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Wounds and minor topical injuries are a common mishap in our day to day life. However, very few people know how to properly treat it or deal with it. This lack of knowledge of first aid treatment for wounds at times causes complications to what would have otherwise been an easily treatable minor injury.

What are Wounds?

In order to be able to adequately determine how to treat a wound, it is important to properly define and classify wounds.

Wounds are roughly defined as breaks in the continuity of a particular tissue of the body, and these breaks may be internal or external. External or open wounds are usually breaks on the skin or in a mucus membrane, while internal wounds are breaks in underlying tissues that do not manifest with an external break on the skin or mucus membrane. These wounds are usually caused by coming into contact with external physical forces, like falls, mishandling of sharp objects, or accidental clashes with objects or vehicles.

While minor wounds may be relatively harmless to the body, some wounds may be harmful not only to the tissues where the breaks in continuity are found, but also to the rest of the body. Some wounds that are highly detrimental may cause severe bleeding, disruption of breathing, or disruption in the workings of the brain, heart, or any other vital organ.

General Types of Open Wounds

Open wounds may be classified into four types: abrasions, incisions, punctures and avulsions. Abrasions result from the skin scraping against a usually rough surface, causing the skin to rupture and damage. Blooding is limited to some minor oozing of blood; however, the danger is the possible contamination and infection from dirt and bacteria may have mixed into the broken skin upon contact. Incisions on the other hand are usually clean cuts caused by sharp objects. The depth and length of an incision determines the extent of bleeding of the wound. Puncture wounds are caused by sharp, pointed objects such as nails and splinters. These wounds may bleed minimally on the outside, but may cause severe internal bleeding as the pointed object may sink deeply into the body. Avulsions are when a tissue is severed from the body, usually resulting from animal bites, explosions, or vehicular accidents.

Treatment

The first step in treating the wound is managing any bleeding that may be happening. To do this, apply direct pressure on the wound by pressing with one hand a piece of cloth (thick pad of sterile gauze, or any soft, clean cloth) on the general area of the wound. Should the blood soak through the cloth, additional pieces of cloth should be applied without removing the first piece of cloth. Not removing the original piece of cloth will avoid disturbing the clotting process and help control the bleeding better.

Afterwards, it is important to remove any foreign materials from the wound—huge pieces may be removed with the hand, while smaller pieces may be removed by washing the wound with mild soap and water. Abrasive agents like alcohol, peroxide, and iodine, are discouraged from being applied to the wound as they inhibit speedy healing.

After controlling bleeding and cleaning the wound, apply antibiotic ointment and bandage to the wound. For smaller wounds, commercially available bandages are available to help close wounds that gape open; bigger and deeper wounds may require professional medical attention and stitching.

Which wounds require further medical attention?

After receiving emergency care, people with wounds that exhibit any of the following characteristics must consult a physician for further medical treatment:

1. persistent bleeding despite actions done to control it; this may include blood that continually spurts from the wound even if it was initially controlled by first aid;
2. an incision deeper than the outer layer of the skin;
3. any laceration, avulsion, or deep puncture must be consulted to a physician to avoid infection;
4. an animal or human bite that caused a break in the skin;
5. laceration on the face or parts of the body where scar tissue would be visible;
6. an embedded foreign object deep in the tissue;
7. heavy exposure of the wound to soil, organic fertilizer (like manure) or any other organic substances; and,
8. any open wound where there is evidence of severed nerve, tendon or muscle.

Thus in the event of such an open wound you would not feel the need to run here and there asking for help as you are now very much in a good position to manage it without any worries