Why do wounds fester? Beware of bacterial infection

Bumps and minor wounds are normal in daily life. If you don’t take them seriously, they may become inflamed and fester. The reason why the wound becomes festered is because it is infected by bacteria, which causes skin tissue necrosis and suppuration.

In fact, when our body is injured, bacteria take advantage of the situation, invade the human body, multiply inside the body, and release toxins. At this time, the body will mobilize the fighters in the blood - white blood cells, to fight against bacteria. Neutrophils in the blood undergo degeneration, pass through the blood vessel wall, reach the wound, engulf the invading bacteria, and decompose them. While the white blood cells are killing bacteria, they themselves will die soon. The white blood cells and the dissolved tissues together form pus, which is the common phenomenon of wound suppuration. If these pus accumulate in the wound, it will affect the healing of the wound and may even cause the patient's wound to not heal for a long time.

The inflammatory response is an inevitable stage in the wound healing process. During this stage, the human body mobilizes its own immune mechanism to kill and engulf invading pathogens, mainly relying on white blood cells and macrophages to fight pathogens. During this process, a large number of bacteria, necrotic tissue, and tissue fluid will be produced, and when a large number of white blood cells die after completing their mission, they will leave behind dead white blood cell bodies. These together with the bacterial decomposition products constitute pus. When there is a lot of pus and no proper treatment measures are taken, the wound will become festered, and its typical manifestations are "redness, swelling, heat and pain". In severe cases, in addition to the above-mentioned local manifestations, there may also be systemic infection symptoms, such as a significant increase in the total white blood cell count, high fever, and systemic consumption.

However, after the wound becomes inflamed and festered, it is necessary to check it in time. Never focus on the surface of the wound and ignore the internal damage. Especially for some patients with head injuries, once inflammation or infection occurs, the consequences will be very serious.