Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with heal

Burn, Baby, Burn!

Jon-o — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:23:46 -0800

Holy Crap! I burned a tattoo! The other day, I got a serious burn right on one of my tattoos (hot exhaust+forearms=teh suck)
I gave it some first aid, but it's a really nasty, deep, ugly burn and it's probably going to scar. Unfortunately, it's right in the line of fire, as far as being aggravated goes. It gets touched and scraped all the time and I'm really worried about how messed up the ink will be when it finally heals.
Aside from keeping it covered (I'm doing my best, but I tend to sweat the bandages off), what other advice do you have for helping this come out at least ok-ish? Is my ink doomed? I'm really upset and worried.

fast bruise healing

cheemee — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:54:54 -0800

I have a large bruise below my knee which needs to go away quickly. Tell me how! My brother’s getting married in less than a week (on Sunday). I am one of the bridesmaids, and our dresses are knee length. This bruise is VERY visible. I am fine with using makeup to cover day-of, but of course would much rather avoid that, not to mention we will be on a fairly tight schedule as it is and worried about it rubbing off on the dress.

Some (maybe relevant) info:
- I got the bruise 2 nights ago (Saturday night)
- It is not painful, mildly painful when massaged, and the cause of it was not really painful (I bruise easily I guess). So I didn’t even discover the bruise until several hours later.
- Growing up I used to massage my bruises all the time, so I did that as soon as I discovered the bruise. And have done so several times since.
- I also put some RubA535 on it last night and will be putting some more after I post this
- This morning, Google seemed to suggest that massaging was not a good idea, so I stopped. And started applying ice packs.
- Some Google results say to switch to a warm pack after 24 hrs, some say 48 hrs, some say 72 hrs. Which is it? Or should I be going by colour rather than time? If so, at what colour should I be switching?
- It was a fairly bright pink this morning, but at the moment, it's quite a bit darker, and is turning brown.
- The cause wasn’t any one large impact. It was more repeated pressure against the bruise area.

What should I be doing to make this owwie go away?

Will also be happy to get cover-up tips.

Thank you!!!

How to best heal a facial scar?

bahama mama — Thu, 01 May 2008 06:42:23 -0800

ScarFilter: Asking for my sister. My sister fell today while running to the car and smashed her face into the pavement. Nothing broken, but she now has a wide chunk of flesh missing from the area on her nose right between her eyes. It can’t be stitched because it is not a deep cut, it is really just a chunk of missing skin, and the “dent” is very noticeable – it looks like someone scooped out a portion of her skin with a small spoon. (I apologize if that was too descriptive!) What can she do to minimize scarring while it heals? Is there anything that can be done so that skin heals in a way to make the “dent” less obvious? Should she go to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon? Has anyone had any experience with wounds like this? Anecdotes, advice, reassurance would be greatly appreciated! I've read through this and found it helpful but was wondering if there was anything more you might add?

Help! I don't want a hole in my thumb!

happyturtle — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:50:08 -0800

I cut myself badly today, ripping off a piece of skin about .5cm in diameter right on the knuckle of my thumb. (further gory details inside) - Is there anything I can do tonight to improve healing, or should I leave it alone? - Should I go to my GP or the walk in clinic in the morning The cut is very deep, with fat attached to the skin. I was home alone on my lunch break, so I tied a bandage around it as tight as I could, which stopped the bleeding, and went back to work. The first aid lady at work looked at it and rebandaged it and said she didn't think it would need stitches, but when she saw it, the flap of skin was sitting nicely in place.

After I got home from work, I dislodged the bandage accidentally, so decided to replace it. The flap of skin stuck to the gauze and came away from the wound. I put it back in place, gauze and all, trimmed the excess bandage away, put a dollop of antiseptic cream on top of the gauze, and put a bandaid over the whole thing.

If the skin doesn't reattach, I'm going to end up with a pit in my thumb from the scar tissue. But at 8 hours since the injury, I'm guessing it's probably too late for stitches, and it's almost bedtime.

Further details: The bleeding has stopped, and there's very little pain. I've lost no function or sensation in my thumb. And the cut was deep enough that there was fat attached to the flap of skin.

Thank God it's not a tattoo

rosemere — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:51:19 -0800

How long does it take to remove a wedding ring dent? My husband and I are splitting up. I took off my narrow gold band last Friday and noticed a very obvious, red imprint. I gained about 30 pounds since the ceremony, but the ring still slipped off easily enough, so I thought it would look better within a day.

So the fact that I still have a groove (no red left) about 50% the size of the original mark, and that it looks slightly shiny and striated, concerns me. I don't want the pathetic fallacy of a scar on my ring finger following me into a new life. So will this fade on its own? Is there something I can do to speed up the healing?

Oooh, after that haymaker his eye looks bad!

nekton — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 18:07:49 -0800

What is being used by the cutman to heal your boxer (reduce swelling) in the video game ESPN Fight Night Round 3? In ESPN Fight Night Rd. 3, when you are injured your cutman can heal you between rounds. To reduce swelling, he rubs what looks like some sort of block with a handle against your boxer's face. What is this tool? Is it used to reduce swelling "in real life"?

How can I promote bone growth?

prentiz — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 17:21:48 -0800

Help me fix my leg... Back in July I broke my ankle quite badly, following a martini-related incident (or MRI) where I fell out of a tree. Several weeks down the line I'm still waiting for the consultants to let me put weight on it - and hence get back to work. Apparently I haven't had the bone growth they've hoped for.

So essentially - any tips for encouraging bone growth. Does drinking milk help, or some herbal remedy - or anything really. Evidence appreciated - but at this stage of desperation by no means essential!

What can I do to minimize this scar on my nose for the long-term?

handee — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 09:09:07 -0800

I'm going to have a reasonably large scar on my nose. What can I do now to minimise the long term visibility of the scar? I'm taking multivitamins. I had the stitches out 5 days ago. I've been using the antibiotic cream the surgeon gave me but it's about to finish. What can I do? Moisturisers any use? Any other dietary supplements?

Activities for active guy to do while recovering from hand surgery?

grimley — Sun, 30 Jan 2005 11:48:38 -0800

My brother (in-law) is having surgery tomorrow on his hands to help with his Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. He's a roofer, a general contractor and also a rock-climber, so you can imagine how not having the use of his hands for up to six weeks is going to drive him crazy. They live nowhere near me, but I'd like to present him with a list of things that he could do while bed-ridden and beyond. Points for originality, and thanks.