Cuts: Do you need to go to the ER?

Matthew's first trip to the hospital pediatric emergency room was a week before his birthday. He climbed a toy chest, which he often did, and fell. He hit his chin on the edge of the toy chest and bit his lip. There was a lot of bleeding, which scared me to hysterics. There was a cut on the outside and the inside of the lip, so it appeared to both my husband and I that Matthew bit through his lip. It turned out that no stitches weren't needed. Thank goodness!

Here is what the ER doctor told us:

• Cuts anywhere above the neck bleed a lot, so don't panic!
• Put pressure on the cut to stop the bleeding. If the cut is on the mouth, using frozen pops is a good way to control the bleeding. Just make sure to note what color you give so that if your child throws up later and it looks red, you'll know whether it is blood or if it's just the frozen pop.
• Do not keep peeking on the wound while you're putting pressure. Wait 10-15 minutes to see if the bleeding stops.
• After the bleeding has stopped, clean up the cut and all the blood so that you can really see how big it is.
• If the cut is a big gash and won't close even if the bleeding has already stopped, stitches may be needed.
• If the cut is in a place where it's hidden such as the scalp, there is usually no need for stitches.

I mentioned the incident to the pediatrician on Matthew's next well baby visit and he gave the same advise as the ER doctor.

Since this incident happened, Matthew has fallen and bumped his head many times. Fortunately we haven't had any other bleeding scenes since.