Urgent Care vs ER: Cuts and Bruises
As far as injuries go, cuts and bruises are the most common of them all. This is because we are all exposed to situations on a daily basis that can potentially lead to us getting said cuts and bruises. One might be in the kitchen either preparing food or doing any activity involving knifes and any other sharp object and they accidentally cut themselves. Cuts and bruises may also ensue when one is operating tools in the yard or farm, operating tools and machinery at work among others scenarios. Sports activities or when playing, especially where children are concerned may also lead to cuts and bruises as do falls or accidents involving bikes, motor vehicles, skateboards among others. While some cuts and bruises can be handled and treated from home, others require medical attention either by visiting urgent care or an ER. Knowing the scenarios that should end with a visit to the urgent care and those that should lead to one visiting an ER is the tricky part. This is something this article will look to address as it will look to highlight when one should visit urgent care or an ER for cuts and bruises.
As far as cuts go, it is usually recommended by subject matter experts, like those at frontlineer.com, which is the best place to visit on the same, that one should head over to urgent care if the cuts don’t involve much blood but are still big and serious enough to require stitches. Cuts that need stitching should be attended to urgent care as soon as possible to prevent the wound from being infected. If you also have a cut and you are experiencing severe pain that is not easing a couple of hours after taking pain medication, then you should head over to urgent care as soon as possible. If the cut is on a child who is 1-year-old or less, then taking them to urgent care for assessment is also something that is recommended. When it comes to bruises, if the bruise is bad and extensive with skin loss, you should head over to urgent care and have it checked out. One should also head over to urgent care for cuts and bruises if there are signs of infection such as reddening and swelling of the injured area. This allows the wound to be attended to and antibiotics be prescribed to deal with the infection. If you develop a bruise for no apparent reason, you should also ensure you head over to urgent care to be assessed.
More serious cases as far as cuts and bruises go, those that require more attention from qualified staff and equipment for better diagnosis should always be taken to the ER. For example, if the cut or bruise is so deep it exposes tissue underneath the skin such as the yellow subcutaneous fatty layer or the red dermis layer, then one should head over to an ER and not urgent care. If the cut or bruise is located on a sensitive body part or area of the body such as the eye, nose or any other part of the face or the genitals, one should also head over to an ER. If the cut or bruise is causing major bleeding that can’t be stopped even by applying pressure on the wound, then one should head over to an ER as excessive blood loss may be life threatening. Deep cuts on areas such as the chest, neck and stomach should also end with a visit to an ER for obvious reasons, and not urgent care. Cuts that lead to avulsion injuries where a body part such as an ear, eyelid, fingertip among others, are fully or partially detached from the body should also be handled at an ER and not urgent care.
Other cuts and bruises that should only be handled in an ER, with frontlineer.com being the best place to visit, are cuts that occur over a possible broken bone. This should be taken seriously in order to ensure bacteria doesn’t get into the bone and infect it. Cuts and bruising that damages underlying tissue such as nerves, tendons, or joints should also be attended to at ERs which have the facilities to be able to tell the extent of such damage. A cut or severe bruise over a joint should also be treated at an ER and not urgent care given the importance of joints, which if one isn’t careful can lead to loss of mobility and function of the affected joint. Cuts and bruises caused by crush injuries should also be treated at an ER as they involve muscle cell damage as well as extensive nerve damage. You should also head to an ER if the cut was caused by a bite either from an animal or a fellow human, it was caused by a dirty or rusty object especially if one is behind on their tetanus shots or if it was caused by a high-pressure projectile like a bullet or an arrow. Bruising on bone, or bone contusions should also be dealt with at an ER since it’s here where there is equipment for diagnosis. Some of the symptoms for bone contusions include pain that is severe and lasts longer than that of a normal bruise, stiffness, swelling and tenderness of injured part as well as trouble moving, bending and using the injured part.
Hopefully the above discussion helps when it comes to dealing with cuts and bruises with frontlineer.com being the best place to visit on the same.
