tips for protecting your good health

Cut To The Chase: Does Your Child Need Emergency Care For That Wound?

4 December 2014 by Sasha Meyer

Childhood is a time of accidents, mishaps and skinned knees. Some kids are more prone to accidents than others, but most every child has suffered an injury that made Mom or Dad cringe. If you've ever found yourself facing a child's injury and wondering if it was serious enough to go to the emergency room, you're not alone. The decision to seek emergency care is somewhat subjective, but there are some key warning signs. Here are some tips to help you decide if your child's injury warrants an emergency room trip or just some basic first aid.

Does it Need Stitches?

If your child has a cut that's severe enough to warrant stitches, you'll want to make a trip to the emergency room to have it treated. Cuts that are deep and wide open will require medical attention.

Cuts that bleed persistently may also require stitches to close them up and stop the bleeding. Try to apply pressure with gauze for a few minutes to see if it stops or slows the bleeding. If not, it may be best to have an emergency physician take a look at it.

Facial lacerations are another injury that you should be more cautious about. Facial wounds are more prone to scarring, and they can bleed more persistently. Wounds to the lip and surrounding area are of particular concern, because the tissue is more sensitive and can suffer more extensive damage.

If you have any reason to be concerned about tetanus, or your child hasn't had a tetanus shot in several years, you may want to get emergency care. The emergency room physician will determine if a tetanus shot is warranted based on the incident and the condition of the injury.

Monitoring Less Severe Cuts

If your child suffers a cut that doesn't appear to need stitches, you'll want to be attentive to its condition over the several days following the injury. Watch the cut to make sure that it's healing well. Keep it clean, and apply a disinfectant ointment to it regularly. Keep a bandage over it while it's still open so that you can keep dirt out of it.

If you see any signs of infection, you'll want to get medical attention right away. Some of the signs of infection include redness, swelling, warmth around the cut and discolored discharge from the cut.

Injuries of all kinds are inevitable when you're raising kids. Particularly when your children are active, you're likely to face some lacerations and other wounds. With the tips presented here, you'll know when to get emergency medical care as compared to calling the pediatrician or just keeping an eye on things.

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