
Learn how to clean a wound at home, avoid harsh antiseptic cleansers, and navigate store options as taught in this course.
Learn proper wound cleaning techniques, compare different methods and solutions, and recognize when to change approaches to support wound care and assessment.
Clean wounds with isotonic normal saline or potable tap water when no signs of infection are present; reserve topical antimicrobials for infection, and avoid long-term use (14 days or less).
Skin cleansers, not wound cleansers, use surfactants to loosen debris and residues without harsh scrubbing, and are not for cleaning fragile skin inside wounds; always read labels and follow instructions.
Distinguish clean technique from sterile technique by detailing handwashing, clean field and gloves versus sterile field, sterile gloves, and sterile instruments, in acute care for high-risk procedures, and follow orders.
Use controlled wound irrigation at 4–15 psi, typically with a 35 ml syringe and 19 gauge angio cap needle, repeating until fluid runs clear, avoid forcing into unseen tunnels.
Clean the wound from the inside out, always in one direction to avoid dragging contaminants, and use a new clean gauze for each additional pass.
Clean wounds safely by ensuring closed incisions stay dry and using appropriate wound cleansers. Recognize infection signs and consult your clinician, avoiding rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide in open wounds.
You are almost done!
Complete the course and submit! Make sure to enter your email at the end to receive your certificate of completion.
This course is approved for 30 minutes or 0.5 credit hours in NYS and any state that accepts reciprocal credits.
Please see your state Physical Therapy State Association for further clarification.
If you need assistance with a wound issue whether it's on yourself, a loved one or a client.
Feel free to reach out on the link below
Open wounds are a portal of infection. The longer a wound stays open, the worse the resulting scar will be.
Cleaning a wound is the first step in caring for a wound. Appropriate cleaning is a critical, often overlooked step. In many instances, people use cytoxic cleansers that can cause more harm than good and slow the entire process.
Looking at the drugstore shelves may confuse you about what you should be using.
During this course, you can prepare to learn why we clean wounds a certain way, which solutions are best to use and what to avoid. Learn the cleaning method and see video examples of how to do it. Learners will identify early signs of infection to prevent further issues that may slow down or prevent you from healing.
The information presented can be used for scaps, surgical sites, pressure injuries and lower leg wounds.
Of course you should be following your Doctor's Recommendations but you may have been given limited information with an assumption that you know how to do it properly.
This course was initially designed for use by Physical Therapists for continuing education hours; however, anyone can care for a wound on themselves and others.
Basic wound care knowledge taught by a Certified Wound Specialist
For personalized recommendations, consider looking at Better Wounds online for video consultations.