Before the 18th century, ancient people mostly used natural materials available locally, such as vegetables, soil, and leaves, as wound dressings. After the 18th century, wound care was carried out under the guidance of the dry healing theory. This theory held that wound healing requires a dry environment, and the involvement of atmospheric oxygen can promote wound healing. Therefore, breathable dressings are necessary to provide wounds with sufficient oxygen for various biochemical reactions required for cell growth.
It was not until 1962 that Dr. Winter of the Royal Medical Society in the UK confirmed through animal experiments that wound healing in a moist environment is twice as fast as in a dry environment, and he first proposed the concept of moist healing. This experimental conclusion not only laid the foundation for the modern theory of moist wound healing but also promoted the application of moist wound healing in nursing technology. However, experts also pointed out that the so-called “moist environment” does not mean that the skin around the wound is soaked. True “moist wound healing” refers to local moisture at the wound site without scab formation. In 1962, Winter published a groundbreaking study in the journal Nature. He found that if blisters on the skin surface remain intact without being punctured, it prevents scab formation and promotes the movement of epithelial cells on the surface, thereby benefiting wound healing. In 1963, Dr. Hinman was the first to reach the same conclusion of moist healing in human wound treatment.
In China, it was not until the early 1990s, with medical staff’s understanding of the moist wound healing theory, the introduction of new sealed dressings, the training of wound specialist nurses, and the development of wound specialty, that the moist wound healing theory was recognized by medical personnel. However, since the concept of dry healing was deeply ingrained in people’s minds, it still took time for the moist healing theory to be widely accepted by patients and their families.