Caring for cuts and scrapes: three easy steps

Patricia Carroll, RN,C, CEN, RRT, MS

To watch this interview, click here 

We’ve come a long way since first aid for cuts and scrapes was biting on a bullet and pouring whiskey over the wound to clean it! Both medical and nursing researchers have been studying the best way to care for wounds in hospitalized patients, and now you can follow that research-based approach when caring for yourself and your family at home.

A recent survey by the Wound Care Resource Center of Johnson & Johnson (the makers of Band-Aid® brand bandages) found:

• Nearly half of the people surveyed don’t routinely clean cuts
• 70% don’t treat their cuts and scrapes with an antibiotic ointment
• 60% don't use a bandage to protect a cut or scrape
• 72% think it’s best to let a wound air out and form a scab

What do you think?

The best way to care for cuts and scrapes is an easy-to-remember, three-step process

• Clean
• Treat
• Protect

The first thing to do for a cut or scrape is to clean it to prevent an infection. In the ER, we use equipment to squirt fluid on the cut or scrape and flush away dirt or germs. This is called "irrigating" and is the most effective cleansing technique. At home, you can wash the cut or scrape under strong running water with soap. Or look for plastic bottles of antiseptic that allow you to clean a cut or scrape by squirting the antiseptic out of the container.

Benzalkonium chloride (look on the label) is an effective antiseptic that kills viruses and bacteria. Research shows that hydrogen peroxide damages cells when put directly on injured skin, so it’s not a good choice. However, hydrogen peroxide does work well to clean dried blood off intact skin nearby a cut or scrape. Don’t use Mercurochrome because it contains mercury. In fall 2000, the American Medical Association issued a statement calling for efforts to minimize or eliminate mercury in all products used in health care.

Try not to dab or wipe the cut or scrape with moist gauze. Dabbing can push dirt into the skin. Wiping with a gauze pad or washcloth can damage delicate injured skin. Flush or irrigate the cut or scrape, and let it air dry before you go to the next step.

Research has taught us that preventing infection is very important to shorten healing time, lessen complications, and reduce scarring. After the cut or scrape is cleaned, apply antibiotic ointment. You have a number of product choices today. You can buy a tube of ointment and apply it to the injury (but don’t touch the tip of the tube to the skin so the tip stays sterile). Or you can buy special Band-Aids® that have antibiotic ointment already on the pad.

Some antibiotic ointments today have an anesthetic, or numbing medicine, mixed in to reduce pain. Check with the pharmacist at your pharmacy or discount store to help you select the right product for your particular needs.

If you think the best way for a cut or scrape to heal is to allow a scab to form, you’re not alone. Most people think that’s the best thing to do.