6 year Old cut his face - To cover or not?
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free skin care · Sun Aug 28, 2011 1:38 am

Best Wound Healing Method on Face - a Child

Hi there,

My 5 yr old son got a cut on his face, about three weeks ago.

Took him to the ER (looked quite deep and medical centre advised for him to to hospital)

Anyway, at the hospital, they looked at it, and used that superglue stuff to bond it together (said it wasn't deep enough for
stitches)

What is bothering me, is that they also applied this sticky adhesive gauze straight over it. Well, they told me that as it starts to peel, just snip off the side where its peeling.

Well, its only peeled a little bit, and i think there is a scab underneath as it feels slightly bumpy (but no pain or tenderness)

Is it best to leave this in place and let it fall off on its own, the sticky adhesive I think is called " Fixomull"??? It has been three weeks that its been on, but it does have little airation holes, that allows wound to breathe.

Do u think its best to take it off, or leave it on, till it naturally works its way off? three weeks later, and its still very sticky onto the wound

I want to do whats best so he doesnt get a scar, or at least,a very minimal one, but i thoguht taking it off and allowing it to breathe would be the best way now after 3 wwks?? Becoz its on the face, I think the gauze is helping to keep the scab on, as if it comes off, methinks he will rub scab off.

Thanks

free skin care · Sun Aug 28, 2011 1:40 am

Was also thinking that , down the road, if it does scar, dermaroll may be an option when he is older?? Just hoping it doesnt scar

free skin care · Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:07 am

Let it fall off naturally, the material is intended to degrade at roughly the rate of healing. Thats why they wanted you to snip the parts that are falling off.

I highly doubt your son is going to care one bit if he has a scar on his face. Especially since he's six, it'll fade. Plus being a boy, he'll likely have a lot more in his future. I have a scar on my face from a childhood accident and I could really care less about that one. Dermarolling in my experience doesn't work with keloids anyway.

free skin care · Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:14 pm

Thank you for that.

I was worried in case it impedes healing,and also i cant see the wound. but it does allow the skin to breathe. I know when I touch it it feels slightly bumpy, but its gotta be a scab, otherwise my little one would say it hurts, and he says it doesnt hurt at all

I will let the adhesive guaze (fixomull) fall off naturally. Thank you for your advice. Smile

free skin care · Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:06 pm

Ava with wings wrote:

I highly doubt your son is going to care one bit if he has a scar on his face. Especially since he's six, it'll fade. Plus being a boy, he'll likely have a lot more in his future. I have a scar on my face from a childhood accident and I could really care less about that one. Dermarolling in my experience doesn't work with keloids anyway.

I completely agree. My son (who is now 15) fell at age 4 and got a big gouge in his forehead. It was fairly deep and he got 4-5 stitches. It was bandaged with gauze for a while. When he was around 10, he thought it was so cool that he had a scar (like Harry Potter).

Now it's faded quite a bit and barely noticeable. I think with the surgical glue the scars are even less prominent once they heal.

It's hard not to worry, but it sounds like it's healing fine.

free skin care · Mon Aug 29, 2011 8:37 pm

Thanks.

Just thought 3 weeks having the adhesive on there andit not fallen off, was a long time.

Dont want to impede the healing on this.

if the sticky adhesive is stuck to the scab, how is the scab going to naturally fall off???

free skin care · Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:32 am

so so glad i listened to not pick at it or try to pick off the adhesive dressing

it fell off where the cut was. when i gently peeled it back, it was healed up! very nicely. a line scar, that will blend in very easily. will be barely noticeable.

so thank you for your advice, it was causing me some anxiety thinnking it couldntheal up properly like that

do u think its ok to apply sunscreen onto it now. there is no scab left behind. its like it completely dissolved into the fxixomull.

free skin care · Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:23 pm

Its intended to dissolve at the same rate as healing... you don't need to worry about scabbing. The patch IS the scab if that makes sense. They clean the wound and cover it immediately, so its unlikely blood could coagulate and cause a scab. Three weeks sounds about right to me for normal healing.

I didn't want to say this earlier in case it weirded you out, but my family has show horses and we use that material on them for things like torn nostrils. Scars are bad for show horses.. stuff works great. We sub in superglue a lot, and if I cut my finger in the kitchen, I now superglue it shut. No scars.

You can treat your son's scar just like its normal skin since its no longer broken, you'll never know its there in a year.

free skin care · Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:03 pm

hi there ava, and thank you for your response. Smile

I thought that a scab is a better way of healing? Am I incorrect? I thought a scab was nature's bandaid to aid in healing???

Now that the adhesive is off, there is a slight indent line scar.

Is there anything topical, you would recommend to apply to it?

I am currently using a zinc based sunscreen (its very thick consistency) everyday on him bfre he goes to school, but was thinking need something to help the collagen form back into the line indent.

Thanks so much everyone!

free skin care · Tue Sep 06, 2011 9:47 pm

I believe the thinking now is to keep a cut covered and moist (or completely sealed) instead of letting it scab over. The scab is just to keep bacteria out, which is great, but can lead to uneven collagen formation and a scar that follows. Would love to hear from some doctors/nurses in here, "scar lore" tends to flip positions every few years it seems.

I would just keep it away from the sun as best you can, he's so young this will likely fill in on its own.

free skin care · Wed Sep 07, 2011 4:24 am

I still think that it DID scab, bcoz the covered cut was bumpy. Unless it was the glue excreting out of the wound as it healed???

Plus when the fixomull pulled away from the wound, there was a dark stain where the wound was. Methinks it dissolved the scab, for it to be dark>? but maybe it was just the glue

For some reaso, I think its better to scab. I get acne breakouts and when they scab, they never scaR. NEVER.

free skin care · Fri Sep 23, 2011 4:34 pm

I worked in pharmacy for many years, and the following is my (simplistic) understanding of modern wound care.

A scab forms to protect a wound from infection - the wound itself is underneath and is actually a soggy mess! The damaged tissue is broken down before it builds back up again from the bottom and sides, so if you pick a scab you often find the wound is deeper than it started out. During this process any tissue that dries out will die, so letting it breathe is counterproductive.

An appropriate medical dressing forms an 'artificial scab' flush with the surface, whereas a scab forms at or below the surface (tho part of it may protrude). This means the everything below the surface can be involved in the healing process, and research proves healing is accelerated. Tattoo artists have known this for years and advise protecting a new tat with cling film (saran wrap?) or petroleum jelly.

There is huge variation in how badly individuals scar, you may be fortunate in that respect!

free skin care · Sat Sep 24, 2011 2:43 pm

Awesome explanation, welcome to the forum! Every time my cuts for a natural scab, they always scar, badly.

free skin care · Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:28 pm

Thank you so much Firefox!

will keep this in mind for future care of my little one Smile

free skin care · Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:55 am

I would think it best to just let it fall off naturally. You can work on getting rid of the scar after, I dont think it will scar though especially since he is only six.

free skin care · Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:28 am

the wound is healing up so nicely.

but i am obsessed about keeping it out of the sun, or when he is in the sun, he is wearing agood quality zinc cream over it and a hat

the amazing thing is he is listenign to me, to wear his hat when he is in the sun. amazed!! he is very aware, and wants it to heal up as best as possible.

i am amazed how well children's skin heals, when they injure it. now why cant that abiolity last into adulthood

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