How to promote healthy healing
The next time anyone tells you to keep your skin wound dry, you can say that times have changed. Up until the late 1960s, most doctors believed that keeping a wound dry was the best way to promote healing, but studies now definitively prove that a fresh, non-infected wound heals better and faster in a moist environment. The goal is to avoid a wound scab, because scabbing prevents optimal healing and can lead to an unsightly scar. Today, many doctors recommend covering the wound with an over-thecounter antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or Bacitracin for the first 24 to 40 hours. After 24 hours, most of my patients then switch to Aquaphor or Vaseline. Up to 10 percent of the population may be sensitive to antibiotic ointment and can develop rashes and inflammation from continued use.
