How does wound care ointment turn black when applied to the wound

In fact, most of them are normal symptoms of the reaction between the ingredients of the ointment and the exudate from the wound, or the ointment softening the surface scab. Only a few cases are related to wound infection and tissue necrosis. Don't panic when you see blackening.

Last week, I met Aunt Zhang when I was on duty at wound care in the community. She fell on her knee while shopping for groceries on an electric scooter, which resulted in a large bruise on her skin. She went home and rummaged through the drawers to find a wound care ointment with traditional Chinese medicine ingredients that she had bought before and applied it on her. When she woke up the next day, she saw that the entire wound was as black as if it was stained with ink. She was so scared that she thought the wound was rotten and she needed amputation, so she ran to the community on tiptoe. I took a saline cotton pad and gently wiped her twice, and most of the black surface was removed. The exposed wound was pink and tender, and not even red or swollen. It was not necrosis at all.

This care ointment is added with cattails, gallnuts and a small amount of animal charcoal adsorption ingredients. It is dark in color. When it comes into contact with the serum oozing out of the wound and a small amount of iron ions in the blood, it will form a dark brown complex. When applied to the wound, it will look black. In fact, this layer of stuff can act like a breathable protective film, keeping out external dust and bacteria, which is quite good for the recovery of the wound. There are also some nursing creams containing silver ions and potassium iodide that will oxidize and turn black after contact with exudate. This is a normal drug reaction and does not require special treatment at all. Just change the dressing as usual. Another situation is that your wound itself has formed a thin layer of scab, which usually looks dark brown. After being softened by the oil-based care cream, the color will become darker and appear black. Don't pick at it randomly, just wait for the scab to fall off naturally.

Of course, not all blackening should be taken lightly. Last winter, I met a young man who fell off his bicycle and lost a large piece of skin on the back of his hand. He bought some care ointment at a drugstore and applied it to the wound without even disinfecting it in advance. After three days, the entire wound was black and hard, with smelly yellow water leaking out, and his hand was so swollen that he could not even wear gloves. When I came over for a checkup, I found out that the wound infection was caused by his poor disinfection. The superficial skin was already necrotic, and the black layer was the dead and inactivated tissue. In the end, the wound was cleared twice before it slowly healed.

In fact, you can preliminarily judge whether it is serious or not by yourself at home. Take a sterile saline cotton pad and gently dip it into the blackened area. If the black can be removed, the wound underneath will be pink or bright red, and there will be only normal wound pain, no throbbing or distending pain, and there is no large area of redness, swelling, hotness, or oozing fluid and smelly surroundings. There is no need to panic at all and just take care of it normally. If the blackened area cannot be wiped off, feels hard and painless, and is accompanied by the discomfort symptoms mentioned above, then don’t delay and seek professional treatment quickly. Don’t damage the good tissue by digging blindly.