When to Go to Urgent Care for a Cut

A cut refers to a skin wound. Different from an abrasion, with a cut, none of the skin is missing. Cuts are generally caused by a sharp object, like a shard of glass or a knife. A laceration is a type of cut, but it’s usually caused by blunt trauma.

The providers at Rapid Response Urgent Care see lots of cuts at their office in Granada Hills, California. But while some cuts are serious and need medical attention, others are relatively minor and will heal on their own. Here’s how to tell if you need to go to urgent care for your cut.

Triage for cuts

Incised wounds (another name for a cut) slice into the skin but don’t separate its layers. Depending on the type of injury and its severity, you may experience significant blood loss if underlying blood vessels are punctured.

If you have a small cut and it doesn’t bleed much, wash it gently with soap and water and cover it with a sterile dressing. The skin should knit together in a week or two.

If the cut severs an artery, it’s a medical emergency, because the muscular action of the vessel will pump the body’s entire blood supply out of the wound in just a few minutes.

If you experience severe bleeding, take the following steps:

• Remove clothing around the site to gain access
• Apply pressure directly to the cut to staunch the blood flow
• Cover the cut with a sterile dressing, if possible, and continue to apply direct pressure
• Try to raise the injured area above heart level
• If the existing dressings become saturated with blood, don’t remove them; add fresh dressings over the top
• Seek urgent medical attention; go by ambulance if you can’t stop the bleeding, feel faint, sweaty, or dizzy

Even if you don’t have a lot of bleeding, if you see any dirt or debris in the cut, never try to remove it yourself. Come into Rapid Response Urgent Care so we can attend to it.

Never:

• Assume a minor cut is clean because you can't see debris; wash it
• Breathe on an open wound
• Clean a cut after the bleeding is under control
• Remove a long or stuck object; come into urgent care
• Push or pick debris from a wound; come into urgent care
• Push body parts back in; cover with a clean bandage and wait for medical help

If you aren’t certain if you need medical attention, call our office, and our staff will advise you what to do.

When to go to urgent care

Come into our office right away, or let us know you’re on your way if:

• The cut is more than a quarter-inch (0.64 centimeters) deep, goes down to the bone, or is on the face
• You can’t stop the bleeding
• You’ve been bitten by a human or animal
• The cut was caused by a fishhook or rusty object
• An object or debris is stuck in the cut
• The cut shows signs of infection, e.g., warmth, redness, pus, and pain
• You haven’t had a tetanus shot within the last 10 years

These are all situations that require medical attention.

If you have a severe cut, whether it bleeds a lot or not, it’s important to seek out medical care, and Rapid Response Urgent Care can help. Walk in, call us at 818-923-5216, or book an appointment online today.