Trifectiv Plus

Some of the most moving messages we get are from people who had nearly given up on a wound ever healing.

Susanna is one of them: "Ten years ago I sustained an injury on my right leg that did not heal, partly due to weak lymph drainage. I started using Trifectiv Plus Wound & Burn Care Spray and, for the first time in these years and various professional treatments, I am experiencing healing of my wound. I would recommend this to anyone suffering from a slow-healing wound. Although not fully healed yet, the improvement makes the wait worthwhile."

That honesty - improvement, not an overnight miracle - is exactly how slow-healing wounds go. And we hear it again and again from people caring for someone they love: a mother's wound of two years starting to turn, a husband's six-month wound changing within days.

Thank you Susanna, and everyone who has taken the time to share their story.

So what holds a wound in that stuck stage? A lot of the time, the answer is biofilm.

Biofilm is what bacteria build when they settle in and get organised. Instead of drifting about as single cells, they gather on the wound and wrap themselves in a self-made layer of slime - a shield that glues them down and seals them off. Less a smear of germs, more a fortress.

That fortress is the problem. Bacteria inside it can be far more tolerant of antibiotics than the same germs out in the open, which is why a course of antibiotics can leave a wound barely changed. The slime also hides them from the immune system, so the body keeps sensing a threat it can't quite reach - and keeps the inflammation running. Round it goes.

We unpack this in our most recent blog, at https://links.trifectiv.com/pab

A myth worth retiring, that a wound heals best when left open to "air out" and dry into a scab.

For decades that was the advice. We now know a wound kept lightly moist and covered generally heals faster and with less scarring than one left to dry out. A hard scab can actually get in the way of the new skin trying to bridge underneath it.

Moist doesn't mean sealed, though. A breathable dressing, not a waterproof one, and none of the occlusive jelly that traps things in.

Clean the wound with plain warm water, and keep it lightly moist with layers of woven gauze wet with Trifectiv Plus. Changed daily this dressing protocol will promote a moist wound environment that lets the skin do its work with a diminished risk of scarring.

Most cuts follow a schedule. A graze scabs over, itches for a bit, and a week later you've forgotten which knee it was on.

Then there's the other kind. The sore on a diabetic foot that looks the same in March as it did in January. The ulcer on an elderly parent's leg that half-closes and opens again. The one that just won't turn the corner, however carefully it's dressed.

If you're caring for a wound like that, it's easy to assume you're doing something wrong. Usually you're not. More often there's something physical getting in the way - and it has a name.

Our new piece explains what's really going on: https://links.trifectiv.com/utv

One more burn myth to put down: popping the blister.

A blister is the body's own dressing. The fluid underneath is sterile and the skin on top protects the raw layer while it heals. Pop it and you open the door to infection. We know it's tempting, but leave it be! Keep it clean, and if it is large, painful or somewhere awkward, let a professional decide.

If it does break on its own, spray with Trifectiv® Plus and cover with 3-5 layers of woven gauze wet with the product to speed healing. Change daily until the skin recovers.

When dealing with burns the first thing you should do is hold it under cool running water. The part most people get wrong is the length of time they do this for.

The old advice was a few minutes. It has since firmed up: a full twenty minutes of cool running water, ideally within three hours of the burn. Twenty minutes reduces the depth of the burn, the need for skin grafts and time in hospital. Three minutes is better than nothing. Twenty is the one that changes the outcome.

If you don't have access to a tap then use a basin of cool (not iced) water, change the water regularly to keep the burnt area cool.

Once cooled, a spray of Trifectiv® Plus and a piece of spray-soaked gauze laid on the area for a couple of minutes is next. Then assess. If the burn is bigger than a palm, or on the face, hands or feet, or looking deep - go to the hospital immediately.

Our full guide is on the blog: https://links.trifectiv.com/i1m

Burns are not the only thing winter throws at small bodies. Grazed knees from the playground, a scraped elbow off a bike, the cut that comes from a fall on a cold hard surface.

The routine is the same and simple. Clean the wound and spray with Trifectiv® Plus. Add 3-5 layers of woven gauze wet with the product as a daily dressing wherever possible. Trifectiv disinfects, calms and lets the skin heal, and crucially it does not sting - so there is less of the fight that usually comes with cleaning a child's wound.

Compact enough for the nappy bag or the car. Worth having on hand when the school holidays fill up with scrapes.

Not every burn is a quick scald you feel at once. A hot water bottle held against the same spot all night, or an electric blanket left on for hours, can cause what is called a low-temperature contact burn.

The surface does not feel dangerously hot. But skin in still, unbroken contact with it builds up damage slowly, layer by layer, while you sleep. There is often no sharp pain to warn you - you wake to a reddened or blistered patch that was not there the night before.

It catches two groups most. Small children, who cannot move away. And the elderly, or anyone with diabetes, who often feel heat less and can rest against a hot surface for hours without realising.

A few habits help. More on the blog: https://links.trifectiv.com/dm0