Cuts are a violation of the integrity of the skin with pointed objects. If only skin and adipose tissue are affected by cuts, they pass by themselves. If muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels are damaged, consult a doctor. Such injuries are considered common in everyday life. They are received by adults and children. To avoid the negative consequences of cuts with a knife, blade or glass, you need to know the basic rules of first aid.
What danger do cuts cause?
- Injuries with pointed objects: a knife, blade or glass are dangerous damage to the artery, nerve, large vessels. If cuts on the hands with a blade or other pointed object are not immediately processed, dangerous microorganisms will fall into the wound. Gangrene may begin or a trophic ulcer may form that cannot be healed. Infection can be life threatening.
- If the cut is inflamed, complications are possible in the form of purulent sagging and phlegmon. This is a condition where pus does not leak out, but remains inside and spreads into the surrounding tissue. With an increase in temperature and general weakness, an urgent need to call a doctor.
First aid for cuts
Any person can be injured with a sharp object. To cope with a small cut yourself is also possible if you know how. What to do with a cut in the first minutes after receiving an injury? First of all, do not panic. If a person is afraid of the sight of blood, first aid should be provided by someone whom it does not frighten. It is as follows:
- The cut is carefully inspected to determine how serious the injury is.
- After examination, the wound is washed well with running water. If there is no way to do this, you can use bottled water, which is sold in every kiosk.
- To prevent the spread of infection in the wound, do not touch it with your hands. If necessary, the cut can be washed with soapy foam, which should be washed off immediately after treating the wound. Do not use laundry soap. For this purpose, a baby is better suited.
- Everything described above is done very quickly, in a matter of seconds. The most important thing is to stop the blood, for which the hand, finger or leg is lifted so that the cut is above the level of the body. The cut should be squeezed with fingers wrapped in bandage or a clean cloth. After a few minutes, the blood should stop if the cut is shallow.
- If the artery is affected, which can be determined by a bright scarlet blood stream, a tourniquet must be applied above the wound. And if venous bleeding is lower. Blood flows quietly from a vein , no stream, and has a dark color. When applying a tourniquet, blood circulation in the hand will stop. Therefore, in order to prevent the necrosis of the limb, you must immediately consult a doctor.
- After all measures are taken to stop the bleeding, the cut should be decontaminated. To do this, it is treated with an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide. But if the wound is deep, the solution should not get inside, as small vessels can become clogged with air. The area around the wound is treated with alcohol solutions. For this, iodine or zelenka is suitable.
- 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 last thing you need to do when providing first aid, if you get a cut in your hands with a knife or other pointed object, is to apply a sterile bandage or just a clean handkerchief to the wound, constantly wetting the dressing with disinfecting aqueous solutions. This is necessary so that the bandage always remains wet and does not stick to the wound.
If after first aid more than ten minutes have passed and there are no positive results, that is, the blood does not stop, you need to call an ambulance.
Glass Injury
Most often, a person can get cuts in glass at home or at enterprises associated with its release. Glass is a very brittle and brittle material that breaks frequently. The slightest negligence leads to injuries.
Cuts on the hands and other parts of the body obtained from glass have their own characteristics. They are cut bleeding wounds. Their edges are smooth and even, so they do not soften or crush the fabric. It is more conducive to healing than lacerations.
Cuts on hands and hands are most common. As a rule, their back surface is damaged. The most dangerous injuries are hot glass. It has the peculiarity of rapidly cooling down and disintegrating in the skin and muscle tissue into many small fragments that are not visible even in the X-ray image. Such fragments are difficult to remove, and migrating in the tissues, they cause pain, new injuries and bleeding. Sometimes fragments remain in the tissues for years. Hot glass wounds can be exacerbated by a thermal burn.
What should be done with glass cuts?
- Make a wound toilet, that is, rinse it with 70% alcohol solution or chlorhexidine.
- Make local anesthesia with primary sutures.
- For shallow injuries use Michel brackets. The victim does not need surgical help. It is enough to apply an aseptic dressing to the wound after washing the wound.
- If cuts on the hands are accompanied by burns, the wound does not need to be sutured. It should be treated and a bandage oiled with ointment.
- If glass fragments are visible in the tissue that are visible to the eye, you need to remove them and consult a doctor for further treatment.
When cut, a person faints. What to do?
Sometimes even small cuts on the fingers can lead a person to a faint. To prevent this, you need:
- Provide fresh air if the victim is indoors. To do this, open the windows and doors, but exclude the draft.
- Take deep breaths several times.
- Massage the earlobes and upper lip.
- Vigorously rub your cheeks.
- If this does not help, wet cotton wool with ammonia and let the victim smell it.
Knife and blade cuts
Most often, a person receives a cut in his hands with a knife, since he constantly uses this cutting object: at work or at home. Carelessness leads to injury. There are times when knife wounds are deliberately inflicted. This happens during a fight or robbery on a person. No less rare are cuts on the hands with a blade during shaving or the creative work associated with its use. Cuts are different. It depends on what they were applied.
- For injuries caused by a sharp object - a knife, blade, glass, cut wounds are characteristic.
- If the injury is caused by a blunt object, then the cut has torn edges. Such wounds most often occur on the hands and fingers.
- If at the same time to act with a traumatic object on the arm, leg or any other part of the body with blunt and sharp objects, the wound will be of a combined nature.
- Sharp and thin object: the awl leaves a stab wound.
Venous bleeding during cuts
During an injury, a vein cut on the arm may occur. It is easily determined even visually. Blood from the wound flows quietly, without pulsation, has a dark color. In this case, a person loses a lot of blood. Of particular danger is the fact that air is absorbed into the blood vessels and can enter the heart. If this happens, death ensues.
In order to stop bleeding from a vein, a pressure bandage is applied. The wound is covered with clean gauze and is pressed on top with an undeveloped bandage. If it is not at hand, you can fold a handkerchief or a clean cloth several times. Then the applied funds should be pressed to the wound. Blood should stop. If nothing is at hand, then a vein cut on the arm or leg is immediately pressed with your fingers, and the limbs rise up.
In what cases should a doctor be consulted for cuts?
- If the cut is deep and its length is more than two centimeters.
- When it is impossible to quickly stop the blood.
- If, during first aid, it was not possible to remove fragments of foreign objects from the wound.
- When cuts on hands or other parts of the body are caused by a contaminated object. It can be a shovel or a rake.
- If the victim is a child or an elderly person.
- When on the second day after the injury, the skin around the cut becomes atypical, pus oozes from the wound and the injury site is numb.
- If there is an increase in body temperature and general weakness.
- When a week after an injury, the wound does not heal.
The victim must tell the doctor what actions were taken to provide first aid and how the wound was treated. Next, the specialist will decide how to treat the cut.
Effects
- Cuts on the hands (photo above) can result in irreversible consequences if they are applied to the wrist area. In this case, nerves and tendons are damaged.
- Often during the injury, the victim receives a deep cut in his hands. What to do? Seek medical attention immediately. The fact is that deep wounds are treated by suturing immediately after an injury. If you do not do this eight hours after the cut, in the future you can’t sew up the wound at all, since bacteria will have time to get into it. When closing the wound, they can cause suppuration.
- If cuts on the hands are accompanied by severe bleeding with a bright scarlet color of blood, then the artery is damaged.
- Remember, even a slight cut, especially on the face, leaves a scar.
- If fragments of a foreign body are not removed from the wound, it becomes inflamed and pus can ooze out of it.
- So that a serious injury by cutting does not cause complications, a tetanus vaccination should be given.