I have a 1 inch cut on my face that I am trying to prevent from leaving a visible scar after it heals. It didn’t require stitches, I basically keep it bandaged. Will swimming in ocean salt water help or hinder the healing from a small cut like this? Generally I’ve had excellent experience with ocean water and skin issues, but I really don’t want this to scar. Should I stay out of the ocean for a while?
Old wives tale that swimming in ocean / salt water helps wounds. Actually quite the opposite, Lots of bacteria in ocean water. Rinse it well if you do
Old wives tale that swimming in ocean / salt water helps wounds. Actually quite the opposite, Lots of bacteria in ocean water. Rinse it well if you do
Interesting…
Old wives usually tell you that things are dangerous when they aren’t.
I wonder…
It seems that people are often mistaking any bacteria or microbes, for “dangerous bacteria” or microbes.
How often have you heard this:
“Bacteria can survive on asteroids. That’s why you need to boil water for 30 minutes.”
Answer- “I am not concerned with bacteria that can survive on asteroids. I am concerned with bacteria that has evolved to survive in my gut and make me sick. How long does that bacteria survive in boiling water?”
I have a 1 inch cut on my face that I am trying to prevent from leaving a visible scar after it heals. It didn’t require stitches, I basically keep it bandaged. Will swimming in ocean salt water help or hinder the healing from a small cut like this? Generally I’ve had excellent experience with ocean water and skin issues, but I really don’t want this to scar. Should I stay out of the ocean for a while?
Can’t sharks smell even really little amounts of blood? I’d be more concerned about the “big” scar that could develop from the sharks bite.
Look up vibrio. Questions and Answers | Vibrio Illness (Vibriosis) | CDC You should be OK if you have a healthy immune system.
If it’s healed enough that it isn’t weeping, cover it with some tegaderm before swimming. Available at any drugstore/target/walmart.
Salt water is great for skin healing and drawing out any impurities or minor infection.
Vaseline is also good for putting onto the skin afterwards, it helps keep the scab soft and avoids a cratered look to the scar site.
I cut the bridge of my nose a couple of hours before my IM swim start. Had one of those see through plasters on but it was still bleeding. Removed the plaster and got on with my sea swim.
About an hour later, it was clean, no longer bleeding and had scabbed up nicely by the time l got to the finish line.
You can also get silicon plasters for scar improvement, they work pretty well.
I have a 1 inch cut on my face that I am trying to prevent from leaving a visible scar after it heals. It didn’t require stitches, I basically keep it bandaged. Will swimming in ocean salt water help or hinder the healing from a small cut like this? Generally I’ve had excellent experience with ocean water and skin issues, but I really don’t want this to scar. Should I stay out of the ocean for a while?
Can’t sharks smell even really little amounts of blood? I’d be more concerned about the “big” scar that could develop from the sharks bite.
This myth implies that some concentration of blood has made it to wherever the shark is, strong enough that it can detect a gradient and trace it to the source. They surely have fine senses, but a drop of blood diffused over a cubic meter is already about 1 part per million, and at 100m away that’d be 3+ orders of magnitude smaller … and it would take a current or turbulence some time to carry the scent. Sharks would sooner hear or see you if they cared, and they likely don’t. This old “science fact†has always bothered me because it doesn’t even have the right units, usually expressed as “a drop of blood from x miles awayâ€
I have a 1 inch cut on my face that I am trying to prevent from leaving a visible scar after it heals. It didn’t require stitches, I basically keep it bandaged. Will swimming in ocean salt water help or hinder the healing from a small cut like this? Generally I’ve had excellent experience with ocean water and skin issues, but I really don’t want this to scar. Should I stay out of the ocean for a while?
Can’t sharks smell even really little amounts of blood? I’d be more concerned about the “big” scar that could develop from the sharks bite.
I have a 1 inch cut on my face that I am trying to prevent from leaving a visible scar after it heals. It didn’t require stitches, I basically keep it bandaged. Will swimming in ocean salt water help or hinder the healing from a small cut like this? Generally I’ve had excellent experience with ocean water and skin issues, but I really don’t want this to scar. Should I stay out of the ocean for a while?
Can’t sharks smell even really little amounts of blood? I’d be more concerned about the “big” scar that could develop from the sharks bite.
This myth implies that some concentration of blood has made it to wherever the shark is, strong enough that it can detect a gradient and trace it to the source. They surely have fine senses, but a drop of blood diffused over a cubic meter is already about 1 part per million, and at 100m away that’d be 3+ orders of magnitude smaller … and it would take a current or turbulence some time to carry the scent. Sharks would sooner hear or see you if they cared, and they likely don’t. This old “science fact†has always bothered me because it doesn’t even have the right units, usually expressed as “a drop of blood from x miles awayâ€
I remember seeing a documentary which suggested they hone in on fish blood rather than human blood; don’t quote me though!
I actually raced a 5k ocean race years ago & didn’t realise until the end that I’d been bleeding for a good portion of it.
Salt water is great for skin healing and drawing out any impurities or minor infection.
That’s a load of BS. Where’s your evidence? Salt water does neither. Sterile saline solution can be used for cleaning but does not do what you claim. Ocean water has microbes. BTW, honey does do what you claim. I primarily do infectious disease but I am also wound certified.
I’m in the midwest and have treated cellulitis from lake/pond water exposure. However, I’ve treated some with cellulitis from salt/ocean water exposure (returned home from vacation). That said infection for an otherwise health person is very unlikely but possible. If any water gets into wound then wash it with a gentle soap or at least rinse well with clean water (doesn’t have to be sterile).
Best thing for you to do is cover the wound as best as you can while you swim. You’ll have to try different products to see what works best. The face probably won’t be that hard since there isn’t much movement. Tegaderm might work. 3M Nexcare have a variety of products that are easy to find. Some walgreens, CVS or other specialty pharmacies might have more products.
My partner had a crash that caused cuts on their face, besides other locations. Our plastic surgeon doing wound management had my partner put on this on their face:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XXWKLXW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Worked amazingly well. I highly suggest seeing a Doctor, such as a plastic surgeon or dermatologist to deal with scar management durning the healing phase.
Good luck.
I really can’t recommend the hydrocolloid wound treatments enough. I’ve use them whenever possible for many years and try to keep woulds from scabbing, keeping it moist but clean under the hydrocolloid bandage. It acts almost like a pain reliever since the cut is not drying out or scabbing.
I recently recommended it to a friend who had stitches on his forehead. When he had his follow-up appointment, the doctor was surprised to see how quickly it was healing. I’m surprised these aren’t promoted more often, and that many people think wounds need to develop a scab to heal, which only leads to unnecessary scarring.
If it’s healed enough that it isn’t weeping, cover it with some tegaderm before swimming.
this, or Duoderm. Leave it on until healed basically, can go up to 7 days according to package.
This stuff is magic for road rash. I used it on a bad open wound from a mtb crash, during canoe races for 5 days. The Tegaderm kept the wound dry and clean through a lot of whitewater and a couple of swims… the wound was weeping, so just changed the dressing each night.
road rash healed in 4-5 days, open wound healed in less than 2 weeks. It did scar but I expected it to do that, an inch long and an inch deep… on forearm so doesn’t bother me there.