Hi there, I'm Kira Shepherd. When my kids were little, I spent a lot of time at the health care clinic. Children need an exam when they hurt themselves or run a high fever. Any other distressing symptoms are also best explored by a qualified physician. Thankfully, my local health care clinic always helped reassure me that the kids were healthy and developing well. I will share information about common diagnostic procedures and treatments performed at health care clinics. I will talk about alternatives, like going to the hospital or treating at home. My site will cover common symptoms and complications caused by a wide range of illness and injuries. Please visit my site often to learn more information. Thank you.
A laceration is essentially a cut. If you were to cut yourself with a knife or on a sharp piece of glass, the resulting wound would be classified as a laceration. While lacerations are certainly harmful and often require medical attention, the good news is that they are easy for most doctors to repair. In fact, modern medicine has more than one way to repair a laceration. Here are three common approaches to discuss with your practitioner the next time you have such a wound.
Specialized Glue
There are a few brands of specialized glue that are made to hold skin together. Your doctor may repair your laceration with specialized glue if it is located on your arm, leg, or another fleshy part of the body. It does not work as well on areas where the skin tissue is thinner, since the tension on such skin may pull it apart. An advantage of specialized glue is that it only takes a brief moment to apply. It also falls off on its own once your wound is healed. However, it is not ideal for every wound and is not a good choice for the deepest lacerations.
Adhesive Strips
Adhesive strips are like specialized, sticky bandaids. They attach to the skin on either side of the laceration and basically pull the skin together. Your doctor may use these in cases in which they want the laceration to be able to breathe and drain as it heals. They work well on shallow cuts, especially when those cuts are in areas with thinner skin, such as on top of the hand or foot. The downside to adhesive strips is that they can come off if you get them too wet, so you need to avoid washing the body part where they are applied until your laceration is healed.
Stitches
Stitches have long been the go-to method for laceration repair. They work well on many body parts and are often used when a wound is too deep, too long, or too jagged for adhesive strips or glue. Stitches let the wound breathe and drain a little while also keeping contaminants out. The downside is that they need to be applied when the wound is somewhat fresh. They also hurt a little going in, so your doctor will often use a numbing agent before they stitch you up.
If you have a laceration, it will almost always be repaired via one of these methods. Talk to a doctor about laceration repair to learn more.
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