitch. It was doing the same as your finger. It never hurts to have a doctor check it out, especially if you have health insurance. If you don't have insurance my mother in law suggests going to the store and buying the suture type bandages to keep the wound closed to aid in the healing along with the neosporin.
A scab shouldn't be yellow. Yellow means infection. The tightness is just healing. Is it red around the edges? Keep the neosporin on it and cover it again. Reopening it leaves more opportunity for more infection.
Keep an eye on the color of the skin. If its red and swollen then you have an infection. Otherwise the tightness is a normal part of the healing process.
My physician taught us to let wounds heal with air, too many times band aids hinder the healing process by keeping the wound moist (as does neosporin...) because bacteria love to grow there. To keep them out use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide instead a few times a day.
