How to best protect larger wounds

1
How to best protect larger wounds
Our legs help us go through a lot every day.
Through our daily activities, we put a lot of
strain on them. Thus, when they get really
exerted, a muscle pull or strain can set them
back a little. A muscle pull refers to a damage
or tear to any muscle or their surrounding
tendons. Undue pressure due to our normal
activities, any athletic move or sudden heavy
lifting can cause a muscle strain.

• When a muscle pull or strain happens, it can tear
  the affected muscle partially or fully. It also
  affects the surrounding blood vessels and
  tendons, causing local bruising and bleeding. It
  also affects the surrounding nerve endings, thus
  causing moderate to immense pain in the affected
  area.
• Look out for a muscle strain
• There are some tell-tale symptoms of a muscle
  strain. Other than the pain that is there in the
  affected area even at rest, there may be
  swelling, bruising around the skin, internal
  local bleeding, redness and itchiness due to the
  injury. Sometimes the strain may be only at a
  local muscle so a sharp pain can be felt only
  when that muscle is moved. The muscles become
  weak and using your legs in general for even mild
  activities like walking can become difficult.
  While the pain is there, it might be that the
  strain is so severe, that the muscle becomes
  completely immovable.
• In case of severe pain or if home remedies do not
  show any signs of recovery in the first 24 hours
  of spraining, consult your physician and seek
  medical help.
• Treat it at home
• Most often, muscle strains are not so severe and
  can be treated at home with proper care and
  guidance. To stop
• the bleeding and bruising, its best to use an
  ice pack as soon as you injure yourself. However,
  always remember to use a towel or any other
  protective layer between your skin and the ice.
  Stretch out the affected limb for optimum leg
  pain relief. You can have a non-steroidal,
  anti-inflammatory medicine but if you are on
  other medications and face any other disorder,
  make sure you take proper medical guidance before
  having it.
• Rest your strained muscle as much as possible and
  avoid exerting any weight on it. Try not to do
  any physical exercise for the next one week
  after straining your muscle.
• Keep applying the ice pack on the affected area
  every 15 to 20 minutes to reduce the swelling. It
  is really effective as an anti-inflammatory and
  stops the blood flow to the affected area to
  decrease the swelling.
• Make sure you compress the pulled muscle area on
  your leg with a Hansaplast Crepe Bandage. Choose
  the right sized one out of the four offerings
  Hansaplast has and wrap it tightly around your
  leg to relieve yourself of the muscle pain.
  However, make sure you dont wrap it too tightly
  as it may restrict blood flow and cause more
  damage. If it causes numbness, redness or
  itchiness on the swelling, loosen the bandage
  around your leg and let it relax for a while.
• Lastly, make sure you keep your leg at an
  elevated level when youre relaxing, sitting or
  sleeping. This will relax your muscle and
  release any fluid build-up that has been
  happening in the strained area.