When Does a Cut Need Stitches?

Your skin plays a vital role in your overall health. As part of the integumentary system, along with your hair and nails, it acts as a first line of defense to protect you from injury and infection, which also makes it highly vulnerable to damage.

Skin injuries can range from mild cuts and scrapes, which are so common that most people average 4,000 over a lifetime, to more severe lacerations or punctures that may need stitches. Knowing how to recognize the type of skin injury you have can make a big difference in your overall health, so let's look at when to get medical attention for this problem.

Dr. Jeffrey James Fisher and his dedicated medical team at Mansfield Urgent Care & Family Medicine are here to help residents of Mansfield, Texas, with a wide variety of medical issues, including cuts and other wounds that require sutures.

Common reasons for cuts

When it comes to minor injuries to your skin, cuts, scrapes, and lacerations most frequently result from incidents like:

• Insects and animals: bites can break your skin and introduce bacteria

• Blunt force injuries: falls, sports, and accidents can lead to abrasions

• Sharp objects: cuts frequently occur from knives, tools, glass, and other sharp materials

No matter the cause, even seemingly small skin injuries deserve proper attention.

Treatment for minor cuts

If the problem is a minor cut, basic first aid should be enough. 

• Clean the wound with water to remove dirt and debris
• Stop the bleeding by applying gentle pressure 
• Protect the area with ointment or vaseline
• Cover the wound with a clean bandage

Don’t use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide directly on the wound, as they may irritate the inflamed tissue.

When to get emergency help

If you’ve gone through the steps we just covered and the wound heals with no other symptoms, you’ve treated it properly without needing medical help. However, there are signs that you should seek medical attention, including problems like:

Nonstop bleeding

If you keep bleeding even after putting bandages on to stop it, or the blood is spurting from the wound, call for help. Stopping the bleeding and stitching the wound closed is essential.

Gaping wound

If the edges of the wound won’t close, it’s much harder to stop bleeding and prevent infection, so come to our urgent care clinic as quickly as possible to get it stitched up.

Wound is embedded in debris

If the wound contains significant dirt or other foreign material, it can be difficult to clean thoroughly and may increase your risk of infection.

You haven’t had a tetanus shot in a long time

This type of bacterial infection can enter wounds that aren’t properly cleaned and may become life-threatening if left untreated.

Your wound is jagged

These wounds are harder to clean and may heal poorly without treatment. Stitching can be very helpful when your wound is jagged.

If you have a wound that needs emergency attention, make an appointment with Dr. Fisher and the Mansfield Urgent Care & Family Medicine team today to get the help you need.