For most people, it is disconcerting and disorienting to find yourself bleeding in any circumstance. Maybe your knife slipped in the kitchen; maybe your foot slipped in the park. Regardless of what you were doing or where you are, it is important that you react to your injury immediately and properly to stop blood loss, prevent infection, and avoid scarring. This guide should walk you through the right steps to managing your cut, scrape, or other injury safely.
Step One: Stop and Think
Before you do anything else, you need to determine whether your injury warrants professional medical attention. Many people immediately rush to the ER or urgent care at the sight of blood, but in most cases, bleeding doesn’t immediately indicate that you need emergency care. Still, it is important to learn how to know if you need stitches or other medical treatment. Thus, it is critical that you or someone near you examine your wound for the following signs you need medical help:
- You have a wound on your face. Face skin is delicate, and wounds there will likely scar unless properly tended to.
- The wound is jagged and/or deep. If the wound is more than 1/4-inch deep or you can see muscle, fat, or bone, you need medical attention now.
- The wound is dirty. You should be able to clean out the wound (see the next section). However, if you can’t get all the debris, or if the wound was created by something inherently dirty — like a rusty nail, slimy knife, or animal bite — you need professional help.
- The wound feels numb. This could be indication of injury to nerves. If you want sensation to come back, you should consult with a medical professional.
Step Two: Sanitize
You don’t want your injury to heal with grit and grime in there. First, large debris might prevent the wound from closing properly; secondly, it could cause injection, which will only increase your pain and suffering. Ideally, you should allow the bleeding to continue for up to a minute, which should flush out most of the dangerous stuff. Then, you should clean the cut yourself.
You might be surprised to learn that traditional wound cleaners, such as hydrogen peroxide, iodine, and rubbing alcohol, actually work against the healing process. These hardly provide any antiseptic benefits, and they can irritate the skin and kill the cells necessary for knitting skin together smoothly. Instead, you should rely only on clean water and soap. Once the wound is dry, you can apply antibiotic ointments to keep the injury area clean.
Step Three: Staunch
The cleaning process can agitate a wound, so if the blood continues flowing, you shouldn’t necessarily be alarmed. However, now you should focus on getting the bleeding to stop. Using a clean paper towel or lint-free cloth rag, you should apply pressure to your injury while keeping the wound elevated above your heart, if possible. When the blood soaks through your compress, you shouldn’t swap it out; the extra blood in the paper or cloth will help the cells coagulate and stem the bleeding. Finally, if the bleeding doesn’t stop — if it continues for more than 15 minutes — you should pay a visit to an urgent care facility or a hospital’s emergency room
Step Four: Wrap
Once again, contrary to popular belief, you don’t always need a bandage. In fact, the skin heals best when it is allowed to breathe. Therefore, if your wound is in an area that isn’t often in contact with anything, you might forego bandaging altogether.
However, wrapping your wound is mandatory if the wound is large or located in a region that rubs against clothing. Bandages protect your wound against friction, which can rip open newly healed skin, as well as debris, which can cause infection. Typically, fabric adhesive bandages are best because they are more flexible and durable than the plastic variety. However, you can use gauze or elastic bandages if you are careful not to cut off circulation to the wound.
Step Five: Watch
Your job isn’t done after your wound is under wraps. Every day or so, you will need to replace your bandage with a new, clean one. You should also be paying attention to how your wound feels: Is it red, swollen, warm, increasingly painful, or producing pus? If so, you might have an infection or other excessive damage that needs medical help. If it seems to be healing slowly and steadily, you should be in the clear — until the next time you start bleeding.
