Infection in a healed wound?
 

So I have this cut over a week old, and its healed over and such, but more recently it has gotten puffy, red, and it itches. There wasn't any trouble with infection as it was closing, so I'm not sure what this is.. is it an infection? or will it just be raised? But like I said it swelled afterwards.. I know the itching could be the skin like drying out as it heals and stuff, but this is like itchy inside.. I'm kind of anxious about this.=s any advice?

Depending on where the cut is and how dee it is it forms different ypes of scars.
I think you would have what is called a hypertrophic scar which is raised, itchy and inflamed as you say.
It usually stays within the boundaries of the original wound and gets smaller over time.:)
If it gets larger or more itchy or inflamed it would sadvisable to see a doc:)

Has the cut fully closed over ie all just skin and no scab? Is there a lump under the skin? Is the area hot/ painful/ red? Is there a discharge from anywhere and if so, what is it like? Did you provide any wound care to the cut?

The cut is completely healed over as skin, and there isn't any scabbing left. there is a lump right under where the cut was but not anywhere else. it follows he shape of it and all.. but it's kind of hard-ish. firmer then the rest of my skin around it. It is red and feels kind of uncomfortable, but not exactly painful.. more like.. pressure and a bit of a sting sort of thing.. there is no discharge. the only wound care I did was washing it in the shower and trying to keep it bandaged and such..

I think if it swells up more/ you start to become to feel unwell then it's likely that there might be some pus in there and an abscess has formed (which is a pus filled cavity under the skin; like when infection has no way to get out and is trapped)). These usually start to get really hot and painful too. If that happens then you need to get it checked out and sooner rather than later; I know it's not the best thing whilst you're on holiday but it is for your own good. If this does happen and you put something warm over the area/ have a warm bath then the abscess may come to a head and burst. This does not mean it's sured and should still get looked at ASAP; if it is an abscess the fluid it contains will be yellow-green, possibily a bit of brown in colour and maybe have a bit of blood in it, be foul smelling and also, it will be relatively thick; this is pus. If this does happen then you need it properly cleaned and dressed and more than likely also go on antibiotics so you should also get it checked out if it is that and it bursts or there is a chance of it recurring.

If not, and I personally think this is more likely (you'll be glad to know), it will just be how the scarring is forming under the surface and the area is a bit puffy and reddened due to the tissue still healing and the inflammation that that causes.

So yeh, just keep an eye on it and see but hopefully it should be totally fine.

I hope you get this before you go away because I won't send emails from people on here via my personal account and don't tend to send ones from the FA account (as we don't really use it) so please let me know if you get it or not; if you don't then I may email you in a few days but we don't check the email system very often and so any replies you get may take quite some time.

A great*exchange of information.

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