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.
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.
After the initial discharge of a bit of pus and blood, your wound should be clear. If the discharge continues through the wound healing process and begins to smell bad or have discoloration, it's probably a sign of infection.
Pus is a substance that is produced by a battle between our immune cells and bacteria. “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.
However, antibiotics alone may not be enough to clear a skin abscess, and the pus may need to be drained to clear the infection. If a skin abscess is not drained, it may continue to grow and fill with pus until it bursts, which can be painful and can cause the infection to spread or come back.
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.
Pus is a whitish-yellow, yellow, or brown-yellow protein-rich fluid called liquor puris that accumulates at the site of an infection. It consists of a buildup of dead, white blood cells that form when the body's immune system responds to the infection.
Call Your Doctor If:
Wound becomes more painful. Redness starts to spread. Pus or fever occurs.
A wound that's healing can produce a clear or pink fluid. An infected wound can produce a yellowish, bad-smelling fluid called pus.
There are four stages of wound healing - Hemostasis, inflammatory, proliferation, and maturation.
Color: Wound drainage that is part of the healing process is usually clear or has a pale hue. Slightly colored drainage or discharge that changes color may be a sign of an infection.
Pus appears green due to an antibacterial protein called myeloperoxidase. It's made by certain white blood cells. 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.
If left untreated, abscesses can spark an infection that spreads throughout your body, and can be life-threatening. Call your doctor if your skin abscess does not go away on its own, or with home treatment.
The normal range for pus cells from the urine is 0-5. The presence of 8-10 pus cells suggests bacterial infection, which is mostly diagnosed as urinary tract infection (uti). Let's connect over a call so that we can discuss your concern in details and make a suitable treatment plan for you.
Evidence indicates that if a wound is not allowed to drain freely, blood, body fluids, pus, and necrotic material will collect in the wound, providing a growth medium for microorganisms. Surgical wound drainage is recognized as a key element in facilitating the healing process.
Pain is an essential indicator of poor wound healing and should not be underestimated. Pain can occur from the disease process, surgery, trauma, infection or as a result of dressing changes and poor wound management practices.
Purulent drainage is a sign of infection. It's a white, yellow, or brown fluid and might be slightly thick in texture. It's made up of white blood cells trying to fight the infection, plus the residue from any bacteria pushed out of the wound. There may be an unpleasant smell to the fluid, as well.
Is betadine good for pus? No, betadine is not advisable for pus. Betadine is ineffective if applied to an infected wound carrying pus or blood. You must clean the area before applying this medicine.