WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
A finger laceration is a deep cut on the skin.
Bandages keep your wound clean and protected. They may also prevent swelling. Care for your wound as directed to prevent infection and help it heal. Proper care can lead to normal use of and feeling in your hand.
- Leave your bandage on as long as directed. Ask your primary healthcare provider when and how to change your bandage. Be careful to not wrap the bandage or tape too tightly around your finger. This could cut off blood flow to your finger and cause more injury.
- If you have stitches without a bandage, keep your stitches clean and dry. You may be told to put germ-killing medicine on your skin around the stitches.
- A splint may be put on your finger to support it.
How to bathe with your wound:
Keep all bandages dry. If you have tissue glue on your laceration, try to keep it dry. If tissue glue gets too wet, it can come off before your wound is healed. Ask how to bathe without getting your bandages wet.
- Take your medicine as directed: Call your primary healthcare provider if you think your medicine is not helping or if you have side effects. Tell him if you are taking any vitamins, herbs, or other medicines. Keep a list of the medicines you take. Include the amounts, and when and why you take them. Bring the list or the pill bottles to follow-up visits.
Follow up with your primary healthcare provider or hand specialist in 2 days:
You will need to return in 8 to 14 days if you have stitches so they can be removed.
Contact your primary healthcare provider or hand specialist if:
- Your wound splits open, or your tape comes off.
- Your wound is bleeding or is very painful.
- Your skin forms blisters, or you have a dark lump under the skin.
- Your wound is not healing, or you think there is an object in the wound.
- You have a fever. Your finger feels painful, warm, or swollen. The wound area may appear red, or fluid may come out of it.
- You cannot feel the area around your wound.
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The above information is an educational aid only. It is not intended as medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, nurse or pharmacist before following any medical regimen to see if it is safe and effective for you.