by Karen Bledsoe

Created on: March 21, 2008

Ouch! A slip of the knife while dicing onions, and there you are with a cut on your finger. Or maybe the memo you pulled out of your box at work left you with a paper cut. Or perhaps you caught your finger on the lid of a can as you opened it.

A small cut may seem like no big deal, and more often than not, it isn't. Still, a cut breaches that protective barrier we call our outer skin and provides an avenue for pathogenic bacteria to enter the body. An infected cut can be anything from annoying to life-threatening, depending on the state of your health and the microbe that finds its way inside. Treat a cut quickly, and it will heal without any problems.

1) ASSESS THE CUT
How bad is the cut? Is it simply oozing blood? Is it bleeding freely? Is the blood coming out in small spurts? Most cuts can be treated with simple first aid, but if blood is pulsing or spurting from the cut, you may have cut a small artery. If that's the case, cover the cut with a towel, apply pressure, elevate the wound, and see a doctor look at it right away.

2) CLEAN THE CUT
Blood flow from a cut may wash bacteria out of the cut itself, but the skin around it needs to be clean. Wash the cut and surrounding skin with soap and water. Antibacterial soaps are helpful in this case, but any soap will do if your washing is thorough enough.

3) STOP THE BLEEDING
For long cuts, apply a sterile gauze compress or a clean cloth and hold it in place until the bleeding stops. Small cuts can be covered with an adhesive bandage. Leave the bandage on until the cut stops bleeding. Check carefully, as disturbing the dressing can break the clot that is forming. Simple pressure should be enough to stop the bleeding for an ordinary cut. If it does not, elevate the wounded part and apply a cold pack.

4) TREAT WITH ANTIBIOTIC AND COVER WITH A CLEAN DRESSING
Once the bleeding stops, apply an antibiotic ointment to the skin around the cut. Cover with an adhesive bandage if the cut is small. For longer cuts, cover with a gauze pad and tape in place with first aid tape. While common wisdom once said that air was necessary to allow cuts to heal, more recent studies have shown that cuts heal faster with much less chance of infection if they remain covered with a clean dressing and antibiotic ointment. With this treatment, a softer scab forms and there is much less chance that a scar will develop. Change the dressing daily, but keep the cut covered for three or four days. By that time the cut should be on its way to healing completely.

5) WHEN TO CALL A DOCTOR
Seek a doctor's care if:
- the cut is deep enough that the edges of the wound gape or any flesh was cut away;
- the cut involves a puncture wound or an animal bite, which may require a tetanus shot;
- the cut will not stop bleeding even with elevation and cold treatment;
- blood is spurting from the wound;
- the cut becomes inflamed in spite of treatment.

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