When You Should Visit an Urgent Care Clinic for Laceration Care

You can receive laceration care from either an urgent care clinic or an emergency room. But not all cuts are equal. There are cuts an urgent care clinic can treat. Understanding when to visit an urgent care clinic for your cut can save you time, effort, and money. If you want to know if you should head to the urgent care clinic for laceration care, here are the details.

Seeking care from an urgent care clinic

A cut or open wound can happen at any time. Most people rush to the emergency room without knowing the capabilities of an urgent care clinic. Both facilities can provide laceration care. Wounds that are not life-threatening can receive this care from an urgent care clinic.

Cuts with straight edges can receive quick stitches and wound care from an urgent care facility. The patient can rush to this facility if the wound can close up by pushing the sides together. These are often straight, clean cuts. Shallow cuts on the face also qualify for laceration care from this clinic.

Patients with abrasions or cuts covered in dirt, rust, or any impurity can rush to urgent care. Shallow or moderate animal or human bites can receive this laceration care from this clinic. The urgent care clinic can clean and stitch up the wound. The urgent care doctor can also give the patient a tetanus shot or a tetanus booster if the patient has not received it yet.

When a patient needs laceration care

Any tear on the skin will need laceration care. Applying pressure can help stop the bleeding. The patient needs proper wound closure if bleeding persists after applying direct pressure for about 10-15 minutes. Lacerations can differ in width, length, and depth.

Some cuts may even be deep enough to damage arteries or tendons. These wounds will need emergency room care. Shallow cuts will need laceration care from an urgent care clinic. The patient does not need to rush to the nearest hospital for a minor laceration.

Receiving laceration care from an urgent care

A patient with a simple laceration can go straight to an urgent care clinic. Trained medical staff will tend to the patient right away and give a run-through of the procedure. The staff will clean and irrigate the cut. Then, the staff will prepare the wound with a sterile liquid. Then, the urgent care physician will close the cut with either stitches, staples, or surgical glue.

Numbing the area with a local anesthetic first will make closing the wound with staples or sutures painless. The doctor will start closing the wound once the anesthetic takes effect. Then, the doctor will apply a topical antibiotic on the wound area. Covering the area with gauze will protect it from further infection or injury. The urgent care doctor will give the patient a tetanus shot if the patient has not received it yet. The patient will need to complete a course of antibiotics to prevent more infection.

You can get proper laceration care from the nearest urgent care clinic

A cut or any kind of open wound compromises your first line of defense. It needs treatment right away to prevent infection from entering your body. Shallow and simple cuts can receive laceration care from an urgent care clinic. Proper aftercare will prevent infection and deep scarring.

Get more information about Texas Urgent Care & Imaging Center in New Caney at https://tx-urgentcare.com.

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