Stitches for a fairly nasty cut?

Question

I was chopping some chocolate for a cake on Saturday and managed to get my thumb under the knife. It bled fairly profusely, but I disinfected it (which hurt) and bandaged it (which didn't). I had to change the dressing after about an hour, but the bleeding stopped after that. I've had occasional spots of blood from it since then, but literally only a drop at a time, and there isn't any pain. My current theory is that if the bleeding has stopped, there's no need for me to see a doctor to have it stitched, but I thought I'd best check. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

how long ago did this happen? after a certain amount of time (if i remember correctly 4 - 6 hours) you can't get it stitched because it would mess the healing process already in place up.

Also, the general rule that I learned in a 1st aid class was something along the lines of over an inch, deeper than 1/4 inch, it should get stitched (you could definitely look it up somewhere...the book we used was from the red cross...)

Answer 2

If your cut isn't bleeding anymore then there probably isn't any need to get it stitched. Although, if it is still bleeding occasionally a week or so after you did it, or it begins to show signs of infection (red, inflamed, painful, etc.) then it's worth going to see your GP.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Thats a hard question to answer without knowing how severe the cut is. But based on the information, its likely that keeping it clean and bandaged would be all you would need. However, its never wrong to seek real medical advice to be sure