A cut is an injury that no one is safe from - neither an adult nor a child. Most often, such a wound is received in everyday life when working with a kitchen knife was not very careful. It is important to know what the first aid should be for cuts so that the wound heals faster. After all, if you do not follow all the rules of treatment, there is a risk of developing an infection that requires long-term treatment.
Cut - what is it?
By a cut is meant a violation of the integrity of the skin, but sometimes the vessels and muscle tissue suffer. The reason is careless handling of sharp objects (knife, razor, glass containers, etc.). If the skin is slightly damaged, then special treatment is not required. First aid for cutting a finger, when the wound is small, will be treated with an antiseptic and glued a medical patch.
But sometimes the wound is so deep that a sharp object damages even the tendons, ligaments. In this case, conventional antiseptic treatment is not enough. The victim should be provided with qualified medical care using surgery.
Types of cuts
Depending on the subject that damaged the skin, in medicine it is customary to divide cuts into the following types:
- Chipped cut. The most common cause of this injury is careless handling of the sewing needle. It looks like a harmless item, but sometimes it, penetrating very deeply, leaves behind a serious injury.
- Cut cut. The reason is careless handling of sharp objects (glass, knife, blade, etc.). The wound is narrow in appearance, but the length can be different. The depth of cut depends on the degree of pressure on the skin.
- Cut with torn edges. Serious injury resulting from falling onto a blunt object. Most often this applies to children who, playing on the street, fall, while injuring their knees and elbows.
The cut can be combined. Such an injury can result from a fall, collision with glass. In this case, the wounds will be of varying severity.
Help to the injured
First aid for cuts should be provided immediately. Flushing the wound with water is the first thing to do. It is better if the water is boiled, but in extreme conditions it’s just clean. Fill the cut with hydrogen peroxide. The wound needs to be well examined to assess the depth of damage. You should also check to see if there are any foreign objects stuck in it (often happens after an injury by glass). Blot the cut with a clean bandage or cotton to remove moisture.
Treat the edges of the wound with iodine, brilliant green, in no case allowing the product to get on the damaged tissue. Make a sterile dressing on top. Sometimes a small adhesive patch is sufficient (if the injury is minor).
With bleeding
If there is bleeding, then it must be stopped. When a finger or leg is injured, the limb should be raised slightly up. So the bleeding will stop faster.
First aid for cuts with severe bleeding requires a lot of effort. To do this, you need to put a good pressure on the wound, but at the same time applying a clean bandage on top. Press the gasket until the blood stops protruding strongly. But it should not take more than 20 minutes.
Once the bleeding has stopped, apply a sterile dressing to the cut. It should fit snugly to the body. If you yourself could not cope with stopping the bleeding, then you need to immediately seek medical help. The victim can be taken to the nearest trauma center. On the way, the wound should be covered with a clean cloth.
It's important to know:
- Do not use a patch for wrapping a wound in order to stop bleeding;
- if after ligation the limb swells, then this means that the bandage is tightly tightened;
- if the cut was made by a very dirty or rusty object, then you should contact a trauma center immediately to prevent the development of an infectious disease;
- if the bleeding is plentiful, the blood pulsates or beats with a fountain, then you need to immediately call an ambulance team (before the arrival of the doctors put a tourniquet above the wound and fix the time);
- when the blood is dark, it flows slowly, but there is a lot of it, then you can’t also delay in calling an ambulance.
Urgently to the doctor!
There are times when first aid for cuts requires immediate medical attention:
- If bleeding does not stop after applying a pressure dressing.
- When the skin surrounding the wound begins to go numb, it becomes cold, turns blue.
- If the cut was made with a not very clean object, or dirt got into the wound after injury.
- If the victim has diabetes, or there are other serious problems with the immune system.
- The old age of the patient.
- When the injury is on the face, neck.
- If the first aid for cuts at home was wrong, the symptoms of an infectious disease appeared.
Stitching
Sometimes first aid for cuts requires suturing. The doctor assesses the degree of damage and decides what to do in this situation.
Stitches are applied in such cases:
- if the edges of the wound do not close;
- if the cut is too deep (more than 5 mm) or long (more than 20 mm);
- if the edges of the wound are lacerated;
- if through the wound you can see muscle tissue or bone.
How to speed up the healing of a cut?
If the first aid for cuts was correct, then the wound will heal quickly. But this process can be accelerated! To do this, you can use healing ointments, creams.
Cream "ARGOSULFAN ® " promotes the healing of abrasions and small wounds. The combination of the antibacterial component of silver sulfathiazole and silver ions helps to provide a wide range of antibacterial action of the cream. You can apply the drug not only to wounds located in open areas of the body, but also under dressings. The tool has not only a wound healing, but also an antimicrobial effect, and in addition, promotes wound healing without a rough scar 1 .
The composition of many drugs includes special substances (dexpanthenol, vitamin B) that accelerate regeneration. To prevent the development of infection, ointments with an antibiotic are used. They are applied to the wound no later than 4 hours after damage.
Proper care of the affected area is the key to a quick recovery. Dressings should be done regularly, the cut should be carefully treated, and contaminants should not get on this
Better to prevent than to treat! This rule also applies to cuts. You need to be careful when working with sharp objects. After all, sometimes carelessness is the reason for getting a cut wound. But if this happened, then first aid should be taken seriously. The state of health in the future depends on her.