Guide to Detect and Care for Minor Cuts and Scrapes

Cuts, scrapes and bruises are part of our day-to-day life and no family is actually safe from them. If you go through your family album then you will find minimum one photograph (if not more) of a child with a bandaged hand or knee. That is why it is safe to say the no family is immune to it.

But fortunately, you can treat these injuries, without any visit from the doctor, right at your home. Pharmacists usually can advise patients whether they require medical attention or not by looking at the wound.

Defining Scrapes and Cuts

Cuts are caused when objects penetrate through the skin. Cuts can bleed depending on the depth of the skin.

Scrapes, on the other hand, occur where the layers of the skin are torn or scraped. These injuries are mostly the result of a fall and you can mostly find them in the elbows, hands and knees. In this case, bleeding is not very common although it may occur from time to time.

How to Detect If a Wound Requires Medical Attention

As said earlier, the minor cuts can be taken care of right at home. But in order to detect which cuts require medical attention, you can look for the following symptoms.

• Edges that are far apart are jagged by the wound
• It is deep enough to see muscle, bone or fat
• Blood is gushing out of it or the wound is pretty deep and long

How to Take Care of Minor Cuts and Scrapes

Here are the things that you must do to take care of a minor cut

• Use a clean cloth, gauze or tissue to put pressure on the cut area and try to stop the bleeding. After a few minutes the bleeding should stop. If the gauze gets soaked by more blood then you must add on to the existing gauze and continue pressurizing the area. You should keep the pressure on for several minutes and should not remove the gauze time and again to see if it has stopped to bleed. This is because removing the gauze can stop the clot from forming and it will break. In case, the blood keeps spurting even after pressurising for ten minutes then it is advisable that you seek medical help. Stitches may be required under such circumstances.
• Rinse the cut with cool water thoroughly once you have stopped bleeding. You pour water with the help of cup on the wound or can hold the wound under running water.
• After that you can use a soft cloth and soap for removing the germs from the skin around the cut. You should prevent the soap from getting into the wound as this is capable of causing irritation because of the presence of iodine and hydrogen peroxide.
• In order to do away with gravel, glass or dirt and other foreign material from the wound you can use tweezers.
• If the area won’t get rubbed by clothing or will not get dirty then keep the wound uncovered.

On the other hand, if the area is exposed to dirt and pollution and can be soiled easily or can be rubbed by clothing like your knee or hand, it is best to use waterproof bandages. You should change it every day or even sooner if it gets dirty or wet. You can use sealed bandages for scrapes that cover a larger area.