Minor cuts are almost inevitable in childhood. Children are a bundle of energy! They continuously run around here and there and can’t sit still. It is a joy to watch them. Unfortunately, they are naive to potential risks and have a much higher chance of falling and injuring themselves or crashing into furniture in their enthusiasm.

As children grow, their muscles become more robust, developing greater coordination between the various muscle groups. Children also are developing their balance and spatial skills. Until this development is complete, it is more than likely that your child will fall and, hopefully, suffer only a minor cut or bruise.

Once you know the inevitable fall and associated minor cuts, you should plan for that eventuality (hopefully, it won’t happen). If we don’t plan, we either get paralyzed by the sight of our bleeding child or become hysterical and lose the ability to think coherently.

My child has fallen & has a cut that is bleeding. What should I do?

Hopefully, you have thought about this possibility and know precisely what to do!

• Pressure: Direct local pressure stops almost all bleeding. Just use a clean cloth. If you have sterile gauze on hand (and I hope you do), press directly on the wound for five minutes by the clock! Five minutes is long, especially when you are anxious to see whether the bleeding has stopped. Don’t trust your estimate; just go by the clock. Why 5 minutes? The normal time for a vessel to seal off by clotting is between 3 and 5 minutes.
• Wash your hands: You will be dressing the wound. Please wash your hands scrupulously after you leave the gauze piece on the wound while you wash your hands.
• Apply any antiseptic you have and dress the wound: Savlon or Betadine are good antiseptics to keep at home. You can use gauze and tape to cover the wound or a Band-Aid dressing. If you have a waterproof dressing at home, you can use it. Waterproof dressings allow you to bathe the child or wet the area without making the wound soggy and prone to infection.

Now that you have calmly dealt with the immediate injury, fuss over your child. Reassure her that you have things under control. Assess whether it is a minor wound or needs to be looked at by your pediatrician or pediatric surgeon. If you have the slightest doubt, put your cellphone to good use. Click a picture and send it off to your doctor or visit her.

How do I know that my child’s ‘minor cuts’ require medical attention?

You need to bear the following points in mind and may need to see your doctor (pediatric surgeon or pediatrician) urgently/early if:

• The bleeding does not stop despite constant pressure for more than five minutes.
• The bleeding stops, but there is recurrent bleeding without provocation. (children are known to fiddle around with their wound, not realizing that it can restart the bleeding)
• The child complains of disproportionate pain to the injury suffered.
• Your child refuses to move or use the part that is injured at all.
• Anytime you are not comfortable with your child’s well-being.
• The child may develop other symptoms, such as vomiting, headache, discharge from the ear, nose, or throat, or convulsions.
• The injury is on a cosmetically significant body part like the face or neck.
• The injury affects functionally important body parts such as the hands and feet, genitalia, chest, or abdomen.