- Types of wound
- How wounds heal
- Stages of healing
- When to call for help
- Home
- » Wounds & Healing
- » Types Of Wound
Types Of Wound
Wounds can be caused as the result of surgery, accident or underlying disease that leads to the skin breaking down.
Surgical wounds do not normally pose any problem as far as healing is concerned, unless they get infected or there is an underlying disease that interferes with the healing process.
Accidental wounds like cuts, abrasions or burns are more likely to be dirty and may also involve a lot more general tissue damage. This can make healing more complicated.
Wounds due to skin breakdown, such as leg ulcers or diabetic foot ulcers, can be the hardest to heal because the underlying disease that caused them is often still present. As a result these can become a long-standing problem.
You may also see or hear wounds described according to their condition - as necrotic (involving a lot of dead tissue), sloughy (with a crust), weepy or dry, clean or infected. A wound may pass through several of these conditions as it heals.