Workplace injuries can come in the form of many different types of pain. From lifting injuries to slip and falls to cuts and lacerations. Unlike specific work injuries, cuts can occur in nearly any workspace. So, it’s important for employees to know tip for treating cuts and when to seek stitches from medical professionals.
Treating Cuts: Avoiding Infection
When dealing with more than a paper cut, it’s important to keep your would clean. Since a cut opens up the skin, it leaves you at risk for letting infection causing bacteria in. So, it’s necessary to clean the wound as soon as you can after sustaining the cut. However, it doesn’t have to be anything too extensive. Just warm water and a gentle soap will do the trick.
In addition, you want to examine the edges of the wound to determine whether they are smooth or jagged. In short, the type of edges that surround your wound can help you determine whether you need stitches or not.
You May Need Stitches
It can be difficult to judge when a cut is deep enough to require stitches. However, there are a few tricks that can help you know. First, try to judge whether the cut is deeper than a 1/4 of an inch. If so, that means it’s probably so deep that you will need stitches. In addition, look for visible signs of fat, muscle, or bone. If a cut has exposed any of those parts, then you’ll most certainly need stitches.
Another cause for needing stitches when treating cuts is that if it’s located on your hand or finger. These can be problem areas because you use these parts so much, making them more likely to re-open. Lastly, if you are having trouble getting the bleeding to stop, it may be a sign you need stitches.
You May Not Need Stitches
When treating cuts, it’s also important to know what wounds most likely don’t require stitches. In that case, if the edges of your wounds are smooth and stay together when you move, they will probably heal nicely on their own. Likewise, if your wound is the result a puncture, there’s a good chance you don’t want stitches. Cuts like this are typically smaller, making them harder to clean. Therefore, it’s more likely that closing it up with stitches will trap bacteria inside, causing infection.
In short, keeping wounds as clean as possible is the key to treating cuts. Because that’s hard to do and difficult to judge whether you need stitches, it’s best to see a doctor if you’ve cut yourself at work.