Press Room

Wound healing is a very complex process. Even some minor everyday wounds usually take a week or so to heal. How to make wounds heal faster and better is one of the difficulties in dermatology.

The view in our memory is "don't let water touch the wound" and "don't let water fall on the wound when taking a shower". That's because from childhood to adulthood, we have been reminded that only if the wound is kept dry enough can it not be infected by bacteria and heal faster and better. However, when the surface of the wound begins to scab and become hard, when you move your body you will clearly feel the skin on the surface of the wound being pulled and causing pain. In modern medicine, this type of wound healing is called "dry healing".

Today, the situation is very different. "Moist healing" is more appropriate for wound healing and has become the mainstream view of modern medicine.

So what exactly is moist healing? Does it mean keeping the wound moist by constantly applying water?

"Moist healing" refers to the use of sealed dressings to keep the wound in an airtight or semi-airtight environment. The dressing will retain some or all of the exudate on the wound, creating a moist environment close to the physiological state. At the same time, the dressing can prevent the ingress of external fluids andbacteria, thereby promoting rapid wound healing.

The concept of "Moist healing" dates back to 1958 when Dr Alderaan found that wounds with intact blisters on the skin healed significantly faster than wounds with ruptured blisters. Later, in 1962, Dr G.D. Winter of the Royal Society of Medicine found in animal studies that the epithelialisation rate of pig wounds covered with polyethylene film increased by a factor of 1. This was the first confirmation that moist and permeable wound dressings could accelerate the healing process. In 1981, the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, discovered through experiments that wound healing does not require oxygen, changing the traditional view of "dry healing". They found that the proliferation of new blood vessels increased as the level of atmospheric oxygen in the wound decreased. The rate of blood vessel proliferation in the absence of atmospheric oxygen in the wound is 6 times higher than in the presence of atmospheric oxygen.

In addition, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in its new "Industry Guidelines for Wound Medical Products" issued in August 2000, emphasised that "maintaining a moist environment at the wound site is the standard of care".

Therefore, the general consensus of modern medicine is that a moderately moist and closed environment is more conducive to wound healing. This method of treatment can provide a better wound environment and reduce the risk of pain and infection.

"Moist Healing" has two sensory benefits for our patients. 1. The healing time is greatly reduced. Experiments have shown that recovery is 30% to 50% faster than with "dry healing". 2. There is no scabbing, so wound exudate does not adhere to the wound surface, greatly reducing the pain associated with dressing changes. In the past, most people have experienced a "dry healing" dressing change. Usually the old dressing adheres to the wound, causing obvious pain to the patient.

Another point is that "moist healing" is very friendly to women because it does not leave scars easily or can make scars shallower, which greatly reduces the discomfort of scars for women.

After understanding 'moist healing' and its benefits, combined with the types of dressings introduced in the previous article "How to choose a wound dressing when you are ready to buy?", you can choose the dressing that suits you best.