Hi, I was diagnosed 9yrs ago, but can track symptoms in my medical records all the way back to as early as 2-3 yrs old. I had a lot of drs who ignored major red flags because they just didn't know. I've had several drs either acuse me of self inflicting my lesions (how do you give yourself fluid and puss filled blisters?!) or being a drug addict because of them. When i was still working as a pharmacist, I had access to a huge variety of options to try before I found what works best in terms of wound care.
After being told time and again that what I was doing was wrong, I finally found a dr who was trained in the middle east, and so was more familiar with Behcets. He was anazed at the amount of clinical research and experimenting I had done (we are all our own biggest activists!). But he also told me that what I was doing was exactly right, even though a lot of it goes against conventional medicine. So, here is what I found that works best, at least for me.
Lance the blisters as early as possible (deeper ones take longer to come to the surface)
Keep draining them until they start to turn black (necrotize).
Once the lesion is completely black and no longer sensitive to pressure or tapping the escar, begin working on taking it off. As strange as it sounds, pick at it. (keep it clean and wash hands before and after.) The escar is not a scab, but rather a very thick and fiberous material, so it may take several days. If there is an obvious pocket of puss, work on releasing that first. I've found using a sterilized pin or needle as if you were taking out a splinter extremely helpful. The longer this escar stays on, the deeper the lesion under it will be. Often there will be a secondary escar. You need to remove this as well. Keep the lesion dry! Covering it will often keep the escar moist, making it impossible to work with.
Once all of the escar and all black material is removed, especially around the edges (and you can cover loosely while working on the last of it) apply silvidine, aka ssd cream and cover with gauze and tegaderm or tape and leave on for 2-3days (in the begining, you may have to change it daily as the gauze becomes saturated.
When changing dressings, clean lesion out thoroughly, irrigate with saline then wipe dry before redressing.
Bleeding in the wound after cleaning is good. That's healthy tissue growing. But if there is more than a few spots of blood, keep cleaning out wound by dabbing it with gauze.
If the wound has tunneling, be sure it is cleaned out as best you can. A q-tip or twisting a corner of gauze are really helpful here.
As the wound begins to clear, there may be some loose skin sloughing of around it, make sure to wipe that off to avoid reblistering.
Once it is no more than a surface scab, leave uncovered. Pull scabbing material off until it is completely scared. Leaving the scabs on or not removing the first new layers of loose or caloused skin more often than not will cause it to reblister.
If you find a scar starting to reblister, open it immediately. That will prevent it from becoming any bigger. I don't recamend covering it or applying ssd, as these may cause the tissue to soften and the new lesion to get bigger.
As I said, this is what works best for me. I have cut back the healing period after the escar forms from 2months to 3-4 weeks, and the healing time for an open lesion from 4-6wks to 1-2 weeks.
Always use sterile tecgnique, washing hands thoroughly and keeping area around you clean, sterilizing pins or needles, as well as tweezers (also very useful!), always using sterile gauze and clean dressings.
I would be interested to know what other wound care routines others use, and if you find this method more effective or not.
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Hi, I was diagnosed 9yrs ago, but can track symptoms in my medical records all the way back to as early as 2-3 yrs old. I had a lot of drs who ignored major red flags because they just didn't know. I've had several drs either acuse me of self inflicting my lesions (how do you give yourself fluid and puss filled blisters?!) or being a drug addict because of them. When i was still working as a pharmacist, I had access to a huge variety of options to try before I found what works best in terms of wound care.
July 5, 2017 - 6:35amAfter being told time and again that what I was doing was wrong, I finally found a dr who was trained in the middle east, and so was more familiar with Behcets. He was anazed at the amount of clinical research and experimenting I had done (we are all our own biggest activists!). But he also told me that what I was doing was exactly right, even though a lot of it goes against conventional medicine. So, here is what I found that works best, at least for me.
Lance the blisters as early as possible (deeper ones take longer to come to the surface)
Keep draining them until they start to turn black (necrotize).
Once the lesion is completely black and no longer sensitive to pressure or tapping the escar, begin working on taking it off. As strange as it sounds, pick at it. (keep it clean and wash hands before and after.) The escar is not a scab, but rather a very thick and fiberous material, so it may take several days. If there is an obvious pocket of puss, work on releasing that first. I've found using a sterilized pin or needle as if you were taking out a splinter extremely helpful. The longer this escar stays on, the deeper the lesion under it will be. Often there will be a secondary escar. You need to remove this as well. Keep the lesion dry! Covering it will often keep the escar moist, making it impossible to work with.
Once all of the escar and all black material is removed, especially around the edges (and you can cover loosely while working on the last of it) apply silvidine, aka ssd cream and cover with gauze and tegaderm or tape and leave on for 2-3days (in the begining, you may have to change it daily as the gauze becomes saturated.
When changing dressings, clean lesion out thoroughly, irrigate with saline then wipe dry before redressing.
Bleeding in the wound after cleaning is good. That's healthy tissue growing. But if there is more than a few spots of blood, keep cleaning out wound by dabbing it with gauze.
If the wound has tunneling, be sure it is cleaned out as best you can. A q-tip or twisting a corner of gauze are really helpful here.
As the wound begins to clear, there may be some loose skin sloughing of around it, make sure to wipe that off to avoid reblistering.
Once it is no more than a surface scab, leave uncovered. Pull scabbing material off until it is completely scared. Leaving the scabs on or not removing the first new layers of loose or caloused skin more often than not will cause it to reblister.
If you find a scar starting to reblister, open it immediately. That will prevent it from becoming any bigger. I don't recamend covering it or applying ssd, as these may cause the tissue to soften and the new lesion to get bigger.
As I said, this is what works best for me. I have cut back the healing period after the escar forms from 2months to 3-4 weeks, and the healing time for an open lesion from 4-6wks to 1-2 weeks.
Always use sterile tecgnique, washing hands thoroughly and keeping area around you clean, sterilizing pins or needles, as well as tweezers (also very useful!), always using sterile gauze and clean dressings.
I would be interested to know what other wound care routines others use, and if you find this method more effective or not.
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