Pus is a sign that a wound is infected but it is also a sign that your body is trying to fight the infection and heal the injury. Once an infection has started, your immune system begins trying to fight it off. It sends white blood cells to the area to destroy the bacteria.
Discharge - If the wound is discharging small amounts of pus, it is a positive sign of healing. However, if there is continuous drainage and you start noticing bad odor or have discoloration, the wound is likely infected.
Drainage and Tissue Removal
In some cases, an abscess drainage may be needed to clear pus. In such cases, if pus is not cleared, the infection may be harder to resolve. At the same time, the infection may spread into the bloodstream, causing a potentially life-threatening reaction known as sepsis.
“A wound that's oozing pus definitely means you have a bacterial infection,” said Dr. Brady Didion, a Marshfield Clinic Health System family medicine physician. An incision or wound that's healing well looks slightly red and may seep clear fluid.
Any access drainage should stop within a couple of days. Pain from the wound will gradually go away. The abscess should heal completely within two weeks.
Avoid touching, pushing, popping, or squeezing the abscess because that can spread the infection to other parts of the skin, making things worse.
A wound that's healing can produce a clear or pink fluid. An infected wound can produce a yellowish, bad-smelling fluid called pus. When fluid seeps from a wound, it is called wound drainage.
Once the pus has been removed, the cavity needs to heal upwards from the inside out, so the opening in your skin is left open. If the cavity is deep, your surgeon will place a pack (antiseptic dressing) in it to keep it open, allowing pus to drain out and your wound to heal properly.
Infected cuts and scrapes heal much more slowly than those kept clean and infection-free. One of the best ointments to treat infection is NEOSPORIN® — the #1 doctor recommended brand of topical antibiotic in the US.
Share on Pinterest Pus consists of macrophages and neutrophils, sent by the body's immune system to combat infection. Pus is the result of the body's natural immune system automatically responding to an infection, usually caused by bacteria or fungi.
It may have a foul odor but that is not always the case. It may have no scent at all. But pus is a natural part of the healing process for wounds. Pus is a sign that a wound is infected but it is also a sign that your body is trying to fight the infection and heal the injury.
The abscess may need be drained to get rid of the pus. This usually involves a small operation to make a cut in the skin which will allow the pus to drain. You may be given a local anaesthetic so you do not feel anything when the abscess is drained. You may also be given antibiotics if the abscess is infected.
Home and natural remedies include applying raw onion, garlic juice, a turmeric paste, or goatweed essential oil to the boil. Boils begin as painful, red bumps that develop a pus-filled head as they progress. Most boils burst, drain, and heal within 2 days to 3 weeks of forming.
Gentle cleaning with soap and water before applying a fresh dressing is usually recommended. If any topical products are involved, you will also receive instructions on how to use these. Warm compresses might be recommended for managing pain after an abscess drainage, usually 3-4 times a day.
Although pus is normally of a whitish-yellow hue, changes in the color can be observed under certain circumstances. Pus is sometimes green because of the presence of myeloperoxidase, an intensely green antibacterial protein produced by some types of white blood cells.
It's usually a light pink to red color. This is a sign that your body is healing the wound and isn't a concern in normal amounts. Purulent drainage: Purulent drainage, the thickest of the three types, is white, yellow or brown fluid. It indicates that bacteria entered your wound and caused an infection.
There are four stages of wound healing - Hemostasis, inflammatory, proliferation, and maturation.
Green pus is a potential warning sign of a pseudomonas bacterial infection caused by a bacterium called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This color of pus is often accompanied by a foul odor. A possible indicator of a staph infection or strep. A brown pus infection could be associated with a liver infection.
Small abscesses can sometimes burst and heal on their own. However, larger or internal abscesses need to be drained by a doctor (sometimes involving surgery). You may also need to take antibiotics.
The wound may drain for the first 2 days. Cover the wound with a clean dry dressing. Change the dressing if it becomes soaked with blood or pus. If a gauze packing was placed inside the abscess pocket, you may be told to remove it yourself.