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When does a cut require stitches?

Nocturnal

Nocturnal

Lifer
I kinda banged my head on this shelf here at work and at first it just hurt. I didn't think anything of it and then I did feel for blood but there was none. After a while I felt the area and I noticed there was blood. No one else is here with me, it isn't bleeding profusely so I'm not at risk of dying. However, there was blood and I'm wondeing when does a cut require stitches? Is it based on the depth of the cut or the length of the cut or many other factors?

Update: In case anyone cares, my manager looked at it and explained to me that it looked like a regular cut and nothing gaping or wide in which you could see inside. Thanks for the help.
 
More of a width of the gap of separation between sides
Wide gaps scar up with soft tissue.



Cuts that require stitches

Gaping cuts with jagged edges typically require stitches. Cuts on the face, eyelids, lips, palms, or fingers may require stitches even when the gash seems small. The skin on these parts of the body is so taut that it is difficult for it to mesh together and heal on its own. If you suspect that a cut may need stitches, call your doctor's office for advice or go to a medical facility. To avoid the risk of serious infection and help prevent or lessen scarring, a deep cut should ideally be sutured within 6 to 8 hours, and at maximum, within 24 hours after the injury. If you wait any longer, the stitches you get may not hold and the risk of infection is greater.

 
I think it depends more on the flesh not being able to naturally close on its own. Sometimes butterfly bandages will work in lieu of stitches, but if its wide & deep, stitches FTW.
 
Originally posted by: Unheard
Try a butterfly stich first, if that doesnt work, go to the MD.
Click to expand...

QFT. Butterflies work for most of your houehold cuts. I used two of these when I sliced up my thumb with a knife.
 
Originally posted by: Number1
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I kinda banged my head on this shelf here at work and at first it just hurt. I didn't think anything of it and then I did feel for blood but there was none. After a while I felt the area and I noticed there was blood. No one else is here with me, it isn't bleeding profusely so I'm not at risk of dying. However, there was blood and I'm wondeing when does a cut require stitches? Is it based on the depth of the cut or the length of the cut or many other factors?
Click to expand...

To minimize further bleeding, apply a touniquet around the neck and call 911.
Click to expand...


Shouldn't he cauterize it with a torch before the tourniquet !

 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I think it depends more on the flesh not being able to naturally close on its own. Sometimes butterfly bandages will work in lieu of stitches, but if its wide & deep, stitches FTW.
Click to expand...

Also depends on where it is...if it will be unsightly, stitches to prevent excessive scarring, but if it's in a good spot, it will make a much cooler scar without 😛
 
Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Originally posted by: Number1
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I kinda banged my head on this shelf here at work and at first it just hurt. I didn't think anything of it and then I did feel for blood but there was none. After a while I felt the area and I noticed there was blood. No one else is here with me, it isn't bleeding profusely so I'm not at risk of dying. However, there was blood and I'm wondeing when does a cut require stitches? Is it based on the depth of the cut or the length of the cut or many other factors?
Click to expand...

To minimize further bleeding, apply a touniquet around the neck and call 911.
Click to expand...


Shouldn't he cauterize it with a torch before the tourniquet !
Click to expand...

No, No, No!
My mother always recommended a nap BEFORE calling 911.
Especially for a head wound.
 
Originally posted by: Nocturnal
I kinda banged my head on this shelf here at work and at first it just hurt. I didn't think anything of it and then I did feel for blood but there was none. After a while I felt the area and I noticed there was blood. No one else is here with me, it isn't bleeding profusely so I'm not at risk of dying. However, there was blood and I'm wondeing when does a cut require stitches? Is it based on the depth of the cut or the length of the cut or many other factors?

Update: In case anyone cares, my manager looked at it and explained to me that it looked like a regular cut and nothing gaping or wide in which you could see inside. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...


Your manager offered medical advice ... to do nothing? Do you work for a big company? If so.... YOU'RE RICH! RICH! RICH! As soon as you can, rub dog crap into the cut. Wait for the infection to get to the causing you to pass out point then head to the ER. Important: Before reaching for the dog doo, be sure to document in your daily activity log your manager's exact words. Have fun and welcome to the life of luxury.
 
sigh i was looking for the pic of the guy who was decapted on the fence. and link ot that saying "when its worse then th is" but couldnt find it.
 
I cut my finger once. I didn't use stitches, and the wound never closed. It ended up healing by skin growing from the inside out.
 
I hate stitches. i always end up popping some. when i had my apindes out i popped some on the end. now its a fat ugly scar. when i had a mole removed the stitches popped on that. I had a collapsed lung and they put a chest tube in and the stitches came undone holding it in. sigh.
 
Another vote for butterfly tape. Cheap (found at most Walgreens) and saves a trip to the hospital. Also, I tend to scar less when using butterfly tape than with stitches.
 
-When the cut is on an area of the body where the skin is tight or stretches with natural movement.

-When the cut is deep causing the skin to spread far

-When the cut is deep and blood is having trouble clotting




Basically, if the bleeding stops on its own and it isn't opened up just by moving around, you're fine.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
When you see fatty layer.

Otherwise use superglue.
Click to expand...

Haha, I remember my first big cut, on my forearm. It opened up like a mouth, but didn't bleed right away. Pretty surreal when you see it for the first time. After about 10 minutes I saw these bloody yellow-white bumps swelling up near it. It was my fatty tissue :Q. Got to the hospital and had it stitched about 90 minutes after the cut happened. Scar doesn't look too bad. If I recall he had to use internal dissolveable stitches too because it was in a high-tension area.
 
Back when computer cases where like 50lbs (just the box) and had many, many sharp edges, I accidentally dropped it on my knuckle and gash of about 1/2" long and 1/4" deep and used a butterfly thing and it worked till I found some superglue and glued it shut 😛

cliff
Superglue the fvcker shut.
 
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