How to Treat Dog Bite Wounds
Wounds from dog bites can be small to large. This condition can happen to anyone. Therefore, treatment of wounds caused by dog bites must be done properly so as not to cause infection. Then, how to treat dog bite wounds? Check out the explanation in this article.
In some cases, dog bite wounds that occur in children are mostly on the head and neck. Meanwhile, dog bite wounds that occur in adolescents or adults are more common on the legs or arms or hands. The occurrence of differences in the location of the dog bite depends on the height of the person bitten and the height of the dog.
Danger of Dog Bites
The important thing to do after being bitten by a dog is to immediately keep your distance from the dog so you don't get bitten again. When the situation looks safe, try to find out whether the dog is infected with rabies or not. To find out, you can ask the dog's vaccination history to the owner. Make sure you can get the owner's name, phone number and contact information for the vet who gave the dog the vaccine.
If the dog that bit you is not accompanied by its owner, you can try asking the people around the scene if anyone knows the owner of the dog or not? This is important to ask so you can find out the data above. All of this data is needed to determine whether or not you need to get the rabies vaccine.
Dog bite wounds can cause several conditions as follows:
1. Bacterial infections
A dirty dog's mouth can contain germs that can cause serious infections of injured skin. The risk of infection will be higher if the dog bites is a person who has impaired immune system or people who suffer from diabetes. Also read articles about: How to Boost Your Immune System Naturally
2. Tetanus
Tetanus can be a fatal bacterial infection if it occurs in people who have never received a tetanus vaccine.
3. Muscle and nerve damage
A deep dog bite can cause damage to the muscles, nerves and blood vessels under the skin. This risk can occur in all conditions of dog bite wounds, including wounds that look small like stab wounds.
4. Fracture
Large dog bite wounds can cause broken bones, especially in the legs, feet, hands and arms.
5. Rabies
Rabies is a serious viral infection that can affect the central nervous system. If not treated immediately, this infection can result in death.
How to Treat Dog Bite Wounds on Human
How to treat dog bite wounds depends on the severity of the dog bite wound. In general, the first aid that can be done is:
1. Wash the dog bite marks until they are clean
If your skin is not injured, wash the area with warm water and soap. To prevent infection, you can also apply an antiseptic solution to the area.
2. Wash and apply pressure to the injured area
If your skin is injured, wash the area with soap and warm water, and apply gentle pressure to the wound to help remove and clean germs.
3. Dress the wound with a cloth
If the bite wound bleeds, you can stop the bleeding by using a clean cloth to apply gentle pressure to the wound. After that you can cover the wound using a sterile bandage.
4. Take pain relievers
To reduce the pain that arises from being bitten by a dog, you can take pain relievers, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol.
5. Check with your doctor
If signs of infection appear, such as swelling, redness, warmth and pus, see a doctor immediately to get the appropriate antibiotic medication. The doctor will usually give antibiotics, such as amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, which can be consumed for 3-5 days.
If the dog that bit you has no known history of rabies vaccination, you also need to consult this with your doctor. You also need to tell your doctor if the biting dog seems sick or is in an area with many cases of rabies.
If the wound is bitten by a dog, the blood is still flowing profusely even though pressure has been applied to the wound for 10 minutes or so, then you need to get immediate treatment at the emergency room (ER).
To prevent dangerous complications from infection in dog bite wounds, you should immediately consult a doctor even if the wound looks small. You need to tell your doctor about your history of the tetanus vaccine because wounds from dog bites also have the risk of causing tetanus. So, the doctor can give the tetanus vaccine according to your tetanus vaccine history.
That's an explanation of how to treat dog bite wounds, hopefully it can be useful.
