Reducing Pain

The main way that your nurse or other healthcare professional can reduce pain or damage at dressing changes is by selecting exactly the right dressing for the wound on an individual basis. This selection will be reviewed at each dressing change, as the condition of the wound changes.

They will also handle the wound very gently, avoiding any unnecessary manipulation, and will alter how they do the dressing change according to how much pain it is causing.

They will also try to identify things that trigger or reduce the pain, allow "time out" breaks when pain is becoming unacceptable and use approaches which have been shown to work in the past. They may also prescribe painkillers to be taken before the dressing change.