Itching cuts??

Question:

Last Tuesday my legs got cut. There was one particular nasty one that the doctor put steristrips on. He covered the whole area with a waterproof padding. It's getting really itchy but i cant scratch it because of the padding and i'm scared to take it off because he told me to leave it on. I can see brown spots through the dressing that I'm assuming is blood. Do you think this could mean its infected or its just the skin healing? If I take the dressing off and look at the cuts what should I be looking for that would suggest it's infected?

Answers:
Well DON'T itch it, the skin is just healing and if you do take the padding (which I don't think you should) a way to see if it's infected is if it is really really swollen or an irregular shape. The blood on the padding is most likely from the skin healing up.

I'm guessing that the itching is the nerve endings reconnecting across the cut as you heal.

If you're worried that it's infected, you could call the doctor's office and ask if it's okay for you to put on a fresh dressing. If you can, then you can take a good look at it, checking for signs of infection.

FWIW, in my limited experience, infections don't itch so much as hurt.

It doesn't seem right that it's been like 4 days and the doctor said not to take the dressing off, but I don't know how bad the cut is or how deep.
I definitely wouldn't be scratching it and for sure a dressing change would be in order, the area needs to be cleaned especially if it is seeping through the dressing. If you're not sure how to change and clean it talk to your doctor.

Itching cuts??

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