I have discussed how to seal a wound in the past, and whether to use stitches, bandages, or super glue. I’ve even done a comprehensive guide about sealing cuts with super glue, but as of yet, haven’t fully covered the process of preparing your wound prior to actually sealing it. This article may seem a bit basic for most of you, but you would be surprised with regards to how many people forget to do basic things when a cut does actually appear. Forgetting to check for foreign bodies in cuts or forgoing irrigation and jumping straight to super glue or a bandaid are big no-nos, and so I’m going to show you the lay of the land before you wind up with an infection.
Before I discuss what I do, I would like to heavily emphasize that your environment will dictate your treatment options far more than any other factors when it comes to cuts, scrapes, and wound sterilization. This is something that is rarely discussed online by mainstream medical publications, as when you read first aid articles online, you’re usually getting a very conservative take on things, so – before I proceed, you know the drill by now:
Disclaimer; All of this is just my opinion. Nothing in this article is offered as an alternative to medical advice. As always: if in doubt, do not hesitate – consult a healthcare professional. Health concerns should never be pushed aside and/or ignored.
What to Do After You Get Cut
Step #1: Assess your environment.
If you are in a dirty environment with no third party medical recourse, you may want to go “overboard” when it comes to wound irrigation and sterilization by comparison to an office worker who accidentally cut himself at his desk with a pair of scissors he was using. When it comes to keeping a wound sterile, the first step is to be aware of your environment and how it can affect your wound, then react accordingly.
Step #2: Figure out what kind of cut you have.
The second thing to do when dealing with a cut, wound, or scrape is to figure out what kind of a cut you’ve got. Is it a single deep laceration? Do you just have some surface scrapes? Knowing how deep and clean the cut is – incredibly important.
Step #3: Figure out if there are any foreign bodies/debris in your cut.
Does your cut have any foreign bodies in it at all? A splinter, for example, or a sliver of metal lodged in your flesh? Maybe a bit of mud or dirt? It’s all important to know and whilst it’s a natural reaction to want to jump straight to the “lets fix it” stage, this rarely ends well. Especially if your wound is peppered with debris/contaminants. Don’t skip this step.
Step #4: Can’t see properly enough to assess your injury? Irrigate the wound.
To access what you are dealing with you need to get a good look at your wound without pools of blood masking the issue. The quickest way to do this is to lightly irrigate your cut, scrape, or laceration using clean water, a mild soap, or a sterile solution like like saline solution. Once you see the situation clearly (i.e. determine what kind of a cut you have and if there are any foreign bodies in it) you should follow a very simple process.
Step #5: Foreign bodies/debris in your wound? Get them out if it’s safe to.
If the wound, cut, or scrape has foreign bodies like debris or dirt in it – try to remove them using irrigation. Again, irrigate with clean water, a mild soap, or a saline solution. If that doesn’t dislodge them, use tweezers that you have sterilized with an antiseptic like rubbing alcohol. If you cannot get rid of the foreign bodies – apply pressure to the wound, keep the wound elevated, and seek medical attention. Do not seal a wound if it is contaminated/has something in it.
Spelling it out:
How to remove debris from wounds
- Get as much off as possible using irrigation or gentle swabbing. If for some reason you have a large “something” embedded in your skin, removing is likely to increase bleeding as the foreign object is likely to be plugging the wound. In such a situation, it’s a better idea to wait for a medical professional to remove it in a controlled setting, otherwise you could make it worse (much worse depending on the circumstance).
- To deal with the debris that remain, squeeze the edges of the wound together alongside the debris or foreign object to coax it out. Keep the wound elevated whilst you are doing this, if possible, to control the bleeding.
- Irrigate again and make sure you haven’t missed anything.
If you cannot remove the foreign object in your wound, place gauze around the foreign object, and pack cotton wool around the wound. Try to add enough packing material so that pressure is not applied on the object itself after securing with a bandage. If you can’t cover the foreign object, leave it protruding (knife stuck, for example, leave the handle protruding out) with bandages around it, not over it. Get to E.R. as soon as possible: do not rip the object out yourself. I have mentioned this before and I will mention this again because it is important. If you are stabbed (for example) the knife could be the only thing stemming the flow of blood. Don’t be stupid. Go to a hospital and let them deal with getting the foreign object out. Otherwise your life could damn well be on the line.
Got the debris out of your wound? Great. Move on to the next step.
Step #6: Sterilize your wound.
After irrigation, if the wound looks clean with no foreign bodies or debris, use a mild soap or sterile solution (again, like saline solution) and apply pressure in preparation for sealing the wound using superglue/bandages/sutures etc.
What To Do After Your Cut is Cleaned & Sterilized
Time to seal your cut! Use stitches, bandages, or super glue to do this. Each have different advantages and disadvantages and should be used under different circumstances. Not sure which to use? Check out our stitches vs bandages vs super glue article.
If everything went well, keep an eye on your cut to make sure it doesn’t get infected. How can you tell? Read this article to learn to identify an infected cut.
If something bothered you about what happened – go immediately to a doctor/medical practitioner and get them to check things out for you. Infections are serious and it doesn’t matter how big or small your cut is, if you did contract an infection, it can be dangerous if it’s not caught and treated.
Dos and Don’ts of Cleaning Cuts
Do –
- Make sure your hands are clean if cleaning them is at all possible.
- Irrigate lightly using known clean water. Go with tap water or bottled water, or better yet, a situation specific wound irrigation solution like saline solution. A lot of offices, workshops, factories, etc. have little eye cleaning station as per health and safety regulation. If it is safe for your eyes, it’s safe for a cut.
- Keep pressure on your wound after cleaning it.
- Keep your wound elevated (if possible).
- Remove debris using tweezers that are clean. Obviously, if you can’t guarantee that your tweezers are sterile, then you will have make do and irrigate after removing the debris.
- Clean the surrounding skin, too, not just the direct wound.
Don’t –
- Pick away at debris lodged in your wound using dirty fingers.
- Rub away at your wound using your t-shirt. I have seen this first hand. It’s horrifying. Clean and apply pressure. No rubbing.
- Keep your wound exposed to the environment under the assumption that it’s better for the cut – pressure and sealing using proper techniques like surgical adhesive, sutures, or bandages will work better every single time.
Sterile Solutions & Antiseptics: What to Have on Hand for Cleaning Cuts
At Home
When you are at home, options are rarely a problem, as such I would chose the most appropriate rinsing solution and (if needed) antiseptic for the type of cut you have. These are the kinds of things you should stock at home in case you should ever need to irrigate & sterilize a cut (note that you don’t need all of them, just having one sterile solution readily available is plenty enough).
Sterile Solutions
For irrigating and rinsing out cuts/wounds before applying bandages, stitches, or super glue.
- Sterile/Saline Solution
Often used by contact lens wearers to keep their contacts in over night, these are great, and probably already in your house. The ones with smaller tips are ideal as you can get some good pressure out of them when clearing debris. This is a gentle solution compared to pretty much all the other stuff on this list. Bonus point – it’s super cheap. - Sodium Cloride Irrigation Solution
These things are amazing, I have a load of them at home; though I talk about them more in the “On You/Everyday Carry” section down below, cause they’re also quite good for that.
Antiseptics
Use these to clean your hands and any tools you may need, like tweezers, before using them on your cut.
- Hydrogen Peroxide
The standard antiseptic, cheap and works consistently on almost everything with no quibbles. - Rubbing Alcohol
Much like hydrogen peroxide.
At Work or In Your Car
Work and car kits need to be somewhat compact in size if not portable, but equally important should be easy to whip out and utilize.
What fits all these descriptions? Think spray bottles and squeeze bottles like the ones mentioned in the next section, as opposed to the larger, bulk stuff you might store at home.
On You/Everyday Carry
I personally love teeny bottles of sterile irrigation solution and use them at home too, simply for the convenience of irrigating and then throwing them out. I know it’s a smidgen wasteful and obviously not optimal relative to cost, but I personally feel the convenience is worth it. If you buy in bulk like I do, it’s not as expensive as you might think.
Sterile Solutions
Again – for irrigating and rinsing out cuts/wounds before applying bandages, stitches, or super glue.
- Sodium Cloride Irrigation Solution
Like the ones I have, though, I managed to snag quite a large number for a reasonable price on eBay. - Eye Wash Irrigation Solution
Come in small bottles like the ones I have, but way more affordable. - Tiny Bottle of Eye Drops
Again, similar stuff, does the trick, but genuinely affordable and bonus use for carrying it around – you won’t have dry eyes any longer.
Antiseptics
Use these to clean your hands and any tools you may need, like tweezers, before using them on your cut.
- Antiseptic Wipes/Pads
For cleaning tweezers before using them, very handy. Also can use them to easily wipe hands before touching a wound (or if you need to clean your hands before eating for that matter).
Using Antiseptics as a Replacement for Sterile Solution
We have edited the article to remove references to using harsh antiseptics to clean cuts, scrapes, and wounds.
Conventional wisdom in present day is clearly against their use as they destroy both good & bad cells indiscriminately.
Elise and I were talking about this earlier and we don’t ever recall cuts, scrapes, and wounds at school being treated with anything besides hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol directly before applying bandages. We were always told, “This is going to sting/hurt,” before being either sprayed with an antiseptic, or having it dabbed onto our cuts and scrapes with a cotton ball. This is reflective of our experiences growing up, and apparently is no longer the norm or the best first aid advice the world has to offer.
If you’d like to take your chances, go right ahead, but do that at your own discretion, and most certainly do not bother to do so if you have other, better solutions (i.e. sterile solutions) around.
We also did not mention Neosporin/triple Antibiotic ointments, as they are not strictly necessary for cleaning wounds. Unless your body has a condition that keeps your body from healing itself, I would recommend just letting your body deal with it naturally.
In Conclusion
In short, it’s important to not rush ahead when dealing with cuts. Too many people risk infection or bleed out because they just want the bleeding to stop and think they can just remove a lodged knife and bandage the whole mess up without realizing they could be making matters worse. It’s human to want to be seen as doing “something,” but this can lead to complications. Yes, by all means clean cuts, scrapes, and wounds when you can, but if you can’t get foreign bodies out of your wound, don’t just skip to the next step and seal that cut up. Do things properly, or you’ll likely regret it.
Remember that the goal isn’t to solve the issue in 10 seconds flat, but rather to disinfect properly and if there’s a lot of blood, to control the bleeding safely so that your body can heal itself well. And that means gathering as much information as possible about your wound and carefully considering the steps you take.
Prevent infections by taking the proper precautions. And 100% seek help if you are in any way unsure of whether dirt & debris may have caused an infection.
More First Aid Resources
When it comes to first aid, you need two important things to help you on your quest to keep yourself and those around you safe & healthy: knowledge and (to a lesser extent) supplies. To tackle the prior, take a look through our list of the top 22 emergency & survival first aid books and grab those that you think will best help you gain the knowledge you’ll need. For the latter, take a look at our Ultimate First Aid Supplies List to see if there’s anything you should be adding to your at-home first aid supplies stockpile, or if there’s something you’ve forgotten to add to one of your first aid kits.
Do you know what the maximum recommended doses of common painkillers are, whether to use Advil, Tylenol, or Aspirin, and how to quickly assess and address emergency situations? Did you know you can superglue cuts and that Imodium is an excellent tool for survival?
You can also quickly browse through the first aid articles on this blog by clicking here, in case there’s anything valuable you’ve yet to learn on the topics we’ve written about.
If you go to an Emergency Room with a dirty, contaminated wound, they will likely scrub it with a brush and probably a Betadine solution. This will hopefully remove most of the contaminants. You as the patient, will not have any anesthesia for this procedure, and it will be quite painful, but necessary. It sounds bad, but doing the right thing is not always pleasant.
Aye Debbie, its always awkward for me to scribble down first aid articles, as my own experiences rarely match conventional advise in this day and age. When I was growing up I had plenty of scrapes that were dealt with harsh antiseptics because thats what they did back then.
Sadly, it puts me in a difficult position as if I point out that rubbing alcohol was commonly used as an antiseptic then people will rightly point out the negative consequences of its use and if I don’t mention antiseptics which is what the standard “mainstream” approach is then people will naturally feel like my article is not reflective of their experiences.
The standard is to irrigate, remove debris and let your body deal with it (as per standard first aid/sanctioned wisdom), hospitals will be more aggressive (my experiences were the same as yours Debbie) but I have to be careful about what I write in terms of liability. We live in a very litigious society and this blocks tackling topics that could be considered quite abrasive- especially when I give my personal opinion.
Best example is dislocated shoulders- I have popped my shoulder back in myself plenty of times but “sanctioned sources of information” on the internet will always default to “Go to the Hospital”. So whatever I do my approach to information will always have detractors. I try to have a solid middle ground & I am always thankful to have commenters like you who will point out other measures ones can take without me putting my head on the chopping block (if I wrote down, scrub your wound with a brush for example).