Fact Checked
Overview Of Cuts And Scrapes
- Every parent has to know how to handle wounds from the playground.
- Bleeding elbows, splinters and severed fingers all need some type of medical help.
- Essentially, if it’s anything worse than an injured ego, mom (and occasionally dad) will be called upon to arrange a dressing for the cut or scrape.
- If the wound is bad enough to deserve stitches, it wouldn’t exactly be considered minor anymore. That’s a wound that needs a visit to the doctor.
- Apart from requiring stitches, other reasons to phone the doctor includes if the wound is from a human bite or an animal.
- For a minor cut or scrape, a little care should be sufficient.
Clean The Cut Or Scrape
- The initial step is always to rinse the wound.
- Just keep it basic. Some of the finest emergency centers use simple tap water to wash cuts.
- If it’s particularly dirty, a small bit of soap and a fresh washcloth may be needed to get rid of all the dirt.
- If the dirt or fragments won’t come out, you may have to see a doctor to prevent infection.
End the Bleeding
- If there is a severe amount of blood you should control the blood loss right away. If it’s shooting red blood, phone the emergency services.
- A tiny amount of bleeding is actually useful. The blood discharging helps to cleanse grime and contamination.
- Though, once the wound is dirt-free, bleeding must be stopped. With a little wound, blood loss will generally discontinue by itself.
- To discontinue the bleeding, place force directly on the wound with a dressing or gauze for up to 10 minutes.
- Don’t lift the dressing to examine the wound. Every time you pick up the gauze or bandage, you can shatter the clot and begin the bleeding all over again.